TEMA a tribe and district in Arabia, which took their name from Tema, one of the twelve sons of Ishmael. ( Gen. 25.15; Is.21.14; Jer. 25.23; Job. 6.19.) Ptolemy mentions in Arabia Deserta a town Themma (Θέμμη, 5.19.6). Tema is distinguished in the Old Testament from Tema, a tribe and district in the land of the Edomites (Idumaea), which derived their name from Teman, a grandson of Esau. ( Gen. 36.11, 15, 42; Jer. 49.7, 20; Ezek. 25.13; Amos, 1.12; Hab. 3.3; Obad. 9.) The Temanites, like the other Edomites, are celebrated in the Old Testament for their wisdom ( Jerem. 49.7; Obad. 8; Baruch, 3.22, seq.); and hence we find that Eliphaz, in the book of Job, is a Temanite. ( Job, 2.11, 4.1.) Jerome ( Onomast. s. v. ) represents Tema as distant 5 miles (Eusebius says 15 miles) from Petra, and possessing a Roman garrison.