Tekoa, Or Tekoah

A town in the tribe of Judah. (2 Chronicles 11:6) on the range of hills which rise near Hebron and stretch eastward toward the Dead Sea. Jerome says that Tekoa was six Roman miles from Bethlehem, and that as he wrote he had that village daily before his eyes. The “wise woman” whom Joab employed to effect a reconciliation between David and Absalom was obtained from this place. (2 Samuel 14:2) Here also Ira the son of Ikkesh, one of David’s thirty, “the mighty men,” was born, and was called on that account “the Tekoite,” (2 Samuel 23:26) It was one of the places which Rehoboam fortified, at the beginning of his reign, as a defence against invasion from the south. (2 Chronicles 11:6) Some of the people from Tekoa took part in building the walls of Jerusalem, after the return from the captivity. (Nehemiah 3:6,27) In (Jeremiah 6:1) the prophet exclaims, “Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem.” But Tekoa is chiefly memorable as the birthplace (Amos 7:14) of the prophet Amos. Tekoa is still as Teku’a. It lies on an elevated hill, which spreads itself out into an irregular plain of moderate extent. Various ruins exist, such as the walls of houses, cisterns, broken columns and heaps of building-stones. A name occurring in the genealogies of Judah, (1 Chronicles 2:24; 4:5) as the son of Ashur. There is little doubt that the town of Tekoa is meant.