Presumably Obadiah (v. 1) was the author of this book, but nothing else is known about him. His common Hebrew name, denoting “servant of the Lord,” is shared by at least a dozen persons in the Old Testament.
The time of writing of Obadiah is disputed, with a wide variety of proposed dates from the tenth to the fifth centuries BC, depending on when the invasion and plunder of Jerusalem (vv. 11-14) occurred. The two most popular views are during the reign of King Jehoram of Judah (ca 848–841 BC) and shortly after the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (587/586 BC).
The former date (ca 845 BC) was when the Philistines and Arabs plundered Judah (2Ch 21:16-17) and the Edomites revolted (2Kg 8:20), presumably then becoming allies of the invaders. Since the text does not explicitly indicate the cooperation of the Edomites with the Philistines and Arabs, the latter date (mid-sixth or even fifth century BC) fits the biblical data better, including Ob 20 (the dispersed exiles of the Israelites and of Jerusalem to be restored), as opposed to dates before the dispersion of Israel (by 722 BC) or of Judah (605–586 BC). This postexilic view is also supported by the mention of Edomite involvement in Jerusalem’s downfall (Ob 10-14, gloating over the fall of Jerusalem, as in other sixth-century BC texts—Lm 4:21a; Ezk 35:15; see Lm 2:15-17—and participating in the plunder) which would result in the Lord’s promised justice (“As you have done, it will be done to you” Ob 15), on their heads.
Like the book of Revelation, which proclaims the downfall of the persecuting Roman Empire, the book of Obadiah sustains faith in God’s moral government and hope in the eventual triumph of his just will. It brings a pastoral message to aching hearts that God is on his throne and he cares for his own.
The text declares the book of Obadiah is a prophetic “vision” from the Lord (v. 1) which also appears to be a war oracle (v. 1) communicating the Lord’s imminent judgment upon Edom (vv. 2-9). As a subtype of the prophetic “oracle against foreign nations” (Is 13–23; Jr 46–51; Ezk 25–32; Am 1–2; Zph 2:4-15), it is typical in announcing judgment on a foreign power (specifically Edom; see also Lm 4:21-22) to bring deliverance for Judah (Ob 17-20; see Jr 46:25-28; Nah 1:1-15; Zph 3:14-20). Yet it, like Nahum and Jonah, is atypical in focusing solely on judgment for a foreign nation, rather than specifying judgment for Israel as well.
This shortest OT book consists of several parts. A war oracle from the Lord announces certain judgment on Edom for their arrogant presumption and self-deception (v. 3) that they were immune from divine intervention (vv. 1-9). Next is an explanation of the further cause for coming judgment on Edom (vv. 10-14), a lack of brotherly commitment (vv. 10-11) in gloating over the day of disaster for God’s people Judah (vv. 12-13), and cooperating with Judah’s enemies in her destruction (vv. 10-11,13-14). Then the text focuses on the day of the Lord (vv. 15-21) in which imminent judgment falls on the historical nation of Edom (vv. 15-16), followed by ultimate judgment on “Edom” as representative of Israel’s end-time enemies (v. 16), that would result in the deliverance of both Judah and Israel (vv. 17-21).
When God comes to punish his enemies, he also comes to bless his friends. When pharaoh is overthrown in the Red Sea, it is that Israel may pass onward to Canaan. When Amalek is overcome, it is that Israel may be at peace. There is a black cloud as well as the silvery rain. The acceptable year of the Lord is the day of vengeance of our God. This combination so constantly occurs that the psalmist said, “I will sing of faithful love and justice” (Ps 101:1).
This is what the Lord GOD has said about Edom:
We have heard a message from the LORD;
an envoy has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up, and let us go to war against her.” A
2Look, I will make you insignificant
among the nations;
you will be deeply despised.
3Your arrogant heart has deceived you,
you who live in clefts
of the rock B,C
in your home on the heights,
who say to yourself,
“Who can bring me down to the ground? ”
4Though you seem to soar D like an eagle
and make your nest
among the stars,
even from there I will bring you down.
This is the LORD’s declaration.
5If thieves came to you,
if marauders by night —
how ravaged you would be! —
wouldn’t they steal only what they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
wouldn’t they leave some grapes?
6How Esau will be pillaged,
his hidden treasures searched out!
