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Obadiah 1

Before you read Obadiah: who, when, why

BOOK 31 OF 66 · OLD TESTAMENT · MINOR PROPHETS

Don't Kick Your Brother When He's Down

AUTHOR: Obadiah, whose name means servant of Yahweh, 1:1. That is all we know about him.
DATE: Not stated. Most think soon after Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC; some say about 845 BC. See When Was Obadiah Written?
WRITTEN TO: Spoken against Edom, but written to comfort Judah after its worst day.
ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS: Parts of Obadiah are in 4QXII g, a Qumran scroll of the Twelve Prophets copied in the last years before Jesus, and all 21 verses are in the Hebrew scroll of the Twelve from Wadi Murabbaat.
KEY VERSE: Obadiah 1:15. As you have done, it will be done to you.

The Oldest Copies of Obadiah

Pieces of 4QXII g, a scroll of the Twelve Prophets from Qumran Cave 4, copied in the last years before Jesus. It holds parts of Obadiah 1 to 15, though the plate does not mark which pieces are Obadiah. The whole book is in the Hebrew scroll of the Twelve found at Wadi Murabbaat. See The Murabbaat Scroll, Joel. Photo Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority, Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library.

The Setting

Jacob and Esau were twins who fought from before they were born. Their families, Israel and Edom, kept fighting for a thousand years. When Babylon burned Jerusalem, Edom did not help its brother. It stood and watched, cheered, looted the city and caught the people who tried to escape. Proud Edom, safe in its cliffs, thought no one could touch it. Obadiah says God will.

What Went Wrong

Pride. Edom thought its mountain cliffs made it untouchable, 1:3 to 4.
Violence Against A Brother. Edom turned on Jacob, its own family, 1:10.
Gloating. Edom laughed and boasted on Judah's worst day, 1:12.
Looting And Betrayal. Edom grabbed the loot and handed over the refugees, 1:13 to 14.

Where to Find Jesus

Obadiah 1:21. The kingdom will belong to Yahweh. Revelation 11:15 sees the kingdom of the world become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
Obadiah 1:17. Deliverance on Mount Zion. Hebrews 12:22 says believers have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God.
Obadiah 1:15. As you have done, it will be done to you. Jesus said the measure you use will be measured back to you, Matthew 7:2.

Cool Stuff Most People Miss

The Shortest Book. 21 verses, shorter than many single chapters elsewhere in the Bible.
A Twin Passage. Obadiah 1 to 9 and Jeremiah 49:7 to 22 share many lines, word for word in places.
Herod Was An Edomite. By Jesus' day Edom's people were called Idumeans, and King Herod the Great came from them. The Edomite king tried to kill the newborn King of the Jews, Matthew 2:16. See Herodium: Herod's Palace Fortress, Matthew.
Sephardic Jews. Sepharad in 1:20 later became the Hebrew name for Spain, so Jews from Spain are called Sephardic.

How Does It End?

Edom lost its kingdom to Babylon and its land to Arab peoples. Its people moved into southern Judah, were forced to become Jews about 125 BC, and after Rome destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70 they vanish from history. Obadiah's last line still stands: the kingdom will belong to Yahweh.

Chapter 1 in 30 seconds

Edom thinks it is safe up in its cliffs. God says, I will bring you down. Why? When Jerusalem fell, Edom, Jacob's own brother, stood and watched, cheered, grabbed the loot and handed over the people trying to escape. What you did will come back on your own head. And in the end the kingdom will belong to Yahweh.

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In this chapterThe Big QuestionEsau and Jacob · after verse 2 Field Notes · ArchaeologyBozrah, Edom's Capital · after verse 7 Field Notes · ArchaeologyThe Rock of Sela · after verse 14 Field Notes · ArchaeologyEdom's God, Qos · after verse 9 The Big Question · Christians disagreeWhen Was Obadiah Written? · after verse 14 The Big QuestionWhat Happened to Edom? · after verse 18 The Big Question · Christians disagreeWho Is Edom Today? · after verse 21

The Destruction of Edom// Jeremiah 49:7–22

¹This is the vision of Obadiah:

