Obadiah


The Fall of Edom - Israel's Restoration


  Reading time approx 10 minutes

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About this book 1

About Obadiah

Obadiah is the fourth of the twelve minor prophets. Obadiah's name means "servant of God" or "one who praises God" in Hebrew. The book consists of only 21 verses and is the shortest in the entire Old Testament. The book is about Edom, whose people are descended from Esau, Jacob's brother. Edom has always been an arch enemy of Israel. It is unclear when Obadiah lived, but there is much to suggest that it may have been shortly after the destruction of the temple (586 BC), when Edom entered the southern parts of Israel and settled there after the Jews were taken away to Babylon. See also Obad 1:11–14, which clearly describes how Edom gloated as Jerusalem was conquered. Some also believe that Edom may have betrayed Judah, causing them to fall into the hands of the Babylonian power. See Ps. 137:7; Isa. 34:5–17.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents


Persons (8) BETA

Persons in Obadiah


Places (12)

Places in Obadiah


Unique Words (5)

Unique Words in Obadiah



Covers the period: Probably 587–500 BC. In that case, Ob 1:11–14 refers to the Babylonian attacks on Jerusalem (605–586 BC) and Obadiah is a contemporary of Jeremiah. Another possibility is the Philistine conquest of Jerusalem during the reign of Joram 853–841 BC, with Obadiah being a contemporary of the prophet Elisha.

Author: Obadiah

Genre: Historical and prophetic

Reading time: ca 10 minutes.

Total Word Count

291 words in the book (in the original text).

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Obadiah

The Lord will punish the Edomites

11
(Ob 1:1) The rock city of Petra was located in the territory of Edom. Edom means red.

The rock city of Petra was located in the territory of Edom. Edom means red.

Obadiah's vision. [The vision concerns Edom. The Edomites were descended from Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah, and older twin brother of Jacob, see Obad. 1:10; Gen. 25:23–26. Esau's brother Jacob is known as Israel, and Esau is called Edom, which means "red". Perhaps he was red-haired? Jacob/the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan with the mountain of Jerusalem as their central location, while Esau/the Edomites settled south of the Dead Sea with Mount Seir as their central mountain, see verse 21 and Deut. 2:5. The capital was called Sela, which means stone in Hebrew. In Greek, the name is petra. It is possible that the capital of the Edomites was located where the Nabataean rock city of Petra now stands. It is interesting to note that the mountains and cliffs in Petra are red. The enmity between the Israelites and the Edomites began with the twin brothers Jacob and Esau and has continued ever since. On their way from Egypt, the Edomites did not allow the Israelites to pass through their land, see Num. 20:14–21. Since the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan, many battles have been fought between the peoples, see 1 Sam. 14:47; 2 Sam. 8:14; 1 Kings 9:26; 2 Chron. 20:1–27; 2 Kings 8:16–22; 2 Kings 14:9–11; 2 Chron. 28:17. Even in Jesus' time, these tensions remained. Herod the Great, who killed Jewish boys in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1–3, 16; Luke 1:5) was an Edomite. His son (Herod Antipas) killed John the Baptist (Matt. 14:3–4, 8–10) and his grandson (Herod Agrippa I) beheaded James, John's brother (Acts 12:2).] This is what the Lord God (Adonai Yahweh) says to Edom [the Edomites]:

We have heard the message from the Lord (Yahweh)
    and a messenger (ambassador) has been sent to the nations:
    "Arise, and let us go up against her in battle."
2Behold, I will make you small among the nations,
    you are greatly despised. 3The pride of your heart has deceived (tricked, fooled) you,
    you who lived in the clefts of the rock, (who had) your dwellings high up [like an eagle's nest at the top of a cliff],
who said in your heart:
    "Who could bring me down to the ground?"
 4Even though you make (build) your nest as high as the eagle's [figuratively for pride],
    and place it among the stars,
    I will bring it down from there, declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh).
5If thieves come to you,
    if robbers (plunderers; literally: waste) come at night,
how are you not cut off (isolated, in a vulnerable position),
    would they not steal until they had enough?
If grape pickers come to you,
    would they not leave a little for the poor? [Jer. 49:9]
 6How is Esau not searched [the land of Edom will be plundered],
    his hidden treasures sought (discovered)? [Jer. 49:10]
 7All the men of the conspiracy brought you to the border,
    the men who were at peace with you have deceived you and defeated you.
Those who ate your bread
    laid a snare for you
    in which there is no distinction.
    [All who fall into the snare are caught by it.]
8Shall I not on that day,
    declare (say, proclaim) the Lord (Yahweh),
exterminate the wise men of Edom
    and separate the mountains of Esau?
 9Your mighty men, Teman [the city named after Esau's grandson, see Gen. 36:11], shall be dismayed (dismayed, discouraged, dejected),
    for every one of them shall be cut off (cut down) from the mountains of Esau by slaughter.

