Obadiah 1:11

In the day that thou stoodest lit. in the day of thy standing. Nothing can certainly be decided from the language of this and the following verses, as to whether the conduct here ascribed to the Edomites was a thing of the past when Obadiah wrote, or was still future. The phrase "in the day of thy standing" obviously determines nothing as to time; nor does the phrase at the end of this verse, "thou, as one of them," in itself considered. In Obadiah 1:12 the only grammatical rendering is, "do not look," instead of "thou shouldest not have looked," and the same is true of all the similar expressions in Obadiah 1:12. In this 11th verse two past tenses do indeed occur: "foreigners entered intohis gates, and castlots upon Jerusalem." And the use of these might be held to favour what is the most natural and obvious impression conveyed by the whole passage, viz. that the prophet is describing a past event. But inasmuch as his description may relate to a prophetic vision which had been vouchsafed to him, and not to an actual scene which he had witnessed, the time indicated remains uncertain, and the question of date must be decided on other grounds. (See Introd. § II.)

on the other side comp. Psalms 38:11 [Hebrews 12]. "My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore," where the Hebrew expression is the same. It may however be a charge of direct opposition rather than of culpable neutrality. The same expression occurs in this sense in 2 Samuel 18:13, "Thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me." Comp. Daniel 10:13, "withstood me," lit. "stood over against me," where the Hebrew phrase is similar.

strangers, foreigners This therefore cannot refer to the defeat of Amaziah by Jehoash. (See Introd. § II.)

his forces If this rendering be adopted it will mean, not so much the army which fled with the king and was overtaken and scattered (2 Kings 25:4-5), as the bulk of the people, who formed the strength of the nation and who were carried captive, leaving only the "poor of the land" behind. (2 Kings 25:11-12; Jeremiah 39:9-10.) In this sense the same Hebrew word is rendered "host" in Obadiah 1:20 below. The rendering of the margin, and of R.V., "carried away his substance," is supported by Obadiah 1:13, where the word evidently means substance or wealth.

cast lots upon Jerusalem i. e. divided its spoil and captives by lot. Comp. Joel 3:3 [Hebrews 4:3]; Nahum 3:10.

thou, as one of them "thou," the brother, and that too in dark contrast to Samaria the alien. "In the remains of the population of the Samaritan kingdom it is affecting to see that all sense of ancient rivalry was lost in the grief of the common calamity. Pilgrims from the ancient capitals of Ephraim, Samaria, Shechem, and Shiloh came flocking with shorn beards, gashed faces, torn clothes, and loud wailings, to offer incense on the ruined Temple, which was not their own." Stanley. (Jeremiah 41:5).