This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom—

We have heard a message from Yahweh;

an envoy has been sent among the nations

to say, “Rise up,

and let us go to battle against her!”—

OBAD 1:1[PROPHECY]Behold, I will make you small among nations; you are greatly despised, O Edom → HISTORY: Nabonidus of Babylon attacked Edom about 553 BC. By 312 BC Arab Nabataeans held the old land of Edom around Petra. Recorded in the Nabonidus Chronicle and by Diodorus 19.94.
OBAD 1:1[NOTE]OBADIAH. His name means servant of Yahweh. We know nothing else about him. His book is the shortest in the Old Testament, 21 verses.
OBAD 1:1[NOTE]EDOM. The nation that came from Esau, Jacob's twin brother. Its land lay south and east of the Dead Sea. See Esau and Jacob.
OBAD 1:1[NOTE]WE HAVE HEARD A MESSAGE. Obadiah's own lead in, so it is black. Jeremiah 49:7 to 22 repeats many lines of Obadiah 1 to 9.

²“Behold, I will make you small among the nations;

you will be deeply despised.

The Big Question

Esau and Jacob

Twins at War

Genesis 25 to 36 · Numbers 20:14 to 21

THE TWINS: Rebekah's twins fought inside her, and God said two nations were in her womb, Genesis 25:22 to 23. Esau was born first, red and hairy. Jacob came out holding his heel.
THE STEW AND THE BLESSING: Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of red stew, which is why he was called Edom, red, Genesis 25:30 to 34. Later Jacob tricked their father Isaac into giving him the blessing, and Esau planned to kill him, Genesis 27:41.

Esau and Jacob · A Thousand Year Feud

Deuteronomy 23:7 · 2 Samuel 8:14 · Malachi 1:2 to 3

MAKING UP: Twenty years later the brothers met and Esau hugged Jacob, Genesis 33:4. Esau's family settled in the hills of Seir and became Edom, Genesis 36:8 to 9.
BROTHERS ON THE MAP: Moses called Edom your brother, Israel, Numbers 20:14, but Edom refused to let Israel pass. God still told Israel, Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother, Deuteronomy 23:7.
WAR AFTER WAR: David conquered Edom, 2 Samuel 8:14. Edom broke free under Jehoram, 2 Kings 8:20 to 22, and the two fought on and off for centuries.
THE LAST STRAW: When Babylon burned Jerusalem, Edom joined in, Psalm 137:7. That is the sin Obadiah names: violence against your brother Jacob, 1:10.
WHAT IT SHOWS: Old family grudges can last for generations. God takes it personally when we turn on our own.

³The pride of your heart has deceived you,

O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks

whose habitation is the heights,

who say in your heart,

‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

OBAD 1:3[HEART]The pride of your heart has deceived you.
OBAD 1:3[NOTE]THE CLEFTS OF THE ROCK. Edom's towns sat high in red sandstone mountains, hard to attack. See The Rock of Sela.

⁴Though you soar like the eagle

and make your nest among the stars,

even from there I will bring you down,”

declares Yahweh.

OBAD 1:4[ARCHAEOLOGY]A Babylonian king, most think Nabonidus, carved his picture halfway up Sela, Edom's cliff fortress, after conquering Edom about 553 BC, see The Rock of Sela Field Notes page
OBAD 1:4[NOTE]LIKE THE EAGLE. However high pride climbs, God can bring it down.

⁵“If thieves came to you,

if robbers by night—

oh, how you will be ruined—

would they not steal only what they wanted?

If grape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave some gleanings?

OBAD 1:5[NOTE]THIEVES AND GRAPE PICKERS. Even thieves leave something behind. Edom will be stripped bare.

⁶But how Esau will be pillaged,

his hidden treasures sought out!

⁷All the men allied with you

will drive you to the border;

the men at peace with you

will deceive and overpower you.

Those who eat your bread

will set a trap for you

without your awareness of it.

Field Notes · Archaeology

Bozrah, Edom's Capital

Obadiah 1:6 · Amos 1:12 · Isaiah 63:1 · Jeremiah 49:13

Ruins on the hill of Buseirah, ancient Bozrah, in southern Jordan. Photo Bashar Tabbah, CC BY SA 4.0.

WHAT IT IS: The ruins of Bozrah, Edom's capital, at the village of Buseirah in southern Jordan, a few miles from the rock of Sela.
HOW OLD IT IS: The big buildings are from the 700s to the 500s BC, when Edom was strongest, under Assyrian rule.
WHAT WAS FOUND: Crystal Bennett led a British team there between 1971 and 1980. She found a palace and a large public building, perhaps a temple, built in Assyrian style, with city walls around the hilltop.
IN THE BIBLE: The prophets name Bozrah when they warn Edom, Amos 1:12 and Jeremiah 49:13. Isaiah 63:1 asks, Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with crimson stained garments?
WHAT IT SHOWS: Edom was a real, rich kingdom in the time of the later prophets, with a capital worth bragging about. Bozrah was later left in ruins.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

⁸In that day, declares Yahweh,

will I not destroy the wise men of Edom

and the men of understanding

in the mountains of Esau?

OBAD 1:8[NOTE]THE WISE MEN OF EDOM. Edom was famous for wisdom. Job's friend Eliphaz was a Temanite, Job 2:11.

⁹Then your mighty men, O Teman,

will be terrified,

so that everyone in the mountains of Esau

will be cut down in the slaughter.

OBAD 1:9[NOTE]TEMAN. A region of Edom, named for Esau's grandson, Genesis 36:11.

Field Notes · Archaeology

Edom's God, Qos

Obadiah 1:8 · 2 Chronicles 25:14 to 15

A clay goddess with three horns from the Edomite shrine at Horvat Qitmit, 600s BC. Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Photo Chamberi, CC BY SA 3.0.

WHAT IT IS: A clay head of a goddess with three horns, found at Horvat Qitmit, an Edomite shrine in the Negev desert south of Arad.
HOW OLD IT IS: The shrine was used in the 600s and early 500s BC, as Edom pushed into Judah's southern land.
HOW IT WAS FOUND: Itzhak Beit Arieh dug the shrine from 1984 to 1987. It held clay figures of gods, people and animals, altars, and pieces of pottery with Edomite writing.
QOS: Edom's national god was Qos. Edomite names were built on it, the way Israelite names were built on Yahweh. Assyrian records name two kings of Edom, Qaus malaka and Qaus gabri, and the name Qos was found written at Qitmit.
GODS OF EDOM: The Bible never names Qos, but it tells of King Amaziah bringing home the gods of the people of Seir, Edom, and bowing to them, 2 Chronicles 25:14 to 15.
WHAT IT SHOWS: Obadiah's quarrel with Edom was not only about borders. Edom served other gods, and the book ends with the kingdom belonging to Yahweh, 1:21.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

¹⁰Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,

you will be covered with shame

and cut off forever.

OBAD 1:10[PROPHECY]For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever → HISTORY: John Hyrcanus, a Jewish ruler, conquered the Edomites about 125 BC and made them become Jews. After Rome's war of AD 66 to 70 they fade from history. Recorded by Josephus, Antiquities 13.9.1.MEDIUM
OBAD 1:10[NOTE]YOUR BROTHER JACOB. The worst part was not the violence. It was that Edom did it to family.

¹¹On the day you stood aloof

while strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gate

and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were just like one of them.

OBAD 1:11[NOTE]CAST LOTS FOR JERUSALEM. Most think this is the day Babylon took Jerusalem in 586 BC. Psalm 137:7 remembers Edom shouting, Tear it down! See When Was Obadiah Written?

¹²But you should not gloat in that day,

your brother’s day of misfortune,

nor rejoice over the people of Judah

in the day of their destruction,

nor boast proudly

in the day of their distress.

OBAD 1:12[NOTE]DO NOT GLOAT. Eight times God says you should not: gloat, rejoice, boast, enter, gloat, loot, cut off, hand over. Don't kick your brother when he's down.

¹³You should not enter the gate of My people

in the day of their disaster,

nor gloat over their affliction

in the day of their disaster,

nor loot their wealth

in the day of their disaster.

¹⁴Nor should you stand at the crossroads

to cut off their fugitives,

nor deliver up their survivors

in the day of their distress.

OBAD 1:14[NOTE]AT THE CROSSROADS. Edomites waited on the roads to catch people running for their lives and hand them over.

Field Notes · Archaeology

The Rock of Sela

Obadiah 1:3 to 4 · 2 Kings 14:7 · Jeremiah 49:16

The great rock of es Sela in southern Jordan, seen from the village above it. Photo Uri Juda, public domain.

