3:5 but their nobles. The one negative note in the listing is the reference to the nobles of Tekoa, a community at the southern boundary of Judah (actually the region where the prophet Amos had lived—Amos 1:1), possibly endangered by pressure from the Arabians led by Geshem (Nehemiah 2:19). It is probable that this pressure, rather than pride or sloth, kept these nobles from participating.