A town in the territory of Judah; hometown of the prophet Amos.
About Tekoa
City about six miles (9.7 kilometers) southeast of Bethlehem on the edge of the Judean desert, and its residents. Tekoa may also be the name of a person, the son of Ashur of Judah’s tribe; “father” could mean founder or leader of Tekoa (1 Chr 2:24; 4:5). Tekoa does not appear on the list of cities given to Judah (Jos 15). In an oracle predicting the siege of Judah, Jeremiah (Jer 6:1) makes a pun with the phrase “Sound the trumpet in Tekoa.” The Hebrew word for “sound” is spelled with the same consonants (but not vowels) as Tekoa.
Tekoa is located on the high ground between two watersheds, both of which flow eastward to the Dead Sea. The southern slopes climb off to the upper reaches of the Nahal Arugot, which eventually comes out at En-gedi. The northern slopes are drained by the Nahal Darga. The ridge between them is the Ascent (or Pass) of Ziz (2 Chr 20:16). Because Tekoa lies between the desert and the town on the marginal land just east of the main north-south watershed, the area around it came to be known as the desert of Tekoa (2 Chr 20:20), a part of the larger desert of Judea. Tekoa marks the border where farming gives way to herding, explaining why Amos, a native of Tekoa, had two dimensions to his preprophetic career: a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees (Am 1:1; 7:14).
Key References
Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”
These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
All Scripture References (14)
2 Samuel (4)
So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”
But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.”
Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
1 Chronicles (4)
After Hezron died in Caleb-ephrathah, his wife Abijah bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.
Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,
The sixth, for the sixth month, was Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite. There were 24,000 men in his division.
2 Chronicles (2)
He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”
Nehemiah (2)
Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
And next to them, the Tekoites repaired another section, from a point opposite the great tower that juts out to the wall of Ophel.
Jeremiah (1)
“Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.
Amos (1)
These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.