But it was Solomon who so strengthened this work as to deserve the credit of having constructed it. It was one of the great works for the accomplishment of which he made a levy upon all parts of the kingdom (1 Kings ix. 15). The nature of the work is indicated in 1 Kings xi. 27--“Solomon built Millo (and so) closed up the fissure (or cleft) of the city of David his father:” either the two expressions relate to the same work, or the two works are closely associated together. Accordingly, before the work can be begun, Pharaoh’s daughter must vacate the house of Millo. She came up “out of the City of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo” (1 Kings ix. 24). The Israelites employed upon the work were the children of Joseph, and their superintendent was Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, probably already acquainted with the similar work at Shechem (1 Kings xi. 28). It is stated in the Septuagint that Jeroboam completed the fortifications at Millo, and was long afterwards known as the man who had “enclosed the City of David.” The work was so well done that Jerusalem was never again attacked from this side, although previously this side was found the most vulnerable, both by David and by the children of Simeon and Judah in earlier time.
If we are to find a Hebrew etymology for the name Millo, it seems to be a noun formed in the usual way by prefixing the letter M to the Aramæan verb _l’va_, equivalent to the Hebrew _lavah_,[34] having the meaning to wind or twist, and used to describe stairways as well as serpents and garlands. A dam across the Tyropœon would require the construction of two stairways at least, one from the bed of the Tyropœon to the top of the dam on the Ophel side, and one from the High Town down to the dam on the west.
_The Death of Athaliah._--This incident affords indications of locality in beautiful agreement with Nehemiah. When this queen-mother heard that her son, the king, had been killed by Jehu, she snatched at the sovereignty for herself, and her policy was to slay all the seed royal. But one little child escaped, carried off by its nurse, and they were secreted in the Temple by Jehoiada, the high priest. In the seventh year Jehoiada assembled the chiefs of the people in the Temple, produced the little child Joash, stood him upon the platform (or by the pillar) appropriated to the kings, and said, This is the rightful heir! The chiefs shouted their joy, when Athaliah heard the noise and rushed into the Temple to learn the cause. That she should hear so readily and find such easy access to the Temple, accords well with the supposition that she was living in Solomon’s palace, close adjoining the Temple, as Warren places it. When Athaliah saw the state of things, she cried--“Treason, treason!” But she found no friends there. The priest said, “Have her forth--slay her not in the house of the Lord! So they made way for her; and she went to the entry of the Horse Gate to the king’s house; and they slew her there” (2 Chron. xviii. 15; 2 Kings xii. 16). It is implied in this narrative that the Horse Gate was not only by the king’s house, but that it was also the nearest point which could be considered fairly beyond the sacred precincts; and this is in full agreement with the position which we have assigned it.