Bible Strands
Job 6:19
The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks to his three friends during his prolonged lament, positioning this verse between his description of desert caravans that perish in the wasteland (Job 6:18) and his confession that they return confounded and disappointed (Job 6:20). He invokes a familiar desert reality to mirror his own shattered expectations.
The words — The verb הִ֭בִּיטוּ (Hi.bi.tu) literally means "they look" or "they gaze," while קִוּוּ (ki.vu) carries the literal sense "they wait eagerly" or "they hope." Together they describe an active, anticipatory search directed toward an uncertain outcome.
The thread — Tema and Sheba appear as established desert regions in Genesis 25:15, Isaiah 21:14, and Jeremiah 25:23. Isaiah 21:14 explicitly commands Tema’s inhabitants to bring water for the thirsty and food for refugees, confirming the area’s known role in supplying desert travelers.
Why it lands — The text states that caravans search for water and travelers hope to find it, yet Job 6:20 records their arrival as a source of shame and dashed expectation. This progression requires the reader to acknowledge how natural hope can be met with failure, rejecting simplistic explanations for suffering.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
Cross-references
- Genesis 25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
- Isaiah 21:14 Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food.
- Jeremiah 25:23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair;
- 1 Kings 10:1 Now 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.
- Genesis 10:7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
- Genesis 25:3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites.
- Psalms 72:10 May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
- Ezekiel 27:22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your wares they exchanged gold, the finest of all spices, and precious stones.