And he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
Parallel translations
- WEB He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
- KJV He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
- BSB He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
- NASB He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
- NLT He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Rehoboam fortifies Bethlehem, Etam, and Tekoa among other cities. These defenses guard the southern kingdom.
Overview
This verse begins a list of cities Rehoboam fortified to protect Judah. Bethlehem, notably, would become the birthplace of the Messiah (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1). Even in routine administrative detail, the Chronicler traces the preservation of the land and line through which Christ would come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Matt 2:5–6They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
- 1 Sam 17:12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul.
- Amos 1:1The 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.
- 1 Chr 4:32Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities;
- 2 Chr 20:20They rose early in the morning, and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Yahweh your God, so you will be established! Believe his prophets, so you will prosper.”
- Judg 15:8He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock.
- 2 Sam 14:2Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, “Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and don’t anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead.
- Jer 6:1“Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the middle of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks out from the north, and a great destruction.
- Neh 3:27After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, over against the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.
- Gen 35:19Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).
- Neh 3:5Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles didn’t put their necks to the Lord’s work.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 11:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.