Ziklag was an important town in the time of David. It was located about 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of Beersheba.

Meconah is cited and its villages. Perhaps it is a matter of Hebrew style, but the preposition “in” occurs three times in this verse in Hebrew. It is repeated with both city names and with its villages. In the preceding verse the preposition occurs only with the city names. The translation here may therefore be “in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its villages,” although translators of this list tend to level out these minor stylistic differences.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .