ישעיהו, פרק כ״א, פסוק י״ד

In times of war and crisis, when refugees flee the enemy's sword into the harsh desert, a fundamental moral duty arises to offer them help. This prophecy explores the proper treatment of destitute exiles and wanderers, delivering both a call for deep compassion and a harsh rebuke against cruelty and ingratitude.

The prophet directs his message to the inhabitants of Tema, a peaceful district in Arabia southeast of the Transjordan known for the abundant water in its valleys. He urges them to go out and meet the thirsty, wandering refugees of Kedar who are escaping through the desert, and to bring them water to drink [רד״ק, מצודת ציון, שטיינזלץ, מלבי״ם]. The primary approach among commentators is that this plea extends to providing the wanderers with the bread and food they desperately need to survive [מצודת דוד, שד״ל].

Within this call for help, there is a profound and tragic poetic irony. Historically, the people of Kedar were famous for their exceptional hospitality, regularly feeding any wanderer who passed through their territory. Now, their fortunes have completely reversed. Those who once generously provided food to others are now entirely dependent on the mercy of strangers, lacking even basic water. Because of this, the prophet demands that the people of Tema return this past kindness. They are asked to supply the refugees with the very food the refugees themselves once distributed, or at the very least, to offer them water, which is cheap and readily available [מלבי״ם, שד״ל, אבן עזרא].

In sharp contrast to this call for compassion, a completely different perspective understands the message not as a command of how to act, but as a severe criticism of actual, horrific deeds. According to this view, rather than naturally bringing water to the thirsty, the people of Tema went out to meet the refugees with salty foods and inflated leather pouches filled only with air. When the starving refugees ate, their thirst only intensified. Attempting to drink from the pouches, they inhaled nothing but air and died. This extreme cruelty directly violates the legacy of kindness God showed to Ishmael, the father of the Arabian tribes. When Ishmael was a thirsty exile wandering in the desert, God took pity on him and miraculously revealed a well of water [רש״י]. Similarly, [אבן עזרא] views the message as a strong rebuke against the people of Tema for failing to show basic kindness to the refugee caravans, echoing the historical condemnation of Moab for similar failures.