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Sunday, August 3rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 13 / Ordinary 18
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THE MESSAGE

Isaiah 21:14

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Arabians;   Beneficence;   Isaiah;   Poor;   Tema;   Thompson Chain Reference - Beneficence;   Helpfulness;   Liberality-Parsimony;   Social Duties;   Work-Workers, Religious;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Ishmaelites, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Tema;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Arabia;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Tema;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Isaiah, Book of;   Tema;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Arabians ;   Tema ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Medes;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ke'dar;   Te'ma;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Commerce;   Edom;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Prevent;   Tema;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Sabeans;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Bring water for the thirsty.The inhabitants of the land of Temameet the refugees with food.
Hebrew Names Version
To him who was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.
King James Version
The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
English Standard Version
To the thirsty bring water; meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
New American Standard Bible
Bring water for the thirsty, You inhabitants of the land of Tema; Meet the fugitive with bread.
New Century Version
They gave water to thirsty travelers; the people of Tema gave food to those who were escaping.
Amplified Bible
Bring water for the thirsty [Dedanites], O inhabitants of the land of Tema [in Arabia]; Meet the fugitive with bread.
World English Bible
To him who was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.
Geneva Bible (1587)
O inhabitants of the lande of Tema, bring foorth water to meete the thirstie, and preuent him that fleeth with his bread.
Legacy Standard Bible
Bring water to meet the thirsty,O inhabitants of the land of Tema,Meet with bread the one who has fled.
Berean Standard Bible
Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema, meet the refugees with food.
Contemporary English Version
to bring water for those who are thirsty. You people of Tema must bring food for the hungry refugees.
Complete Jewish Bible
Bring water to the thirsty, you who live in Teima, greet the fugitives with food;
Darby Translation
Bring ye water to meet the thirsty! The inhabitants of the land of Tema come forth with their bread for him that fleeth.
Easy-to-Read Version
They gave water to some thirsty travelers. The people of Tema gave them food.
George Lamsa Translation
Meet the thirsty, bring water, O you inhabitants of the land of the south! Meet those who are fleeing with your bread.
Good News Translation
give water to the thirsty people who come to you. You people of the land of Tema, give food to the refugees.
Lexham English Bible
When you happen to meet the thirsty, bring water. Inhabitants of the land of Tema came to meet the fugitive with his bread.
Literal Translation
The people of the land of Tema bring water to him who is thirsty; they went to meet the fugitive with his bread.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Mete the thurstie with water, (o ye citisens of Hema) mete those with bred that are fled.
American Standard Version
Unto him that was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.
Bible in Basic English
Give water to him who is in need of water; give bread, O men of the land of Tema, to those in flight.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Unto him that is thirsty bring ye water! The inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitive with his bread.
King James Version (1611)
The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they preuented with their bread him that fled.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The inhabitours of the lande of Thema brought foorth water to hym that was thirstie, they preuented hym that was fled away with their bread.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Ye that dwell in the country of Thaeman, bring water to meet him that is thirsty;
English Revised Version
Unto him that was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Ye that dwellen in the lond of the south, renne, and bere watir to the thristi; and renne ye with looues to hym that fleeth.
Update Bible Version
To him that was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread.
Webster's Bible Translation
The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they met with their bread him that fled.
New English Translation
Bring out some water for the thirsty. You who live in the land of Tema, bring some food for the fugitives.
New King James Version
O inhabitants of the land of Tema, Bring water to him who is thirsty; With their bread they met him who fled.
New Living Translation
O people of Tema, bring water to these thirsty people, food to these weary refugees.
New Life Bible
Bring water for the thirsty. O people of the land of Tema, give bread to the one who is running from trouble.
New Revised Standard
Bring water to the thirsty, meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
To meet the thirsty, bring ye water, - Ye dwellers in the land of Tema; With bread for him, get in advance of him that is in flight!
Douay-Rheims Bible
Meeting the thirsty bring him water, you that inhabit the land of the south, meet with bread him that fleeth.
Revised Standard Version
To the thirsty bring water, meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
Young's Literal Translation
To meet the thirsty brought water have Inhabitants of the land of Tema, With his bread they came before a fugitive.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Bring water for the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of Tema, Meet the fugitive with bread.

Contextual Overview

13A Message concerning Arabia: You'll have to camp out in the desert badlands, you caravans of Dedanites. Haul water to the thirsty, greet fugitives with bread. Show your desert hospitality, you who live in Tema. The desert's swarming with refugees escaping the horrors of war. 16The Master told me, "Hang on. Within one year—I'll sign a contract on it!—the arrogant brutality of Kedar, those hooligans of the desert, will be over, nothing much left of the Kedar toughs." The God of Israel says so.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Tema: Genesis 25:15, 1 Chronicles 1:30, Job 6:19

brought: or, bring ye, Isaiah 16:3, Isaiah 16:4, Judges 8:4-8, Proverbs 25:21, Romans 12:20, 1 Peter 4:9

Reciprocal: Genesis 24:17 - water of 2 Samuel 17:29 - The people Jeremiah 25:23 - Dedan

Cross-References

Genesis 16:7
An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur. He said, "Hagar, maid of Sarai, what are you doing here?" She said, "I'm running away from Sarai my mistress."
Genesis 19:27
Abraham got up early the next morning and went to the place he had so recently stood with God . He looked out over Sodom and Gomorrah, surveying the whole plain. All he could see was smoke belching from the Earth, like smoke from a furnace.
Genesis 21:7
She also said, Whoever would have suggested to Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse a baby! Yet here I am! I've given the old man a son!
Genesis 21:25
At the same time, Abraham confronted Abimelech over the matter of a well of water that Abimelech's servants had taken. Abimelech said, "I have no idea who did this; you never told me about it; this is the first I've heard of it."
Genesis 21:31
That's how the place got named Beersheba (the Oath-Well), because the two of them swore a covenant oath there. After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and his commander, Phicol, left and went back to Philistine territory.
Genesis 21:33
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped God there, praying to the Eternal God. Abraham lived in Philistine country for a long time.
Genesis 22:3
Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we'll come back to you."
Genesis 22:19
Then Abraham went back to his young servants. They got things together and returned to Beersheba. Abraham settled down in Beersheba.
Genesis 37:15
A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"
Genesis 46:1
So Israel set out on the journey with everything he owned. He arrived at Beersheba and worshiped, offering sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The inhabitants of the land of Tema,.... This country had its name from Tema, one of the sons of Ishmael, Genesis 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Of the land of Tema - Tema was one of the sons of Ishmael Genesis 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 Jeremiah 25:23 connects Tema and Dedan together. Jerome and Eusebius say that the village of Theman (Θαιμάν 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 (Θαιμάν Themmē) in Arabia Deserta. This city lies, according to D’Anville, 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, Θαιμάν 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 Isaiah 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 Samaciel’s 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. Samaciel’s sense of honor dictated the reply -

“He honored me, and I’ll 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 קדמוּ qidemû here. They “anticipated” their needs by bread; that is, they supplied them. This was an ancient and an honorable rite of hospitality. Thus Melchizedek Genesis 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 Isaiah 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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 21:14. The land of Tema - "The southern country"] Θαιμαν, Sept.; Austri, Vulg. They read תימן 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," Deuteronomy 23:4.


 
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