WHAT IT IS: A huge rock fortress in the mountains of Edom, near the town of Tafilah in southern Jordan. Its cliffs rise hundreds of feet above the valleys around it, and the only way up is a staircase cut into a narrow crack in the rock.
THE CLEFTS OF THE ROCK: Sela means rock. Obadiah says to Edom, you who live in the clefts of the rock, whose home is the heights, who say, Who can bring me down? 1:3. Jeremiah uses the same words, Jeremiah 49:16.
A KING CARVED IN THE CLIFF: Halfway up the steepest face is a carving of a king in Babylonian dress, with a tall cap and a long staff, facing symbols of the moon, the sun and a star. A long cuneiform inscription around it is too worn to read. Scholars made it widely known in the 1990s.
WHO IS IT?: The symbols are the favorite signs of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, who led an army through Edom and on into Arabia about 553 BC. Most scholars think the carving marks his conquest of Edom.
HOW OLD IT IS: The carving is from the 500s BC. People used the rock as a refuge for many centuries before and after.
WHAT IT SHOWS: Edom's safest stronghold could not keep out Babylon. The king of the nation that had burned Jerusalem carved his picture into Edom's own rock. Even from there I will bring you down, 1:4.
WHICH ROCK?: The Bible says King Amaziah of Judah captured Sela, 2 Kings 14:7. Many think it was this rock. Others point to Umm el Biyara, a high rock at Petra. Es Sela has not been fully excavated.
NOT PETRA: Petra's famous carved buildings are later. They were made by the Nabataeans, who took over Edom's land after the Edomites left. See What Happened to Edom?
THE ROAD TO ARABIA: Sela sat by the King's Highway, the old trade road from Damascus to the Red Sea and Arabia, Numbers 20:17. Whoever held the road grew rich on the caravans of incense and spice, and Nabonidus wanted it.
SEE ALSO: Bozrah, Edom's Capital and Edom's God, Qos, in this book.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH FOR THE RELIEF, DEBATED FOR WHICH ROCK IS SELA

The Big Question · Christians disagree

When Was Obadiah Written?

A Book With No Date

Obadiah 1:10 to 14 · Psalm 137:7

WHY IT IS A QUESTION: Obadiah names no king. The clue is 1:11 to 14: strangers carried off Jerusalem's wealth and cast lots for the city while Edom stood by and joined in. Which day was that?

When Was Obadiah Written? · Every View

2 Kings 8:20 to 22 · 2 Chronicles 21:16 to 17 · Lamentations 4:21 to 22

VIEW 1: SOON AFTER 586 BC: Most scholars say it was when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. Psalm 137:7, Lamentations 4:21 to 22 and Ezekiel 35 all blame Edom for that day, and Obadiah shares lines with Jeremiah, who lived then.
VIEW 2: ABOUT 845 BC: Many older scholars point to King Jehoram's day, when Edom rebelled, 2 Kings 8:20 to 22, and Philistines and Arabs raided Jerusalem and carried off the king's goods, 2 Chronicles 21:16 to 17. That would make Obadiah one of the earliest prophets, which fits its place in the Hebrew order of the Twelve.
A JEWISH TRADITION: The Talmud says Obadiah was the same man as Obadiah who hid the prophets from Ahab and Jezebel, 1 Kings 18:3 to 4, and even that he was an Edomite who joined Israel. Few scholars today accept that.
THE JEREMIAH QUESTION: Obadiah and Jeremiah 49 share many lines. Some say Jeremiah borrowed from Obadiah, some say the other way, and some say both used an older prophecy.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: Edom turned on its brother in his worst hour, and God saw it.

The Deliverance of Israel

¹⁵For the Day of Yahweh is near

for all the nations.

As you have done, it will be done to you;

your recompense will return upon your own head.

OBAD 1:15[NOTABLE]What we do to others comes back to us. Edom gloated over its brother's fall, and the same fall came on Edom.
OBAD 1:15[NOTE]AS YOU HAVE DONE. What goes around comes around. Paul said the same: a man reaps what he sows, Galatians 6:7.

¹⁶For as you drank on My holy mountain,

so all the nations will drink continually.

They will drink and gulp it down;

they will be as if they had never existed.

OBAD 1:16[NOTE]DRANK ON MY HOLY MOUNTAIN. Many think this means Edom celebrated on Mount Zion. Now the nations will drink the cup of God's anger.

¹⁷But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance,

and it will be holy,

and the house of Jacob

will reclaim their possession.

¹⁸Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire,

and the house of Joseph a burning flame;

but the house of Esau will be stubble—

Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it.

