Hebrew word · H1037

בֵּית מִלּוֹא

milo'

Beth-millo

Millo' comes from male', 'to be full, to fill'. It means 'filling': an earthen or rubble fill, a terrace or platform built up to carry a structure (HALOT). 'Beth-millo' is therefore 'house of the fill'.

Appears 8 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Beth-millo = "house of Millo" or "house of the rampart"

a place near Shechem

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Judges 9:20

Range of meaning

Millo' comes from male', 'to be full, to fill'. It means 'filling': an earthen or rubble fill, a terrace or platform built up to carry a structure (HALOT). 'Beth-millo' is therefore 'house of the fill'. It names a building, or the people of a building, that stood on such a platform, most likely a fortified citadel.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'the house of Millo', which an English reader easily takes as a family or dynasty named Millo. Modern versions (BSB, NIV, ESV) print 'Beth-millo' as a place name, which is closer to the Hebrew.

How it drifted

In English, 'the house of X' usually means a family line (the House of Windsor). Here beit means a physical building complex and the people associated with it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jerusalem had a 'Millo' that David built (2 Sam 5:9) and Solomon and Hezekiah strengthened (1 Kgs 9:15, 24; 2 Chr 32:5). It is often linked to the Stepped Stone Structure, a massive terrace fill on the City of David ridge. At Shechem (Tell Balata), excavations found a large 'fortress-temple' on an artificial fill in the acropolis area (Sellin; G. E. Wright).

From the study of Judges 9:6

Range of meaning

Millôʾ comes from mālēʾ, "to fill." It means earth-and-stone fill used to build up a platform or terrace for large buildings. In Jerusalem "the Millo" was built or repaired by David, Solomon and Hezekiah (2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Kings 9:15, 24; 2 Chronicles 32:5), which points to a terraced structure supporting the citadel. Bêt ("house") can mean the structure itself or the people who belong to it.

Against the English

Most versions transliterate it: "Beth-millo," or KJV's "the house of Millo." This keeps the name but hides the meaning, so readers may take it for a separate village or a family called Millo.

Used elsewhere in the period

Excavations at Tell Balata (ancient Shechem), led by G. E. Wright in the 1950s–60s, uncovered a massive fortress-temple. It was built on an artificial fill and set apart from the lower city by a wall. Many scholars connect Beth-millo with this acropolis and with the "Tower of Shechem" (Migdal-Shechem, 9:46–49), where the house of El-berith stood. The identification is probable but not certain.

Where it appears

Judges · 6

  1. Judges 9:6 בֵּ֣ית מִלּ֔וֹא Beth, Millo

    Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.

    Here: "House of." The first half of the name Beth-millo. It can mean a building, a household, or the people connected with a place.

  2. Judges 9:20 בֵּ֣ית מִלּ֑וֹא וּמִבֵּ֣ית מִלּ֔וֹא Beth, Millo, and from Beth

    But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”

    Here: The first half of the place name Beth-millo. 'House' here means a building or complex, not a family line.

2 Kings · 2

  1. 2 Kings 12:20 בֵּ֥ית מִלֹּ֖א Beth-, Millo

    And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.