THEMAN (Heb. Tēmān, Gr. Θαμμάν). - Name of the most famous Edomite tribe, descended from Eliphaz, grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:11, 15, 42; 1 Chr. 1:36, 53), as well as of the district they inhabited (Gen. 36:34; 1 Chr. 1:45) within the territory of Edom.
Indeed, T. is used as a synonym for Edom (Obad. 9) or placed in parallel with Edom (Jer. 49:7, 20). The Temanites were renowned for their insight and wisdom (Jer. 49:7; Obad. 8; Bar. 3:22); the subtlest interlocutor of Job was the Temanite Eliphaz (Job 2:1; 4:1; 15:1; 22:1; 42:7, 9). In the Byzantine era (Eusebius, Onomast., 96, 20), the name was applied to a military post situated 15 miles from Petra, perhaps corresponding to el-Meqdes; however, no archaeological remains of military works are found there, whereas such remains do exist at the ruins of es-Šawbak, north of Petra; perhaps the distance of 15 should be corrected to 25.