Obadiah 1:17

But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance Unlike Edom (Obadiah 1:9) and the other heathen nations (Obadiah 1:16) whose destruction will be complete, Israel even in her worst calamities shall have "a deliverance," i. e. remnant of the people, who shall escape destruction and be delivered out of trouble, to be as it were a fresh nucleus and starting-point of the nation. The word here rendered "deliverance" occurs in Exodus 10:5, "that which is escaped," to denote the remnant of the fruits of the earth left by the plague of hail. It is used in the same sense as here in Isaiah 37:31-32, "that is escaped," "they that escape;" and in Joel 2:32 [Hebrews 3:5].

there shall be holiness rather (margin, and R.V.), it (Mount Zion) shall be holy, lit. "holiness," comp. Joel 3:17 [Heb., 4:17]; Revelation 21:27.

their possessions Not the possessions of Edom and of the heathen that is spoken of in the following verses, but their own possessions. "When the children of Israel shall have returned from exile God will at the same time restore to them their ancient country, so as for them to possess whatever had been promised to their father Abraham." Calvin.