Ruins of the 7-acre Castle of Shechem
Millo = The entire fortified city by Arthur Chrysler
By the Late Bronze Age, Jerusalem (City of David) was heavily fortified and covered an area of about 10 acres. Another city, called Shechem, also was heavily fortified in the Late Bronze Age and it covered an area of only about 7 acres. Judges 9: 6 says, "And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king..." Notice the repetition - "And all the men of Shechem..." - "and all the house of Millo..." This repition occurs again, twice, in verse 20 - "...let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech." The word "house", in these verses, is translated family, household, inside, place... according to Strong's Concordance (1004). The word "Millo" is translated a rampart (as filled in) (4407) and is from (4390) to fill or to be full of, be fenced, fill, full, overflow, fullness, gather selves together, have wholly. "House of Millo" therefore could be rendered "household of full rampart" and is simply a way of repeating "men of Shechem". Millo, in this instance, is a reference to the entire fortified city of Shechem and, being only 7 acres in size, was probably rather crowded at times (full).
Now we come to another city which is called Millo in the Bible: the City of David. II Chronicles 32: 5 says, "Also he strengthened himself, and built up the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David." Notice the word "in" is written in italics in the King James Bible. In the back of the King James Bible it states, "The words in italics are words that do not have any equivalents in the Hebrew or Greek text. They are words which have been supplied by the translators in order to make the meaning of the sentence clearer, or in order to make the passage read more smoothly in English." Knowing this, it may be acceptable to read this verse again, omitting the word "in". Now the verse can be read, "...and repaired Millo the city of David".
II Samuel 5:6-8 says, "And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house." The "house" refers to "in hither" - "the strong hold" - "the city of David."
II Kings 12: 20 also refers to the "house of Millo", "And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla". "Silla" is a reference to Silwan which today lies east and south of the City of David.
I Chronicles 11: 8 is another example of repetition in a verse, "And he built the city roundabout, even from Millo round about...". "Millo", in this instance, is parallel to "city". Other references to "Millo" in the Bible are found in I Kings 9: 15, 24 and I Kings 11: 27. In every instance we can associate it with the "full rampart" (the entire fortified city).
“Biblical poetry makes frequent use of synonymous parallelism. Reading Zechariah correctly, we see that the prophet is not speaking of someone riding two animals. As is common in biblical poetry, which is based on parallel structure, the repetition of an idea or fact does not indicate its duplication in reality. Parallelism is a poetic device to create a thought rhythm and is not to be taken literally as a repetition in fact. The prophet’s statement, “riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of a she-ass,” describes the same event in different words” (Gerald Sigal, The Jew and the Christian Missionary: A Jewish Response to Missionary Christianity, 1981, p. 79).
Conclusion:
The word "Millo" is translated "a rampart (as filled in)" (Strong's #4407) and is from (#4390) to fill or to be full of, be fenced, fill, full, overflow, fullness, gather selves together, have wholly. "Millo," as used in Scripture, may refer to the entire walled city of the period.
Now we come to another city which is called Millo in the Bible: the City of David. II Chronicles 32: 5 says, "Also he strengthened himself, and built up the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David." Notice the word "in" is written in italics in the King James Bible. In the back of the King James Bible it states, "The words in italics are words that do not have any equivalents in the Hebrew or Greek text. They are words which have been supplied by the translators in order to make the meaning of the sentence clearer, or in order to make the passage read more smoothly in English." Knowing this, it may be acceptable to read this verse again, omitting the word "in". Now the verse can be read, "...and repaired Millo the city of David".
II Samuel 5:6-8 says, "And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house." The "house" refers to "in hither" - "the strong hold" - "the city of David."
II Kings 12: 20 also refers to the "house of Millo", "And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla". "Silla" is a reference to Silwan which today lies east and south of the City of David.
I Chronicles 11: 8 is another example of repetition in a verse, "And he built the city roundabout, even from Millo round about...". "Millo", in this instance, is parallel to "city". Other references to "Millo" in the Bible are found in I Kings 9: 15, 24 and I Kings 11: 27. In every instance we can associate it with the "full rampart" (the entire fortified city).
