The Destruction of Edom. 1 9. The Punishment of Edom foretold 1. _The vision of Obadiah_.] This is the short Title of this short Book. It tells us the name of the Author, which is all that we know of him, and the nature of his work. _The vision_ This word, like its cognate verb, when it is used wit... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have made thee … thou art_ Jehovah is now the speaker. "I have made thee small" in my purpose, which though its accomplishment is still future is as certain as though it were already executed. "Thou art," already in inevitable destiny, "greatly despised." There is nothing to commend the view of C... [ Continue Reading ]
_the clefts of the rock_ The word rock may here be a proper name, Selah or Petra; the reference would then be to the rock-hewn dwellings of that remarkable city. Perhaps, however, the reference is more general to the "clefts of the rock" which abounded and were used as habitations throughout Edom pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_thou exalt thyself_ There is no need to supply the word "thyself," as is done by A.V. and others ("though thou wentest as high as the eagle." Ewald). "Thy nest" is the subject of both clauses. The words as they stand give a perfectly clear sense in English, as in Hebrew: THOUGH THOU EXALTEST AS THE... [ Continue Reading ]
The completeness of the destruction and desolation of Edom is depicted by a double contrast. Two cases are supposed in which something would be left behind. The thief or the robber would take his fill and depart: the grape-gatherer would not strip every cluster from the vine. But the enemies of Edom... [ Continue Reading ]
_the things of Esau_ lit. _how are they searched out, Esau;_i. e. everything, people and property alike, that belongs to Esau. _his hidden things_ rather PLACES; his treasure-houses and receptacles hewn in the secret places of the rocks, and inaccessible as he thought them. Comp. Jeremiah 49:10. _H... [ Continue Reading ]
The general drift of this verse is plain. It introduces another particular in which the pride of Edom had deceived her. Her trust in the wisdom of her policy, in the sagacious alliances which she had formed, should fail her no less signally than her confidence in the natural security of her position... [ Continue Reading ]
_destroy the wise men_ i.e. so deprive them of their wisdom that they shall cease to be wise men. Comp. Jeremiah 49:7, "Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?" There is perhaps a reference to wisdom a... [ Continue Reading ]
Though thus shamefully betrayed and utterly spoiled, the Edomites might yet possibly have recovered themselves, if those inherent qualities in which the strength of nations as of individuals consists, had still been left to them. But the judgment of God would deprive them of these, and so render the... [ Continue Reading ]
_by slaughter_ i.e. by slaughter inflicted on them by their enemies. This is the simplest and most natural meaning. It might be rendered, as the same preposition is at the beginning of the next verse, "for," i.e. on account of and in retribution of the slaughter which the Edomites had inflicted on t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy brother Jacob_ This was the great aggravation of the violence. "Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother," was the command of God to the Jews (Deuteronomy 23:7). Treachery from friends and allies was the meet punishment of such a sin. _thou shalt be cut off for ever_ As the sin o... [ Continue Reading ]
The Cause of Edom's Destruction The scene changes. Another picture of violence and cruelty now rises before the prophet's eyes. He sees Jerusalem encompassed by enemies and overcome. Strangers carry away captive her forces, foreigners enter into her gates. And there, not only standing aside in unbr... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shouldest not have looked … have rejoiced … have spoken_ rather, LOOK NOT, REJOICE NOT, SPEAK NOT. In this verse it is the neutrality of Edom, spoken of as "standing on the other side" in the former part of Obadiah 1:11, that is condemned. In Obadiah 1:13 his active cooperation with the enemy,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shouldest not have entered … looked … laid hands_ rather, ENTER NOT, LOOK NOT, LAY NOT HANDS. _The gate of my people_ i. e. the city of Jerusalem, comp. "he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem." Micah 1:9. The emphatic "thou also," thou the brother as well as they the aliens... [ Continue Reading ]
_Neither shouldest thou have stood … delivered up_ rather, STAND NOT, DELIVER NOT UP.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The day of the Lord_ The order of the words, "for near is the day of the Lord," accords with the fact that the day of the Lord is here spoken of as something already known and familiar. It was first revealed to the prophet Joel (Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1; Joel 2:31 [Heb, 3:4]). There as here it had refer... [ Continue Reading ]
After the description in Obadiah 1:11, of the fault for which Edom was to be punished, the prophet returns in these two verses to the subject of Obadiah 1:2, and completes the description of the punishment that should be inflicted on him. He connects them by the word "for," at once with the predicti... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 trou... [ Continue Reading ]
The Restoration of Israel By an easy transition the prophet passes to the second and brighter part of his picture. The destruction of her enemies is accompanied by the restoration and salvation of Israel. There is however no sudden break between the two portions of the prophecy. The key-note of del... [ Continue Reading ]
_The house of Jacob … the house of Joseph_ Both are mentioned to shew that the remnant of the whole nation, not only of the two tribes, but of the ten, is included. The same names are used to describe the entire nation in Psalms 77:15 [Heb. 16]; Psalms 80:1 [Hebrews 2]; Psalms 81:4-5 [Hebrews 5:6].... [ Continue Reading ]
_they of the south_ lit. THE SOUTH. This is the first of the three divisions of the tribe of Judah, in the original apportionment of the land by Joshua: "the tribe of the children of Judah, toward the coast of Edom _southward_" (i.e. in the direction of the "Negeb," or hot, dry country, which formed... [ Continue Reading ]
Restored to their own land, the Jews shall extend their territory in all directions, and shall realise the promise made to their father Jacob, "Thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south." Genesis 28:14. The two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, as the sole r... [ Continue Reading ]
Two ways of rendering this verse are given in our English Bibles, one in the text, the other in the margin. The latter of these fully expressed would be: "_And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that_(i.e. the land) _of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the cap... [ Continue Reading ]
_saviours_ i.e. _deliverers_. The word, enshrined already in the name of Joshua, the great deliverer, is frequently applied to the Judges: "The Lord raised up judges, which delivered (saved) them out of the hand of those that spoiled them." Judges 2:16. "Thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out... [ Continue Reading ]