Teman

Biblical Text

Teman first appears as a personal name. According to Genesis 36:11, Teman was a son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau. Genesis 36:15 and 36:42, as well as 1 Chronicles 1:36 and 1:53, mention "duke Teman" among the chiefs of Edom. Genesis 36:34 (1 Chronicles 1:45) records that the Edomite king Husham was "of the land of Temani." These records suggest that Teman was a personal name that came to designate a clan and a territory.

In the Book of Job, Job's friend Eliphaz is called "the Temanite" (Job 2:11; 4:1; 42:7). In the prophetic books, Teman frequently appears in oracles of judgment against Edom.

• Jeremiah 49:7: "Is wisdom no more in Teman?" In 49:20 the inhabitants of Teman are again named as objects of judgment.
• Ezekiel 25:13: "I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword."
• Amos 1:12: "But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah."
• Obadiah 1:9: "And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed."

By contrast, Habakkuk 3:3 declares, "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran," celebrating Teman as a place from which God appears.

Background

The Hebrew word teman is related to the word for "right hand." Because the right hand points south when one faces east, the word means "south," and in biblical Hebrew it is also used as a common noun for the south. Teman designates a district or clan within the land of Edom, southeast of Israel. In the prophetic books it is sometimes used as a name standing for Edom as a whole (Obadiah 1:8–9). Some scholars connect it with a particular archaeological site in southern Jordan, but its exact location remains disputed.

Jeremiah 49:7 and Obadiah 1:8 presuppose that Edom was renowned for its wisdom. The scene in which Eliphaz the Temanite debates questions of wisdom with Job is also read against this background. Baruch 3:22–23, included in Catholic Bibles and in the Korean Common Translation, likewise mentions Teman in connection with wisdom.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

On the one hand, Teman, as part of Edom—a people related to Israel as a brother yet hostile to it—is a target of prophecies of judgment. On the other hand, in Habakkuk 3:3 it appears as a place in a hymn celebrating a theophany, that is, God's self-manifestation. This verse is read together with Deuteronomy 33:2 and Judges 5:4, which speak of God coming from Seir and Mount Paran, as part of a poetic tradition of "God coming from the south." The name Teman does not occur in the New Testament, although the region of Edom was known in New Testament times as Idumea (Mark 3:8).

Interpretation and Issues

• The two Eliphazes: The text does not say whether Eliphaz the son of Esau and Eliphaz the Temanite in the Book of Job are the same person. A Jewish tradition identifies them, but most commentaries do not conclude that they are the same individual, regarding the shared name and region as merely overlapping. The view that links Job's homeland of Uz with Edom (compare Lamentations 4:21) is often discussed alongside this question.
• Teman in Habakkuk 3:3: Some interpreters take it as an actual place name, while others see it as a poetic expression referring to "the south." In archaeology, inscriptions found at Kuntillet Ajrud in the northern Sinai Peninsula are known to contain the expression "Yahweh of Teman." Some theories connect this expression with the origins of Israelite faith, but these remain debated.