Hebrew word · H8621

תְּקוֹעִי

hateko'i

Tekoa

A 'gentilic', meaning a word that names someone by place or group of origin: 'Tekoite, man of Tekoa'. The ending -î works like English '-ite' or '-er' (as in 'Londoner').

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

What it means

Tekoite, of Tekoa "trumpet blast"

an inhabitant of Tekoa

Another spelling of te.qo.a (תְּקוֹעַ "Tekoa" H8620)

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 11:28

Range of meaning

A 'gentilic', meaning a word that names someone by place or group of origin: 'Tekoite, man of Tekoa'. The ending -î works like English '-ite' or '-er' (as in 'Londoner').

Against the English

'The Tekoite' (BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT) keeps the Hebrew form. Some modern versions put 'from Tekoa', which is clearer for a modern reader. Either way, the label tells you where he came from, not his rank.

Used elsewhere in the period

Tekoa shows up elsewhere: the 'wise woman of Tekoa' whom Joab brought in to persuade David (2 Sam 14:2), Rehoboam's fortifying of the town (2 Chr 11:6), and Amos the prophet, 'among the shepherds of Tekoa' (Amos 1:1). The site is identified with Khirbet Tequʿ south of Bethlehem.

From the study of 1 Chronicles 27:9

Range of meaning

An adjective formed from a place name: "a person from Tekoa." Tekoa was a town in the Judean hills about 10 km (6 miles) south of Bethlehem, on the edge of the Judean wilderness.

Against the English

"The Tekoite" (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT and most others) is accurate. Some paraphrases render it "from Tekoa," which says the same thing more plainly.

Used elsewhere in the period

Tekoa is home to the "wise woman" Joab used to persuade David (2 Sam 14:2), it was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr 11:6), and it was the prophet Amos's home (Amos 1:1).

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 3

  1. 2 Samuel 14:4 הַתְּקֹעִית֙ <the> Tekoite

    When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”

  2. 2 Samuel 14:9 הַתְּקוֹעִית֙ <the> Tekoite

    But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.”

    Here: Someone from Tekoa, a village in the Judean hill country about ten miles south of Jerusalem. A village outsider makes a believable petitioner with a clan dispute.

  3. 2 Samuel 23:26 הַתְּקוֹעִֽי׃ ס the Tekoite

    Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 11:28 הַתְּקוֹעִ֔י the Tekoite

    Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,

    Here: 'The one from Tekoa': a hill town in Judah on the edge of the wilderness, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Jerusalem. The label anchors Ira in David's own tribal heartland.

  2. 1 Chronicles 27:9 הַתְּקוֹעִ֑י the Tekoite

    The sixth, for the sixth month, was Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

    Here: "The man from Tekoa," a hill-country town in Judah south of Bethlehem. The hometown marks him as a man of Judah, from David's own tribe and region.

Nehemiah · 2

  1. Nehemiah 3:5 הַתְּקוֹעִ֑ים the Tekoites

    Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.

  2. Nehemiah 3:27 הַתְּקֹעִ֖ים the Tekoites

    And next to them, the Tekoites repaired another section, from a point opposite the great tower that juts out to the wall of Ophel.

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