Job 6:19

• The city of Tema, located in the northern Arabian desert, was at the place roads crossed from Damascus to Mecca and from the Persian Gulf to Aqaba (Isaiah 21:14; Jeremiah 25:23). They might have named it after an ancestor who descended from Ishmael (Genesis 25:15). It was different from "Teman," which was Eliphaz’s home in Edom.

• Sheba, situated in southwest Arabia, was a trading city for valuable goods (Psalm 72:10, 15; Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 6:20; Ezekiel 27:22–23; 38:13).

Job and his friends might have shared a covenant (special agreement) of loyalty and faith (Hebrew khesed; see Genesis 21:23; Exodus 15:13; 1 Chronicles 16:34). This bond would have made them like brothers, those who protect, and friends he could trust (Job 6:14–15; 6:21–23, 27). If they were in a covenant with one another, Job was accusing his friends of violating their covenant with him.

Job responds by criticizing his counselors and questioning God (chapters 6 and 7). He explains his intense words by indicating his deep "grief" or "anguish" (6:2–3; 7:11). Job states that Eliphaz has not provided comfort or sympathy as a friend. Instead, Eliphaz chose to argue about out of date religious or theological ideas.