Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 11:6
He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrative records King Rehoboam’s administrative actions as he fortifies Judahite settlements for defense after relocating his residence to Jerusalem. The words — וַיִּבֶן (va/yi.ven) means "and he built," and בֵּית־לֶחֶם (beit-Lechem) identifies the town of Bethlehem. The thread — These locations reappear in Genesis 35:19 as Rachel’s burial site, Judges 15:8 as a cave stronghold, and 1 Samuel 17:12 as David’s hometown. Why it lands — The text requires the reader to note the specific geographic scope of Rehoboam’s military infrastructure without attaching spiritual meaning to the listed towns.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He built even Beth–lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
Cross-references
- Genesis 35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
- Judges 15:8 And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
- 1 Samuel 17:12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons. And in the days of Saul, Jesse was old and well along in years.
- 2 Samuel 14:2 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.
- 1 Chronicles 4:32 And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five towns—
- 2 Chronicles 20:20 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.”
- Nehemiah 3:5 Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
- Nehemiah 3:27 And next to them, the Tekoites repaired another section, from a point opposite the great tower that juts out to the wall of Ophel.
- Jeremiah 6:1 “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.
- Amos 1:1 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.