Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
14. The caravans are reduced to the direst straits through having to shun the stations on the regular route where alone their stock of food and water could be replenished. The prophet calls on the inhabitants of Tema to supply their necessities. The verse should be rendered: To the thirsty bring water, O ye inhabitants of the land of Tema, meet the fugitive with bread (suitable) for him. (See R.V. marg.)
Tema (Gen 25:14; Job 6:19) is the modern Teima in the northern highlands of Arabia, east of the great pilgrim route from Damascus to Mecca. In O.T. times it was the seat of an important commercial tribe, friendly therefore to the Dedanites.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Of the land of Tema – Tema was one of the sons of Ishmael Gen 25:15, and is supposed to have populated the city of Thema in Arabia Deserta. The word denotes hero one of the tribes of Ishmael, or of the Arabians. Job speaks Job 6:19 of the troops of Tema, and Jeremiah Jer 25:23 connects Tema and Dedan together. Jerome and Eusebius say that the village of Theman ( Thaiman) existed in their time. It was, according to Jerome, five, and according to Eusebius, fifteen miles from Petra, and was then occupied as a Roman garrison (Onomas Urb. et Locor). Ptolemy speaks of a city called Themme ( Themme) in Arabia Deserta. This city lies, according to DAnville, in longitude 57 degrees East, and in latitude 27 degrees North. According to Seetsen, it is on the road usually pursued by caravans from Mecca to Damascus. Lowth renders it The southern country, but without authority. The Septuagint renders it, Thaiman – Thaiman.
Brought water – Margin, Bring ye. This might be rendered in the imperative, but the connection seems rather to require that it be read as a declaration that they did so. To bring water to the thirsty was an act of hospitality, and especially in eastern countries, where water was so scarce, and where it was of so much consequence to the traveler in the burning sands and deserts. The idea is, that the inhabitants of the land would be oppressed and pursued by an enemy; and that the Arabians, referred to by the prophet Isa 21:13, would be driven from their homes; and be dependent on others; that they would wander through the vast deserts, deprived of the necessaries of life; and that they would be dependent on the charity of the people of Tema for the supply of their needs. The following illustration of this passage has been kindly furnished me by the Rev. Eli Smith, missionary to Syria, showing that Isaiah, in mentioning hospitality as one of the virtues of the inhabitants of Tema, drew from the life. Even in Hebrew prophecy hospitality is distinctly recognized as a trait in the Arab character. Isaiah says, the inhabitants of Tema, etc. Tema is known as an oasis in the heart of Arabia, between Syria and Mecca. And among the scraps of ante-Mahometan poetry that have reached us, is one by Samaciel, a prince of this same Tema. In extolling the virtues of his tribe he says –
No fire of ours was ever extinguished at night without a guest, and of our guests never did one disparage us.
In the passage quoted from Isaiah, it is to the thirsty and hungry in flight, that the inhabitants of Tema are represented as bringing water and bread, as if hastening to afford them protection. The extent to which this protection is sometimes carried, is finely illustrated by a traditionary anecdote in the life of Samaciel, the prince and poet of Tema just mentioned. In some feud among the tribes in his neighborhood, a prince (Amru el-Keis) fled to Samaciel, left with him his treasures, and was conducted by him beyond the reach of his enemies. They assembled their forces, and marched upon Tema. On their way Samaciels son fell into their hands. Presenting the young man before his castle, they proposed to the father the dreadful alternative, of delivering up to them what his guest had left, or seeing his son massacred. Samaciels sense of honor dictated the reply –
He honored me, and Ill honor him … Treachery is a chain to the neck that never wears out. So he defended the rights of his guest, and his son was slain.
They prevented – Our word prevent usually means at present, to hinder, to obstruct. But in the Scriptures, and in the Old English sense of the word, it means to anticipate, to go before. That is the sense of the word qidemu here. They anticipated their needs by bread; that is, they supplied them. This was an ancient and an honorable rite of hospitality. Thus Melchizedek Gen 14:17-18 is said to have come out and met Abraham, when returning victorious from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, with bread and wine.
Him that fled – The inhabitant of the land of Arabia that fled before the invader, perhaps the inhabitants of Kedar Isa 21:16, or of some other part of Arabia. It is not meant that the whole land of Arabia would be desolate, but that the invasion would come upon certain parts of it; and the inhabitants of other portions – as of Tema – would supply the needs of the fugitives.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. The land of Tema – “The southern country”] , Sept.; Austri, Vulg. They read teiman, which seems to be right; for probably the inhabitants of Tema might be involved in the same calamity with their brethren and neighbours of Kedar, and not in a condition to give them assistance, and to relieve them, in their flight before the enemy, with bread and water. To bring forth bread and water is an instance of common humanity in such cases of distress; especially in those desert countries in which the common necessaries of life, more particularly water, are not easily to be met with or procured. Moses forbids the Ammonite and Moabite to be admitted into the congregation of the Lord to the tenth generation. One reason which he gives for this reprobation is their omission of the common offices of humanity towards the Israelites; “because they met them not with bread and water in the way, when they came forth out of Egypt,” De 23:4.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Tema; a part of Arabia; of which see Job 6:19; Jer 25:23.
