Job 6:19

19 The caravans of 1Tema look, the travelers of 2Sheba hope.

Job 6:19 Meaning and Commentary

Job 6:19

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 Isaiah 21:14 ) ; 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 water for their refreshment, waited patiently till they came to those places, where they hoped to find water to relieve them, which they had before marked in the wintertime.

Job 6:19 In-Context

17 When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope.
20 They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed.
21 For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Genesis 25:15; 1 Chronicles 1:30; Isaiah 21:14; Jeremiah 25:23
  • 2. See 1 Kings 10:1
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.