2 Samuel 5:9
in 2 Samuel 5So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
KJV
So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
David dwelt in the fort - or stronghold, (as in 2Sa 5:7) i. e. eventually, when the buildings were completed, which may not have been for two or three years. Millo appears to have been a fortress of some kind, the northern defense of the city of David, and to have been a part of the original Canaanite defenses of Zion, as appears probable also from there having been a fortress called the house of Millo in the Canaanite city of Shechem. (Jdg 9:6 note, and 2Sa 9:1-13:20.) Millo may be the native name.
This site's exposition
use the water shaft
on 2 Samuel 5:8-9
David's men go up by the water shaft, and the defenders' taunt becomes a saying: “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace”. David takes up residence in the fortress, calls it the City of David and builds it up “from the supporting terraces inward”.
This site's exposition
from the supporting terraces inward
The supporting terraces translate the Hebrew Millo, which Barnes takes as the Canaanite name of the northern defence of Zion. Judges 9:6 names a Beth-millo at Shechem. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the terraces as stone bastions David built against the Jebusites still living in the lower city.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The church is called Sion, and the city of the living God. The Jebusites, Christ's enemies, must first be conquered and dispossessed, the blind and the lame taken away, and then Christ divides the spoil, sets up his throne there, and makes it his residence by the Spirit.
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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
David built round about from Millo and inward--probably a row of stone bastions placed on the northern side of Mount Zion, and built by David to secure himself on that side from the Jebusites, who still lived in the lower part of the city. The house of Millo was perhaps the principal corner tower of that fortified wall.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And David became greater and greater, and the LORD, Elohe Sebaoth, was in his aid.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב | vaiyeshev | and he dwelt | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| דָּוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| בַּמְּצֻדָ֔ה | bametzudah | in the stronghold | H4686 → | 21 times |
| וַיִּקְרָא־ | vaiyikra'- | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לָ֖הּ | lah | <to> <the> it | ||
| עִ֣יר | ʾir | [the] city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| דָּוִ֑ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַיִּ֤בֶן | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| דָּוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| סָבִ֔יב | saviv | round about | H5439 → | 336 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַמִּלּ֖וֹא | hamilo' | the Millo | H4407 → | |
| וָבָֽיְתָה׃ | vavayetah | and [the] inside towards | H1004 → | 2046 times |
וַיֵּ֤שֶׁבand he dwelt
vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times
דָּוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
בַּמְּצֻדָ֔הin the stronghold
bametzudahH4686 →21 times
וַיִּקְרָא־and he called
vaiyikra'-H7121 →733 times
לָ֖הּ<to> <the> it
lah
עִ֣יר[the] city of
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
דָּוִ֑דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
וַיִּ֤בֶןand he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
דָּוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
סָבִ֔יבround about
savivH5439 →336 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַמִּלּ֖וֹאthe Millo
hamilo'H4407 →
וָבָֽיְתָה׃and [the] inside towards
vavayetahH1004 →2046 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 11:27and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 9:24
As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 9:24
Through
1 Kings 9:24As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 7:8
And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.
- 1 Kings 11:27
and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.
- 2 Chronicles 32:5
Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City…
- 1 Kings 7:8
Through
1 Kings 9:15This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the house of the LORD, his own palace, the supporting terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor,…
it leads to
- Joshua 17:11
Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
- 1 Kings 5:13
Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.
- Joshua 11:1
Now when Jabin king of Hazor heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph;
- Joshua 17:11
Through
2 Chronicles 32:5Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 25:23
There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from…
- 2 Chronicles 25:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.