“Biblical poetry makes frequent use of synonymous parallelism. Reading Zechariah correctly, we see that the prophet is not speaking of someone riding two animals. As is common in biblical poetry, which is based on parallel structure, the repetition of an idea or fact does not indicate its duplication in reality. Parallelism is a poetic device to create a thought rhythm and is not to be taken literally as a repetition in fact. The prophet’s statement, “riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of a she-ass,” describes the same event in different words” (Gerald Sigal, The Jew and the Christian Missionary: A Jewish Response to Missionary Christianity, 1981, p. 79).
Conclusion:
The word "Millo" is translated "a rampart (as filled in)" (Strong's #4407) and is from (#4390) to fill or to be full of, be fenced, fill, full, overflow, fullness, gather selves together, have wholly. "Millo," as used in Scripture, may refer to the entire walled city of the period.
Almost 300 years ago the Reverend Thomas Stackhouse came very close to figuring out the mystery of Millo (underlining mine):
“MILLO, consider’d in its Etymology, is thought to be deduc’d from a Root, which signifies to be full, and is therefore, in the sacred History, suppos’d to denote a large capacious Place, design’d for publick Meetings, or, in short, a Senate-House. That this was some Edifice, I think may be inferr’d from the Notice, that is taken of it among some other of Solomon’s publick Buildings, where the Reason of the Tax, which he levy’d upon his Subjects, is said to be this, - (1 Kings ix 15) That he might build the House of the Lord, and his own House, and Millo, and the Walls of Jerusalem; &c. for, since we find it joined with the House of the Lord, and the Walls of Jerusalem. We cannot but suppose, that it was a Building of the same publick Nature; and since we find farther, that (2 Kings xii 20) the Servants of King Joash arose, and made a Conspiracy, and slew him in the House of Millo was erected for a publick Senate-House, tho’ there is some Reason to imagine, that it was employ’d likewise for other Purposes.
In the Reign of Hezekiah, when Sennacherib came against Jerusalem with a Purpose to besiege it, the King took Council with his Princes, and, among other Things, that were thought proper for his Defence, ‘tis said, (2 Chron. xxxii 5) that he built up all the Wall that was fallen, and repaired Millo, and made Darts and Shields in Abundance. From whence we may infer, that this Millo was a place of great Consequence to the Strength of Jerusalem, and was very probably, made to serve two Purposes, i.e. to be both a Parliament-House, and an Arsenal” (Stackhouse, 1744).
“MILLO, consider’d in its Etymology, is thought to be deduc’d from a Root, which signifies to be full, and is therefore, in the sacred History, suppos’d to denote a large capacious Place, design’d for publick Meetings, or, in short, a Senate-House. That this was some Edifice, I think may be inferr’d from the Notice, that is taken of it among some other of Solomon’s publick Buildings, where the Reason of the Tax, which he levy’d upon his Subjects, is said to be this, - (1 Kings ix 15) That he might build the House of the Lord, and his own House, and Millo, and the Walls of Jerusalem; &c. for, since we find it joined with the House of the Lord, and the Walls of Jerusalem. We cannot but suppose, that it was a Building of the same publick Nature; and since we find farther, that (2 Kings xii 20) the Servants of King Joash arose, and made a Conspiracy, and slew him in the House of Millo was erected for a publick Senate-House, tho’ there is some Reason to imagine, that it was employ’d likewise for other Purposes.
In the Reign of Hezekiah, when Sennacherib came against Jerusalem with a Purpose to besiege it, the King took Council with his Princes, and, among other Things, that were thought proper for his Defence, ‘tis said, (2 Chron. xxxii 5) that he built up all the Wall that was fallen, and repaired Millo, and made Darts and Shields in Abundance. From whence we may infer, that this Millo was a place of great Consequence to the Strength of Jerusalem, and was very probably, made to serve two Purposes, i.e. to be both a Parliament-House, and an Arsenal” (Stackhouse, 1744).
Jerusalem/Millo (in shadow at sunset). The Mount of Olives and Silwan (well-lit at sunset). Photo by Bud Chrysler