Bible Dictionaries
Tekoa

Holman Bible Dictionary

(teh koh' uh) Place name meaning, “place of setting up a tent.” A city in the highlands of Judah six miles south of Bethlehem and ten miles south of Jerusalem; home of the prophet Amos. God called Amos from among the shepherds of Tekoa to preach to the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Amos 1:1 ). The priest tried to send him back to Tekoa (Amos 7:12 ).

One of David's chief fighting men was Ira, the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa (2 Samuel 23:26 ). Sometime between 922 B.C. and 915 B.C., Rehoboam cited Tekoa as one of the cities whose fortifications were to be strengthened (2 Chronicles 11:5-6 ). Approximately fifty years later, Jehoshaphat defeated a force of Ammonite, Meunite, and Moabite invaders in the wilderness between Tekoa and En-gedi (2 Chronicles 20:20-22 ). After the return from Exile, Tekoa remained occupied (Nehemiah 3:5 ). See Amos .

Kenneth Craig