Job 6:19
in Job 6The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them.
KJV
The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
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This verse in Job 6
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The troops of Tema looked - That is, looked for the streams of water. On the situation of Tema, see Notes, Job 2:11. This was the country of Eliphaz, and the image would be well understood by him. The figure is one of exquisite beauty. It means that the caravans from Tema, in journeying through the desert, looked for those streams. They came with an expectation of finding the means of allaying their thirst. When they came there they were disappointed, for the waters had disappeared.
This site's exposition
Caravans turn aside from their routes
on Job 6:18-20
The figure continues: "Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish". Job names trading peoples of Arabia, Tema and Sheba, counting on water that fails. "They are confounded because they had hoped" names the shame Job feels from friends who promised comfort and delivered accusation.
This site's exposition
The caravans of Tema look for water
Barnes links Tema with the homeland of Eliphaz, so Job draws the picture from ground his friend knew. The caravans turn aside to the wadis to find water and find the channels dry. Their hope ends in the wasteland.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
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.'
Therefore, he did not have support in himself, in his servants or in his relatives. As a further consequence, he demonstrates that he did not have help from his other friends saying, "Look for the paths to Teman, the roads to Saba," lands where he …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. 5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder? 6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
In the winter, when they were not thirsty, there was water enough. Every one will applaud and admire those that are full and in prosperity. But in the heat of summer, when they needed water, then it failed them; it was consumed (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The troops of Tema looked,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
(1.) Their pretensions are fitly compared to the great show which the brooks make when they are swollen with the waters of a land flood, by the melting of the ice and snow, which make them blackish or muddy,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the troops--that is, "caravans." Tema--north of Arabia-Deserta, near the Syrian desert; called from Tema son of Ishmael (Ge 25:15; 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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The troops of Tema looked - The caravans coming from Tema are represented as arriving at those places where it was well known torrents did descend from the mountains, and they were full of expectation that here they could not only slake their thirst, but fill their girbas or water-skins; but when they arrive, they find the waters totally dissipated and lost. In vain did the caravans of Sheba wait for them; they did not reappear: and they were confounded, because they had hoped to find here refreshment and rest.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִ֭בִּיטוּ | hibitu | they look | H5027 → | 69 times |
| אָרְח֣וֹת | ʾarechot | [the] caravans of | H734 → | 58 times |
| תֵּמָ֑א | tema' | Tema | H8485 → | |
| הֲלִיכֹ֥ת | halikhot | [the] travelers of | H1979 → | |
| שְׁ֝בָ֗א | sheva' | Sheba | H7614 → | |
| קִוּוּ־ | kivu- | they look eagerly | H6960 → | 49 times |
| לָֽמוֹ׃ | lamo | for them |
הִ֭בִּיטוּthey look
hibituH5027 →69 times
אָרְח֣וֹת[the] caravans of
ʾarechotH734 →58 times
תֵּמָ֑אTema
tema'H8485 →
הֲלִיכֹ֥ת[the] travelers of
halikhotH1979 →
שְׁ֝בָ֗אSheba
sheva'H7614 →
קִוּוּ־they look eagerly
kivu-H6960 →49 times
לָֽמוֹ׃for them
lamo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 10:1Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.
it leads to
- Matthew 12:42
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One…
- Luke 11:31
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon,…
- Genesis 10:28
Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
- 2 Chronicles 9:1–12
Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in…
- Psalms 72:15
Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him; may they bless him all day long.
- Matthew 12:42
Through
Jeremiah 25:23Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair;
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:26
Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in…
- Jeremiah 49:32
Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoil. I will scatter to the wind in every direction those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them from all…
- Jeremiah 9:26
Through
Isaiah 21:14Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food.
it leads to
- Genesis 25:15
Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
- Genesis 25:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.