Bible Dictionaries
Tekoa

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

TEKOA ( 2 Chronicles 11:6 etc.); Tekoah , 2 Samuel 14:2; 2 Samuel 14:4; 2 Samuel 14:9 [AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ], 1Ma 9:33 [RV [Note: Revised Version.]; AV [Note: Authorized Version.] Thecoe ]). A fortress city on the edge of the wilderness to which it gave its name ( 2 Chronicles 20:20 ). From here came the ‘wise woman’ sent by Joab to plead for Absalom ( 2 Samuel 14:2; 2 Samuel 14:4; 2 Samuel 14:8 ); Rehoboam fortified it ( 2 Chronicles 11:6 ), and apparently it continued to be a fortress ( Jeremiah 6:1 ); Amos ‘was among the herdmen of Tekoa’ ( Amos 1:1 ). Tekoa is mentioned also in LXX [Note: Septuagint.] in Joshua 15:59 , and in the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 4:5-8 . The site is now Khurbet Teqû‘a , an extended but shapeless mass of ruins crowning the summit of a hill (2790 ft. above sea level), 5 miles S. of Bethlehem. It is on the extreme edge of the cultivated lands. Bethlehem, the Mt. of Olives, and Nebi Samwîl (Mizpah) are all visible from it.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Bibliography Information
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Tekoa'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​hdb/​t/tekoa.html. 1909.