a well-trodden road (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine plural construct
Tema
תֵּמָ֑אte.Ma'
H8485
Tema · proper noun, a place name
looked
הִ֭בִּיטוּHi.bi.tu
H5027
to scan · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural
companies
הֲלִיכֹ֥תha.li.Khot
H1979
a walking · noun, common feminine plural construct
Sheba
שְׁ֝בָ֗אShe.Va'
H7614
Sheba · proper noun, a place name
waited
קִוּוּki.vu-
H6960
to bind together (perhaps by twisting) · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 25:15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:
Isaiah 21:14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
Jeremiah 25:23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
1 Kings 10:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.
Genesis 10:7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
Genesis 25:3 And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
Psalms 72:10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Ezekiel 27:22-23 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stone…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 6:14-21
Eliphaz had been very severe in his censures of Job; and his companions, though as yet they had said little, yet had intimated their concurrence with him. Their unkindness therein poor Job here complains of, as an aggravation of his calamity and a further excuse of his desire to die; for what satisfaction could he ever expect in this world when those that should have been his comforters thus proved his tormentors?
I. He shows what reason he had to expect kindness from them. His expectation was grounded upon the common principles of humanity (Job 6:14): "To him that is afflicted, and that is wasting and melting under his affliction, pity should be shown from his friend; and he that does not s…
the troops--that is, "caravans."
Tema--north of Arabia-Deserta, near the Syrian desert; called from Tema son of Ishmael (Gen 25:15; Isa 21:14; Jer 25:23), still so called by the Arabs. Job 6:19-20 give another picture of the mortification of disappointed hopes, namely, those of the caravans on the direct road, anxiously awaiting the return of their companions from the distant valley. The mention of the locality whence the caravans came gives living reality to the picture.
Sheba--refers here not to the marauders in North Arabia-Deserta (Job 1:15), but to the merchants (Eze 27:22) in the south, in Arabia-Felix or Yemen, "afar off" (Jer 6:20; Mat 12:42; Gen 10:28). Caravans are first mentio…
The troops of Tema looked,.... A city in Arabia, so called from Tema a son of Ishmael, Genesis 25:15; these troops or companies were travelling ones, either that travelled to Tema, or that went from thence to other places for merchandise, see Isaiah 21:13; these, as they passed along in their caravans, as the Turks their successors now do, looked at those places where in the wintertime they observed large waters frozen over, and covered with snow, and expected to have been supplied from thence in the summer season, for the extinguishing of their thirst:
the companies of Sheba waited for them: another people in Arabia, which went in companies through the deserts, where being in great want of…
The Church Fathers
"See the paths of Teman, the paths of Saba. He designates here those who love only the goods of this world, on which he assures himself not to support himself, or better the humanity he represents.
Consider the paths of Tema, the ways of Sheba, and wait a little while. But we are more effectually withheld from imitating the wicked, if we calculate their losses by the end. Whence it is well added even with a charge, Consider the paths of Tema, the ways of Sheba, and wait a little while. For Tema is rendered 'the south wind,' and Sheba 'a net.' What is here set forth by 'the south wind,' which dissolves the limbs it blows on with its warm breath, saving dissolute laxity of life? and what by 'the net,' save the fettering of practice? For they that aim at the things that are eternal with a dissolute mind, of their own free will fetter themselves by the irregularity of their efforts, that they should never advance towards God with a free step, and while they entangle themselves with the loose practices of their behaviour, they as it were set their feet to be held in the meshes of a net. For as we said a little way above, that there are persons who are drawn back into bad habits, already got the better of, by means of other open evil habits not yet overcome, so there are some that fall back into those which they had abandoned by means of others, which are cloked with the title of respectability, or the honourableness of praise. Thus there are very many, who now no longer aim at the things of another, and who with the love of tranquillity begun are parted from the jarrings of this world, thirst to be instructed in Holy Writ, long to give themselves to heavenly contemplations, yet they do not abandon with a perfect freedom of soul all concern about their domestic affairs, and often while they are employed in the service of the same in a lawful way, they are involved in the unlawful jarrings of this world at the same time; and while they are eager to protect their earthly interests with anxious care, they quit that repose of the heart, which they sought for; and whilst their substance, that is escaping from them, is guarded with continual caution, the word of divine knowledge which has been conceived in the heart is let loose; in that, according to the declaration of 'Truth,' the thorns choke the seed that has sprung up, when the importunate cares of earthly things put out the word of God from the recollection. Therefore they are walking in a net with their steps all abroad, who, while they do not perfectly forsake the world, fetter themselves in their…
Dictionary and topics
Tema — South; desert, one of the sons of Ishmael, and father of a tribe so called (Gen. 25:15; 1 Chr. 1:30; Job 6:19; Isa. 21:14; Jer. 25:23) which settled at a place to which he gave his name, some 250…
Commerce · Inland, by caravans — Inland, by caravans
Ishmaelites, The · Travelled in large companies or caravans — Travelled in large companies or caravans
Tema · General references — General references
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
18 The paths of their course are turned about,
They go up in the waste and perish.
19 The travelling bands of Tma looked for them,
The caravans of Saba hoped for them;
20 They were disappointed on account of their trust,
They came thus far, and were red with shame.
As the text is pointed, ארחות, Job 6:18, are the paths of the torrents. Hitz., Ew., and Schlottm., however, correct ארחות, caravans, which Hahn even thinks may be understood without correction, since he translates: the caravans of their way are turned about (which is intended to mean: aside from the way that they are pursuing), march into the desert and perish (i.e., because the streams on which they reckoned are dried up). So, in…
The city of Tema in the northern Arabian desert was at the junction of roads from Damascus to Mecca and from the Persian Gulf to Aqaba (Isa 21:14; Jer 25:23). It might have been named after one of Ishmael’s descendants (Gen 25:15). It was not the same as Teman, Eliphaz’s home in Edom. • Sheba, located in southwest Arabia, was a market city for precious commodities (Ps 72:10, 15; Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20; Ezek 27:22-23; 38:13).
Rashi on Job 6:19
They look at the paths of Tema The land of Ishmael, which is low, and the water flows there.
they make a line Heb. קוו, an expression of an extended line. Another explanation: it is an expression of (Gen. 1:9) “Let the waters...gather (יקוו).”
