THECUA (Hebrew Τεῦδα'; Septuagint Θεῦ καὶ Θεοῦ). — A city of Palestine in the tribe of Judah (Josh. 15:60 LXX; 1 Chron. 2:24; 4:5) situated near the desert of Engedi (2 Chron. 20:2), fortified by Rehoboam (ibid., 11:6), and the native place of the prophet Amos (Amos 1:1). After the exile it was repopulated and contributed to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:5, 27). In the desert of T. near the spring of Asphar (Hirbet ez-Zafan), Jonathan and Simon Maccabee gathered with their forces to escape the ambush of Bacchides (1 Macc. 9:33).
From the Greek and Latin texts of the Onomasticon (86.13; 98.17), it appears that T. was twelve miles from Jerusalem, corresponding to the high hill (850 m.) still bearing the name Teqū or Teqū’ah, 18 km. south of Jerusalem. Among the remains of ruins are fragments of architecture and an octagonal baptistery belonging to the local church dedicated to the prophet Amos. There are also various cisterns, silos, and rock-cut tombs. In the Middle Ages, Jews visited a cave there as the tomb of Amos.