Therefore no survivor will remain

from the house of Esau.”

For Yahweh has spoken.

OBAD 1:18[PROPHECY]The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Esau for stubble; there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau → 1 Maccabees 5:3; 1 Maccabees 5:65
OBAD 1:18[NOTE]NO SURVIVOR. See What Happened to Edom?

The Big Question

What Happened to Edom?

No Survivor From Esau

Obadiah 1:4 · 1:10 · 1:18

WHAT OBADIAH SAID: Edom would be brought down from its heights and cut off forever, and no survivor would remain from the house of Esau, 1:4, 1:10 and 1:18.

What Happened to Edom? · How It Came True

Malachi 1:3 to 4 · Mark 3:8 · Matthew 2:1 to 16

FIRST: THE KINGDOM FELL: About 553 BC Nabonidus of Babylon marched through Edom, and Edom's kingdom probably came to an end then. By Malachi's day, about a hundred years later, Edom's land lay in ruins, Malachi 1:3 to 4. See The Rock of Sela.
THE LAND TAKEN: Arab peoples moved into Edom's hills. By 312 BC the Nabataeans held the region of Petra, as the Greek historian Diodorus records. Many Edomites moved west into southern Judah, which the Greeks called Idumea.
A PEOPLE ABSORBED: About 125 BC the Jewish ruler John Hyrcanus conquered Idumea and made its people be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, Josephus, Antiquities 13.9.1. Herod the Great was an Idumean. Idumeans came to hear Jesus, Mark 3:8.
GONE: Idumeans fought in the war against Rome, AD 66 to 70. After Jerusalem fell they disappear from history as a people. No nation today traces itself to Edom.
OTHER READINGS: Some say Esau's house was cut off as a nation even though some people blended into other nations. Some also see a last fulfillment still to come, at the end. See Who Is Edom Today?
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: Proud Edom, so sure no one could bring it down, is gone. The people it betrayed are still here.

¹⁹Those from the Negev will possess the mountains of Esau;

those from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines.

They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,

and Benjamin will possess Gilead.

²⁰And the exiles of this host of the Israelites

will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath;

and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

will possess the cities of the Negev.

OBAD 1:20[NOTE]SEPHARAD. Nobody is sure where it was. Many think Sardis in Asia Minor. Later Jews took it to mean Spain, which is why Jews from Spain are called Sephardic Jews.

²¹The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion

to rule over the mountains of Esau.

And the kingdom will belong to Yahweh.

OBAD 1:21[PROPHECY]Deliverers would go up on Mount Zion and the kingdom would belong to Yahweh → STILL TO COMEMEDIUM
OBAD 1:21[NOTE]THE KINGDOM WILL BELONG TO YAHWEH. The last words of the book. Revelation 11:15 says the same of the end: the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

The Big Question · Christians disagree

Who Is Edom Today?

Is the Story Over?

Obadiah 1:15 to 21

THE QUESTION: Obadiah moves from Edom to the Day of Yahweh on all the nations, 1:15, and ends with the kingdom belonging to Yahweh. Is Edom only a nation from long ago, or does it stand for something more?

Who Is Edom Today? · Every View

Isaiah 63:1 to 6 · Psalm 83:6 · Daniel 11:41 · Revelation 11:15

VIEW 1: HISTORY ONLY: Many say the prophecy came true when Edom fell and disappeared. The lesson stays: God judges pride and cruelty.
VIEW 2: A CODE NAME FOR ROME: After Rome destroyed the temple, Jewish teachers began to use Edom and Esau as names for Rome, and later for the Christian nations of Europe. In that reading Obadiah promises the fall of every empire that crushes Israel.
VIEW 3: THE END TIMES: Some Christians link Edom with end times passages, Isaiah 63:1 to 6, Psalm 83:6 and Daniel 11:41, and see it as the lands of southern Jordan or the nations that hate Israel in the last days.
VIEW 4: A PICTURE: Others see Edom as a picture of pride that sets itself against God's people. Every Edom falls, and Christ's kingdom wins, Revelation 11:15.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: The book's last line: the kingdom will belong to Yahweh, 1:21.

Obadiah 1

The Oldest Copies of Obadiah

The Setting

What Went Wrong

Where to Find Jesus

Cool Stuff Most People Miss

How Does It End?

The Destruction of Edom// Jeremiah 49:7–22

The Deliverance of Israel

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