Teman

Te´man, a grandson of Esau (Gen 36:11; Gen 36:15); also a city, region, and people on the east of Idumea sprung from him (Gen 36:42; Jer 49:7; Eze 25:13; Amo 1:11-12; Oba 1:9). Like other Arabs (1Ki 5:12), the Temanites were celebrated for wisdom (Jer 49:7; Bar 3:22-23; comp. Job 2:11; Job 22:1).

South, a city and region in Eastern Idumaea, settled by Teman the grandson of Esau, Gen 36:11,15,42 1Sa 1:12 Hab 3:3 . The men of Teman, Gen 36:34, like others of the Edomites, had the reputation of great wisdom, Jer 49:7,20 Job 1:21 . Compare the sayings of Eliphaz the Temanite in the book of Job.\par

Te’man. (the south).

1. A son of Eliphaz, son of Esau, by Adah. Gen 36:11; Gen 36:15; Gen 36:41; 1Ch 1:36; 1Ch 1:53. (B.C. about 1792).

2. A country, and probably, a city, named after the Edomite phylarch, or from which the phylarch took his name. The Hebrew signifies "south", etc., see Job 9:9; Isa 43:6. And it is probable that the land of Teman was a southern portion of the land of Edom, or, in a wider sense, that of the sons of the east. Teman is mentioned in five places by the prophets, in four of which, it is connected with Edom, and in two with Dedan. Jer 49:7-8; Eze 25:13. Eusebius and Jerome mention Teman as a town, in their day, 15 miles distant from Petra, and a Roman post.

("on the right".) So south to one facing east. Son of Eliphaz, Esau’s son (Gen 36:11); a duke of Edom. The southern part of Idumea. Habakkuk (Hab 3:3) confirms this southern position, from which as the starting point in the region of Mount Paran the Holy One’s coming is northwards. Eze 25:13 translated "I will make it desolate from Teman (in the S.) ever, to Dedan (in the N.W.); they shall fall by the sword," i.e. the whole land of Edom. Famed for wisdom: Jer 49:8, "is wisdom no more in Teman?" etc.; compare 1Ki 4:30, and for "mighty men" Oba 1:8-9. Eliphaz the Temanite is mentioned as a wise man in Job 2:11; Job 22:1. Eusebius and Jerome mention Teman as a town 15 miles from Petra, and a Roman post.

Teman (tç’man), south desert. A country named from the oldest son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau. Gen 36:11. These people were called Temani, or Temanites, and seem to have been noted for wisdom. Jer 49:7; Oba 1:9. They are especially mentioned in the prediction against Edom. Jer 49:7; Eze 25:13; Amo 1:12; Oba 1:9; Hab 3:3. Their country seems to have been the southeastern part of Edom.

By: Executive Committee of the Editorial Board., Immanuel Benzinger

Originally, the name of a tribe and then of a district of the Edomites. In Biblical genealogy it is the name of the eldest son of Eliphaz, the first-born of Esau, and one of the "dukes" of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 11, 15, 42; I Chron. i. 36, 53). The genealogy here noted proves that Teman was one of the most important of the Edomite tribes, and this is confirmed by the fact that "Teman" is used as a synonym for Edom itself (Amos i. 12; Obad. 9; comp. Jer. xlix. 20, 22; Hab. iii. 3). The Temanites were famed for their wisdom (Jer. xlix. 7; Baruch iii. 22); Eliphaz, the oldest and wisest of the friends of Job, is described as a member of this tribe (Job ii. 11 et passim).

Teman is referred to in Obad. 9 as a part of the mount of Esau, while Amos i. 12 mentions it in connection with the Edomitic "palaces of Bozrah"; Ezek. xxv. 13 speaks of it in contrast to the southern boundary Dedan. The "Onomasticon" of Eusebius (260, 155) mentions a region called Thaiman, in Gebalene (the Gebal of Ps. lxxxiii. 8 [A. V. 7]), and thus in the district of Petra, noting also an East Teman, a town with a Roman garrison fifteen (according to Jerome, five) miles from Petra.

TEMAN.—A tribe (and district) of Edom, whose importance is indicated by its eponym being the eldest son of the eldest son (Eliphaz) of Esau (Gen 36:11; Gen 36:15; cf. Gen 36:42), and by its being taken along with Bozrah (wh. see) to represent the whole land of Edom (Amo 1:12; cf. Oba 1:9). Eze 25:13 implies that Edom stretches from Teman to Dedan, from which we infer that the former lay in the north-east of the territory claimed by Edom, that is, to the S.E. of Moab. Its inhabitants were renowned for wisdom (Jer 49:7), and the chief of Job’s counsellors was Eliphaz ‘the Temanite’ (Job 2:11).

J. F. McCurdy.

tē´man (תּמן, tēmān, “on the right,” i.e. “south”; Θαιμάν, Thaimán): The name of a district and town in the land of Edom, named after Teman the grandson of Esau, the son of his firstborn, Eliphaz (Gen 36:11; 1Ch 1:36). A duke Teman is named among the chiefs or clans of Edom (Gen 36:42; 1Ch 1:53). He does not however appear first, in the place of the firstborn. Husham of the land of the Temanites was one of the ancient kings of Edom (Gen 36:34; 1Ch 1:45). From Oba 1:9 we gather that Teman was in the land of Esau (Edom). In Amo 1:12 it is named along with Bozrah, the capital of Edom. In Eze 25:13 desolation is denounced upon Edom: “From Teman even unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword.” Dedan being in the South, Teman must be sought in the North Eusebius, Onomasticon knows a district in the Gebalene region called Theman, and also a town with the same name, occupied by a Roman garrison, 15 miles from Petra. Unfortunately no indication of direction is given. No trace of the name has yet been found. It may have been on the road from Elath to Bozrah.

The inhabitants of Teman seem to have been famous for their wisdom (Jer 49:7; Oba 1:8 f). Eliphaz the Temanite was chief of the comforters of Job (Job 2:11, etc.). The manner in which the city is mentioned by the prophets, now by itself, and again as standing for Edom, shows how important it must have been in their time.

An area in the northern part of

Edom, although the name means “South.”