City
Tekoa
teh-KOH-uh · Modern Khirbet Tuqu, West Bank (near modern Tekoa settlement, south of Bethlehem)
Tekoa is a city of the biblical world, known today as Khirbet Tuqu, West Bank (near modern Tekoa settlement, south of Bethlehem).
What is known
- Tekoa was the hometown of the prophet Amos, described as a shepherd and 'dresser of sycamore-fig trees' before he was called to prophesy against Israel (Amos 1:1; 7:14)
- Rehoboam fortified Tekoa as one of fifteen defensive cities built in Judah after the kingdom divided (2 Chronicles 11:5-6)
- Joab sent for a 'wise woman of Tekoa' to persuade King David to allow the return of his exiled son Absalom (2 Samuel 14:2-20)
- Tekoa sits on the edge of the Judean wilderness, an arid, rugged landscape that shaped the stark, agrarian imagery found throughout the book of Amos
History
- Founded
- Judean hill-country town, settled since at least the Iron Age; fortified by Rehoboam after the kingdom split
- Population
- Small agricultural and shepherding town
- Industry
- Sheep and goat herding; sycamore-fig cultivation
- Coordinates
- 31.6497° N, 35.2167° E
Rulers and powers
- Kingdom of Judah (fortified under Rehoboam) — c. 930 BC
Scripture references
- 2 Samuel 14:2
- 2 Chronicles 11:6
- Amos 1:1
- Jeremiah 6:1
- Nehemiah 3:5
- Nehemiah 3:27
On a modern map
Further reading
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