The crimes of Edom

10Because of the violence you have done to your brother Jacob [the Israelites],
    shame will cover you,
    and you will be cut off (cut down) forever. 11On the day when you stood aside (separated),
    the day when strangers carried away the valuable
and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem,
    you were also one of them. [Verses 11-14 seem to describe the Babylonian attacks on Jerusalem in 605-586 BC.] 12You should not have stared (looked with schadenfreude) at your brother [Israel] when disaster struck,
    at their suffering on the day of their misfortune!
Nor should you have rejoiced over the sons of Judah
    on the day of their destruction!
You should not have spoken proudly (with proud words)
    on the day of their calamity!
 13You should not have entered the gates of my people
    on the day of their calamity!
You should not have stared (with schadenfreude) at their suffering
    on the day of their calamity!
Nor should you have laid your hands on their possessions
    on the day of their calamity!
 14Nor should you have stood at the crossroads
    to strike down those who managed to escape!
Nor should you have imprisoned those who remained
    [the small remnant that was not taken away to Babylon]
    on the day of their calamity!

God's punishment of Israel's enemies

[The pride and fall of Edom is a picture of the pride and fall of all nations. Obadiah broadens the picture from Israel's neighbor in the south to a larger perspective. The Hebrew word for Edom consists of three letters: alef, dalet, and mem. These are the same letters as the word adam, which means man and mankind. Edom becomes a picture of how God will one day judge all of mankind's pride, treachery, and violence. God's judgment on Edom is in line with God's promise to Abraham concerning Israel, see Gen. 12:3. All the great powers and countries that have tried to destroy Israel and the Jewish people have instead been lost themselves. Some examples are ancient Egypt, Persia, Nazi Germany, etc.] 15For the day of the Lord [when he will judge] is near for all peoples. [Not just Edom.]
As you have dealt with others,
    so shall you be treated,
    your [evil] deeds shall befall you. [Joel 3:14–16]
 16Just as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
    so shall all the nations drink continually (continuously),
yes, they shall drink and gulp down
    and become as if they had never existed (been). [The judgment is likened to wine that the nations are forced to drink. Just as wine causes those who drink it to lose their ability to think clearly and begin to stagger, God will cause these nations to stumble in confusion. This metaphor is taken from Jer. 25:15–29; 49:12.]

God's blessings upon Israel

[Just as the two previous prophetic books, Joel and Amos, described what would happen after the Day of the Lord, it is now described how God will raise up the house of David, see Joel 2:32 and Amos 9:11–15.] 17But on Mount Zion [the temple mount in Jerusalem] there will be a remnant (a saved group; a deliverance)
    and it will be holy [again],
and the house of Jacob will reoccupy
    its possessions (return and live in its territories).
 18The house of Jacob shall be a fire
    and the house of Joseph a flame [Joseph's sons are Ephraim and Manasseh, they are Jacob's grandsons and represent the northern kingdom]
and the house of Esau shall be like sticks
    that are kindled and they shall be consumed (by the fire). Nothing shall remain of the house of Esau, for the Lord (Yahweh) has spoken. 19Those in the south (Negev) shall
    occupy the mountains of Esau
and those from the lowlands of the Philistines
    shall occupy the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria
    and Benjamin shall occupy Gilead. 20The captives of the sons of Israel
    who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath [near Sidon, see 1 Kings 17:9]
and the captives of Jerusalem
    who are in Sepharad [far from Israel]
    shall possess the cities of the south (Negev).
[This is the only time the word Sepharad is used, and there are various suggestions, but the main point of the mention is that it is a place far away. In modern Hebrew, Spain is Sephar and Spanish Jews are called Sephardim. Jonathan's Targum also associates Sepharad with Spain, although this is doubtful. Another alternative is that Sefarad may be "Saparda" from certain Assyrian inscriptions, which places the city in Media. Sardis in Asia Minor is another possibility, since its name in Lydian is Sfard.] 21Savior (rescuer) [mighty warriors, those who have been liberated] shall come up on Mount Zion [the temple mount in Jerusalem]
    to judge the mountains of Esau [Seir],
    and the kingdom (dominion) shall be the Lord's (Yahweh's).




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