They prevented with their bread him that fled; whereby he implies that those other Arabians, against whom this prophecy is principally directed, should be reduced to great scarcity of all necessary provisions, and forced to flee for their lives from a bloody enemy, as is more fully expressed in the next verse.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Temaa kindred tribe: anoasis in that region (Jer 25:23).The Temeans give water to the faint and thirsting Dedanites; thegreatest act of hospitality in the burning lands of the East, wherewater is so scarce.
preventedthat is,anticipated the wants of the fugitive Dedanites by supplying bread(Ge 14:18).
their breadrather,”his (the fugitive’s) bread”; the bread due tohim, necessary for his support; so “thy grave”(Isa 14:19), [MAURER].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The inhabitants of the land of Tema,…. This country had its name from Tema, one of the sons of Ishmael, Ge 25:15. The Targum calls it the land of the south, as if it was Teman. These people were Arabians, and are here said to assist their countrymen, the Dedanites, in distress:
brought water to him that was thirsty; as travellers are wont to be, especially in a desert land, and when fleeing from an enemy; in which circumstances the travelling companies of Dedanim now were:
they prevented with their bread him that fled; gave it to him, being hungry and necessitous, without asking for it. Now all this seems to show what calamities should come upon the inhabitants of some parts of Arabia; that they should lodge in a forest, be hungry and thirsty, and flee before their enemy, as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
14. To meet the thirsty bring waters. (72) He heightens the description of that trembling with which the Lord had determined to strike the Arabians in such a manner that they thought of nothing but flight, and did not take time even to collect those things which were necessary for the journey. Isaiah therefore declares that the Arabians will come into the country of Dedanim, empty and destitute of all things, and that they will not be provided with any food. On this account he exhorts the inhabitants to go out and meet them with bread and water, because otherwise they will faint through the want of the necessaries of life.
I am aware that this passage is explained differently by some commentators, who think that the Prophet mocks at the Arabians, who had been cruel and barbarous towards the Jews; as if he had said, “How gladly you would now bring water to the thirsty!” But that exposition is too constrained. And yet I do not deny that they received the reward of their cruelty, when they ran hither and thither in a state of hunger. But the meaning which I have given is twofold, (73) that the Arabians in their flight will be so wretched that they will not even have the necessary supply of water, and they will therefore faint with thirst, if they do not quickly receive assistance; and he intimates that there will be a scarcity both of food and of drink. He calls on the neighbors to render assistance; not to exhort them to do their duty, but to state the fact more clearly; and he enjoins them to give their bread to them, not because it is deserved, but because they are suffering extreme want. Yet as it is founded on the common law of nature and humanity, the Prophet indirectly insinuates that the hungry and thirsty are defrauded of their bread, when food is denied to them.
(72) Bogus footnote
(73) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) The inhabitants of . . . Tema . . .Another element of suffering comes into the picture. The Dedanites, driven out of their usual route into the desert, find their provisions fail them, and the men of Tema, fearing to invite them to their tents, lest they too should be smitten by the invader, are compelled to take out bread and water stealthily. The name of Tema (now Taima), is found on the pilgrim route from Damascus to Mecca, and again on that between Palmyra and Petra, on the east of the Haurn mountains.
They prevented with their breadi.e., they went out to welcome him (the fugitive), without waiting till he came as a suppliant. Their very hospitality, in strange contrast with Arab usage, had to be practised in secret.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Tema If this place has been identified, as is claimed, it lay on the present pilgrim road from Damascus to Mecca. Its people are commanded to supply provisions to the caravans, who were fleeing from “the drawn sword, the bent bow, and the grievousness of war.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 21:14-15. The inhabitants of the land of Tema Or, O ye inhabitants of the land of Tema, bring ye water to him that is thirsty; prevent, or meet the fugitive with bread, Isa 21:15. For they flee. We have here a figurative description of this judgment. The prophet beholds the Arabians seized with great fear; flying without their baggage, on account of the Assyrians, who are pursuing them with their drawn swords. He therefore commands the inhabitants of the land of Tema, their relations, to meet them, and relieve their hunger and thirst; under which figure the prophet elegantly sets forth the miserable state of the Nabathaean Arabs, pursued by the Assyrians. The passage elegantly refers to the dry and burning nature of the desarts of Arabia. See Arrian’s Hist. Ind. cap. 43: Hos 13:5 and Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 21:14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
Ver. 14. Brought water to the thirsty. ] Or, Bring forth water wherewith to meet the thirsty; with your bread prevent those that flee; be speedy and spontaneous in your beneficence. “Blessed is the man that considereth the poor and needy”; Psa 41:1 qui praeoccupat vocem petitari – which preventeth the request of the poor beggar; so Augustine rendereth it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Tema. Descendants of Abraham through Hagar and Ishmael (Gen 25:3. 1Ch 1:32)
: both mentioned in Jer 25:23. Job 6:19.
brought = bring ye.
prevented = meet ye.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Tema: Gen 25:15, 1Ch 1:30, Job 6:19
brought: or, bring ye, Isa 16:3, Isa 16:4, Jdg 8:4-8, Pro 25:21, Rom 12:20, 1Pe 4:9
Reciprocal: Gen 24:17 – water of 2Sa 17:29 – The people Jer 25:23 – Dedan
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 21:14-15. The inhabitants of the land of Tema Another part of Arabia, (of which see Job 6:19; Jer 25:23,) namely, the posterity of Tema, Ishmaels son; brought water to him that was thirsty To the Dedanites, who are here represented as being reduced to great straits, being forced to flee from the enemy without any provision for their subsistence. They prevented with bread him that fled That is, that fled for his life from the sword of the enemy, as is more fully expressed in the next verse. To bring forth bread and water, in such cases of distress, is an instance of common humanity; especially in these desert countries, in which the common necessaries of life, more particularly water, are not easily met with, or procured. See Deu 23:4.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
21:14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought {s} water to him that was thirsty, they met with their bread him that fled.
(s) Signifying that for fear they will not tarry to eat or drink.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Other Arabians would provide sustenance for the refugees of war who would seek them out (cf. Isa 16:2-3).