1 Kings 9:24

But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24) Pharaoh’s daughter came up . . .—In 2Chronicles 8:11 a reason is assigned for this removal: “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come.” In this passage the notice of her withdrawal is evidently connected with the building of “the Millo” described in 1Kings 9:15, which perhaps trenched on her former quarters in the city of David.

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 9:24. Pharaoh’s daughter came up, &c. — In 2 Chronicles 8:11, we learn the reason why she did not continue in the house where David had dwelt; which was because it was a kind of holy place, where it was not fit she should remain, the ark of God having dwelt there.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:15-28 Here is a further account of Solomon's greatness. He began at the right end, for he built God's house first, and finished that before he began his own; then God blessed him, and he prospered in all his other buildings. Let piety begin, and profit follow; leave pleasure to the last. Whatever pains we take for the glory of God, and to profit others, we are likely to have the advantage. Canaan, the holy land, the glory of all lands, had no gold in it; which shows that the best produce is that which is for the present support of life, our own and others; such things did Canaan produce. Solomon got much by his merchandise, and yet has directed us to a better trade, within reach of the poorest. Wisdom is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold, Pr 3:14.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare the marginal reference. Solomon was not satisfied that Pharaoh's daughter should remain in the palace of David, which was on Mount Zion, in the immediate vicinity of the temple, because he regarded the whole vicinity of the temple as made holy by the presence of the ark of God. His own palace was on the other (western) hill, probably directly opposite to the temple, the valley of the Tyropoeum running between them.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ki 9:24-28. Solomon's Yearly Sacrifices.

24, 25. three times in a year—namely, at the passover, pentecost, and feast of tabernacles (2Ch 8:13; 31:3). The circumstances mentioned in these two verses form a proper conclusion to the record of his buildings and show that his design in erecting those at Jerusalem was to remedy defects existing at the commencement of his reign (see 1Ki 3:1-4).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David,.... Where he placed her when he first married her, until he had finished his buildings, 1 Kings 3:1, which being done he brought her from thence unto her house, which Solomon had built for her; the reason of which is given, not only because it was the house of David, but because it was holy by the ark being there for some time; and therefore he did not judge it proper that his wife, an Egyptian woman, and sometimes in her impurity, should dwell there; see 2 Chronicles 8:11,

then did he build Millo: this being particularly repeated from 1 Kings 9:15, and following upon what is said of Pharaoh's daughter, has led many Jewish writers to conclude her house was built at Millo; and indeed, without supposing this, it is hard to conceive why it should be observed here; the Targum on 2 Chronicles 8:11 calls her name Bithiah.

Geneva Study Bible

But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

24. But Pharaoh’s daughter came up] On her residence in the city of David, see in 1 Kings 3:1.

Millo] See above, 1 Kings 9:15.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 24. - But [אַך, lit. only. Keil rightly connects the word with אַז below. "So soon as.. then." Cf. Genesis 27:30. This and ver. 25 are not interposed arbitrarily, as might at first sight appear, but refer to 1 Kings 3:1-4. The completion of the palaces rendered it no longer necessary or proper that Solomon's daughter should dwell in a separate house. The chronicler tells us that she had dwelt in David's palace on Mount Zion, and that Solomon was constrained to remove her, because he looked upon all the precinct as now consecrated (2 Chronicles 8:11) ]. Pharaoh's daughter came up [עָלְתָה. Keil hence argues that the palace stood on higher ground than David's house. But this conclusion is somewhat precarious. The approach to the palace involved an ascent, but Zion was certainly as high as Ophel] out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon [Heb. he] had built for her: then did he build Millo. [Thenius infers from these words that Mille was a fort or castle for the protection of the harem. But there is no warrant for any such conjecture. In the first place, this wife would seem to have been lodged in her own palace apart from the other wives.

2. We can offer a better explanation of the word Mille (see ver. 15).

3. The word "then" may mean either

(1), that when her palace was completed, Solomon then had workmen who were liberated and were employed on Mille (Keil), or

(2), that when she vacated David's house, the building of Mille could be proceeded with. 1 Kings 9:24

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

1 Kings 9:24, 1 Kings 9:25 contain two notices, with which the account of Solomon's buildings is brought to a close. Both verses point back to 1 Kings 3:1-4 (viz., 1 Kings 9:24 to 1 Kings 3:1, and 1 Kings 9:25 to 1 Kings 3:2-4), and show how the incongruities which existed at the commencement of Solomon's reign were removed by his buildings. When Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, he brought her into the city of David (1 Kings 3:1), until he should have finished his palace and built her a house of her own within it. After this building was completed, he had her brought up from the city of David into it. עלה, came up, inasmuch as the palace stood upon the loftier summit of Zion. אך is to be connected with אז which follows, in the sense of only or just as: as soon as Pharaoh's daughter had gone up into the house built for her, Solomon built Millo.

(Note: Nothing certain can be gathered from this notice as to the situation of this castle. The remark made by Thenius, to the effect that it must have joined that portion of the palace in which the harem was, rests upon the assumption that Millo was evidently intended to shelter the harem, - an assumption which cannot be raised into a probability, to say nothing of a certainty. The building of Millo immediately after the entrance of Pharaoh's daughter into the house erected for her, may have arisen from the fact that David (? Solomon - Tr.) could not undertake the fortification of Jerusalem by means of this castle till after his own palace was finished, because he had not the requisite labour at command for carrying on all these buildings at the same time.)