The woman of Tekoa is an unnamed figure in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

. She appears in

2 Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Book ...

14, after

Absalom Absalom ( he, ''ʾAḇšālōm'', "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. 2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled ag ...

has been banished following his murder of Amnon.

Joab Joab (Hebrew Modern: ''Yōʼav'', Tiberian: ''Yōʼāḇ'') the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army, according to the Hebrew Bible. Name The name Joab is, like many other Hebrew names, theophoric - derive ...

wants

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

to be reconciled to Absalom, and he sends to Tekoa to find a "wise woman". Joab tells the woman to pretend to be mourning, and she tells a story to David to elicit his sympathy and obtain his favourable judgement. The woman says that her son killed his brother, and now the rest of the family wants to kill him. When David decides that her son should be spared, the Tekoite woman tells him that he should do the same for Absalom. Claudia V. Camp suggests that the wise woman of Tekoa "employs the servile flattery of a social inferior," but that the narrative questions the "quality of the woman’s wisdom," since four years later Absalom rebelled against David.

Jacob Hoftijzer Jacob Hoftijzer (11.01.1926—08.11.2011) was a scholar of Semitic languages. He was Professor of Hebrew Language and Literature, the Israelite Antiquities and Ugaritic at Leiden University until his retirement in 1991. That year, a ''Festschrift'' ...

, however, argues that the woman of Tekoa is a capable woman who is able to carry out a very delicate task.

References

{{reflist People of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) Women in the Hebrew Bible Unnamed people of the Bible Absalom

See also

References