Tekoa

Tekoa is a town in the territory of Judah, set in the wilderness south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It enters the narrative as a place name attached to a founder, then recurs as the home of a wise woman, a fortified city of Rehoboam, the wilderness staging-ground for Jehoshaphat's army, a post-exilic source of wall-builders, a watchtower for the Babylonian invasion, and the home of the prophet Amos.

A Town of Judah

In the genealogies of Judah, Tekoa is traced to a founder named Ashhur. After Hezron's death, Caleb goes to Ephrathah, and Hezron's widow Abijah bears him "Ashhur the father of Tekoa" (1Ch 2:24). The same connection is repeated when Ashhur's family is listed: "And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah" (1Ch 4:5).

The Wise Woman of Tekoa

When Joab seeks to bring Absalom back from exile, he sends to Tekoa for a woman skilled in measured speech. He instructs her: "Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her, I pray you, feign yourself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray you, and don't anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has a long time mourned for the dead" (2Sa 14:2). Coached by Joab, "the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king" (2Sa 14:4) and laid before David the staged petition that prepares the way for Absalom's recall. When David presses her on the parable, she takes the iniquity on her own house: "And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house; and the king and his throne be innocent" (2Sa 14:9).

A Fortified City Under Rehoboam

Among the towns that Rehoboam strengthens for the defense of Judah, Tekoa is named alongside Bethlehem and Etam: "He built Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa" (2Ch 11:6).

The Wilderness of Tekoa

The town gives its name to the surrounding wilderness, which becomes the marshalling-ground for Jehoshaphat's host as it goes out against the coalition of Moab and Ammon. There the king delivers his exhortation of faith: "And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you⁺ inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in Yahweh your⁺ God, so you⁺ will be established; believe his prophets, so you⁺ will prosper" (2Ch 20:20).

The Tekoites at the Wall

In the post-exilic rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall under Nehemiah, men from Tekoa take two sections. Of the first the record adds a stinging note about their leadership: "And next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their majestic ones did not put their necks to the work of their lord" (Ne 3:5). The same crew turns to a second portion further along: "After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, across from the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel" (Ne 3:27).

A Trumpet in Tekoa

Jeremiah uses Tekoa as a signal-post for the alarm at the approach of disaster from the north: "Flee for safety, you⁺ sons of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction" (Jer 6:1).

The Home of Amos

The prophetic book of Amos opens by anchoring the prophet to this town: "The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake" (Am 1:1). Tekoa's last appearance in the canon is therefore as the place that produced a herdsman-prophet sent north against the kingdom of Israel.