2 Samuel 5:9

9 habitavit autem David in arce et vocavit eam civitatem David et aedificavit per gyrum a Mello et intrinsecus

2 Samuel 5:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 5:9

So David dwelt in the fort
The strong hold of Zion, which he took:

and called it the city of David;
from his own name, to keep up the memory of his taking it, and of his habitation in it:

and David built round about, from Millo and inward;
built a wall about it, and enlarged the place, increased the buildings both within and without. Millo is supposed to be a ditch round the fort, full of water, from whence it had its name; or was a large hollow place which divided the fort from the lower city, and which afterwards Solomon filled up, and made it a level, and therefore is called so here by anticipation; though Jarchi says it was done by David. According to Dr. Lightfoot {o}, it was a part or Sion, or some hillock, east up against it on the west side; his first sense is best, Millo being no other than the fortress or citadel; which, as Josephus says F16, David joined to the lower city, and made them one body, and erecting walls about it made Joab superintendent of them; and this was the "round about", or circuit, which David made, reaching from Millo, or the citadel, to that again, which is meant by "inward", or "to the house" F17, as it should be rendered; that is, to the house of Millo, as in ( 2 Kings 12:20 ) ; and so it is said ( 1 Chronicles 11:8 ) ; that David built the city "from Millo round about"; that is, to the same place from whence he began F18.


FOOTNOTES:

F15 Works, vol. 2. Chorograph. Cent. c. 24. p. 25.
F16 Antiqu. l. 7. c. 3. sect. 2.
F17 (htybw) "et ad domum".
F18 See Dr. Kennicott, ut supra, (Dissert. 1.) p. 49

2 Samuel 5:9 In-Context

7 cepit autem David arcem Sion haec est civitas David
8 proposuerat enim in die illa praemium qui percussisset Iebuseum et tetigisset domatum fistulas et claudos et caecos odientes animam David idcirco dicitur in proverbio caecus et claudus non intrabunt templum
9 habitavit autem David in arce et vocavit eam civitatem David et aedificavit per gyrum a Mello et intrinsecus
10 et ingrediebatur proficiens atque succrescens et Dominus Deus exercituum erat cum eo
11 misit quoque Hiram rex Tyri nuntios ad David et ligna cedrina et artifices lignorum artificesque lapidum ad parietes et aedificaverunt domum David
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.