Hebrew word · H8620

תְּקוֹעַ

tekoa'

Tekoa

A place name, probably from the root t-q-ʿ, "to strike, thrust, blow (a trumpet), pitch (a tent)." It may mean "place where tents are pitched" or "trumpet-blast," but this is uncertain. The town stood on a ridge looking east over the Judean wilderness.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Tekoa or Tekoah = "a stockade"

town founded by Ashur son of Hezron

in the hill country of Judah near Hebron

rebuilt by king Rehoboam of Judah; birthplace of Amos

Also named: te.qo.i (תְּקוֹעִי "Tekoa" H8621)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Chronicles 4:5

Range of meaning

A place name, probably from the root t-q-ʿ, "to strike, thrust, blow (a trumpet), pitch (a tent)." It may mean "place where tents are pitched" or "trumpet-blast," but this is uncertain. The town stood on a ridge looking east over the Judean wilderness.

Against the English

English simply writes the name, which is fine. What English readers lose is any sense that it is a real, known town.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Sam 14:2 (Joab brings the wise woman from Tekoa); 2 Sam 23:26 (Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, one of David's warriors); 2 Chr 11:6 (fortified by Rehoboam); 2 Chr 20:20 (the wilderness of Tekoa); Jer 6:1 (a play on words: "blow [tiqʿû] the trumpet in Tekoa"); Amos 1:1 (Amos was among the herdsmen of Tekoa); Neh 3:5, 27 (Tekoites repaired Jerusalem's wall after the exile). The site is Khirbet Tequʿ, south of Bethlehem.

From the study of Amos 1:1

Range of meaning

Tekoa, a town in the hill country of Judah on the edge of the Judean wilderness, at modern Khirbet Tequʿ. It was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:6) and was home to the 'wise woman' of 2 Samuel 14.

Against the English

All versions transliterate the name. What they cannot convey is that Tekoa lay in Judah, not Israel.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Samuel 14:2; 2 Chronicles 11:6, 20:20; Jeremiah 6:1. A few interpreters, medieval and modern, suggested a northern Tekoa, but most identify it with the Judean town.

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 14:2 תְּק֔וֹעָה Tekoa towards

    So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

    Here: A small town in the Judean hills about 16 km (10 miles) south of Jerusalem. The ending -ah means 'toward', so: 'he sent to Tekoa'.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 2:24 תְקֽוֹעַ׃ Tekoa

    After Hezron died in Caleb-ephrathah, his wife Abijah bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

  2. 1 Chronicles 4:5 תְק֔וֹעַ Tekoa

    Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

    Here: A town in the Judean hills about 10 miles (16 km) south of Jerusalem, at the edge of the wilderness. Later it was the home of the prophet Amos and of the "wise woman" in 2 Samuel 14.

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 11:6 תְּקֽוֹעַ׃ Tekoa

    He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

  2. 2 Chronicles 20:20 תְּק֑וֹעַ Tekoa

    Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”

    Here: A town on the edge of the Judean wilderness, about 16 km (10 miles) south of Jerusalem and the hometown of the prophet Amos. From there the land drops toward En-gedi, where the invaders had come up (v. 2).

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 6:1 וּבִתְק֙וֹעַ֙ and in Tekoa

    “Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.

    Here: A hilltop town about 16 km (10 miles) south of Jerusalem, on the edge of the Judean wilderness, and the home town of Amos. Its name sounds like the verb 'blow' that follows (tiq'u), so the line is a pun: 'in Blow-town, blow!'

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 1:1 מִתְּק֑וֹעַ from Tekoa

    These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

    Here: Tekoa was a Judean town on the edge of the wilderness, about 16 km (10 miles) south of Jerusalem. It marks Amos as a southerner whose message is aimed at the northern kingdom.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.