7Everyone who has a treaty
with you
will drive you to the border;
everyone at peace with you
will deceive and conquer you.
Those who eat your bread
will set E a trap for you.
He will be unaware of it.
8In that day —
this is the LORD’s declaration —
will I not eliminate the wise ones of Edom
and those who understand
from the hill country of Esau?
9Teman, F your warriors will be terrified
so that everyone from the hill country of Esau
will be destroyed by slaughter.
10You will be covered with shame
and destroyed forever
because of violence done to your brother Jacob.
11On the day you stood aloof,
on the day strangers captured his wealth, G
while foreigners entered his city
gate
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were just like one of them.
12Do not H gloat over your brother
in the day of his calamity;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction;
do not boastfully mock I
in the day of distress.
13Do not enter my people’s city gate
in the day of their disaster.
Yes, you — do not gloat over their misery
in the day of their disaster,
and do not appropriate their possessions
in the day of their disaster.
14Do not stand at the crossroads J
to cut off their fugitives,
and do not hand over
their survivors
in the day of distress.
15For the day of the LORD is near,
against all the nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
what you deserve will return on your own head.
16As you have drunk on my holy mountain,
so all the nations will drink continually.
They will drink and gulp down
and be as though they had never been.
17But there will be a deliverance on Mount Zion,
and it will be holy;
the house of Jacob
will dispossess
those who dispossessed them. A
QUOTE 17
When he comes, there will surely be a curse to the left hand as a blessing to the right, and both will be everlasting. Hell is as deep as heaven is high, for God, who delights in mercy, also hates iniquity and will put away the wicked of the earth like waste.
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 B will set them on fire and consume Edom. C
Therefore no survivor
will remain
of the house of Esau,
for the LORD has spoken.
19People from the Negev
will possess
the hill country of Esau;
those from the Judean foothills will possess
the land of the Philistines.
They D will possess
the territories of Ephraim and Samaria,
while Benjamin
will possess Gilead.
20The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah E
and who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath
as well as the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the cities
of the Negev.
21Saviors A will ascend Mount Zion
to rule over the hill country
of Esau,
but the kingdom will be the LORD’s.
17 “But there will be a deliverance on Mount Zion, and it will be holy; the house of Jacob will dispossess those who dispossessed them.” This is a remarkable passage. Its wording is singular. It begins with a “but” because the previous verses have been denouncing judgments on Edom. When God comes to punish his enemies, he also comes to bless his friends. When pharaoh is overthrown in the Red Sea, it is that Israel may pass onward to Canaan. When Amalek is overcome, it is that Israel may be at peace. There is a black cloud as well as the silvery rain. The acceptable year of the Lord is the day of vengeance of our God. This combination so constantly occurs that the psalmist said, “I will sing of faithful love and justice” (Ps 101:1).
The sword of vengeance is displayed at the same time as the scepter of divine grace. In that last great day—that coming of the Lord that is the joy and expectation of his people—there will be confusion to his adversaries. When he comes, there will surely be a curse to the left hand as a blessing to the right, and both will be everlasting. Hell is as deep as heaven is high, for God, who delights in mercy, also hates iniquity and will put away the wicked of the earth like waste. God grant to us that we may know on what side we stand and may be found in Christ, wearing his righteousness so that whenever the Lord comes with plagues for his adversaries, he may have favor toward us.
I have no doubt that this promise has been fulfilled already and that there was a time when the house of Israel, restored from captivity, came back to Zion, and Edom was utterly consumed. “Then 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 them on fire and consume Edom. Therefore no survivor will remain of the house of Esau, for the LORD has spoken” (Ob 18).
But the former fulfillment of a promise does not make it useless like a cashed check. The promise may be presented again, and it will again be honored. God’s rules of action are immutable, and what he did to one company of his people he will do to others of them. The temporary restoration of the captives to Jerusalem can only have fulfilled the promise on a small scale; it has a wider meaning than such an event could exhaust. The Lord is prepared to do the same on a larger scale for all those who put their trust in him.
B 3 Or in Sela ; probably = Petra
E 7 Some LXX mss, Sym, Tg, Vg; MT reads They will set your bread as
F 9 = a region or city in Edom
H 12-14 Or You should not throughout vv. 12-14
I 12 Lit not make your mouth big
A 17 DSS, LXX, Syr, Vg, Tg; MT reads Jacob will possess its inheritance