Albert Barnes Commentary Job 6:20

"They were put to shame because they had hoped; They came thither, and were confounded." — Job 6:20 (ASV)

They were confounded because they had hoped - The caravans of Tema and Sheba. The word “confounded” here means ashamed.

It represents the state of feeling that a person has when they have met with disappointment. They are perplexed, distressed, and ashamed that they had entertained such confident hope; see the notes at (Isaiah 30:5). They were downcast and sad that the waters had failed, and they looked on one another with confusion and dismay.

There are few images more poetic than this, and nothing that would more strikingly exhibit the disappointment of Job: that he had looked for consolation from his friends and had not found it. He was downcast, distressed, and disheartened, like the travelers of Tema and Sheba, because they had nothing to offer to console him; because he had waited for them to sustain him in his afflictions and had been wholly disappointed.