Amos's home town: a Judean settlement about ten miles south of Jerusalem and six south of Bethlehem, perched on the edge of the wilderness that falls away toward the Dead Sea — grazing country, and rough. Rehoboam fortified it (2 Chronicles 11:6). It is also the home of the WISE WOMAN OF TEKOA whom Joab coached into telling David a parable that changed his mind about Absalom (2 Samuel 14:1-20), so the place has a small reputation for producing people who tell kings things they do not want to hear.