Jeremiah 49:7 - Exposition

Teman was celebrated for its "wisdom," i.e. for a practical moral philosophy, similar to that which we find in the less distinctly religions portions of the Book of Proverbs. It was this "wisdom" which formed the common element in the higher culture of the Semitic peoples, and of which the sacred narrator speaks when he says that "Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country" ( 1 Kings 4:30 ). One of Job's friends, Eliphaz, was a Temanite ( Job 2:11 ). From verse 20, however, it appears that Teman is here used for Edom in general, of which it formed a part. "Wisdom" was doubtless cultivated throughout Idumaea ( Obadiah 1:8 ), the "land of Uz," in which Job dwelt, was probably in the east of Edom (see on Jeremiah 25:20 ). Is their wisdom vanished? The Hebrew, with its characteristic love for material symbols, has, "Is their wisdom poured out?" So in Jeremiah 19:7 , "I will pour out [a different word, however, is used] the counsel of Judah." The body being regarded as a vessel, it was natural to represent the principle of life, both physical ( Isaiah 53:12 ) and intellectual (as here), under the symbol of a liquid.