Annotations for Obadiah
Obadiah, like other Hebrew prophets, condemned a foreign nation. This raises the question of his audience. Although he addressed Edom, his message was for his own people, for it is unlikely that many Edomites heard it and their language, while close to Hebrew, was not the same and probably sounded different. This prophecy, therefore, is an encouragement to God’s people that their disasters were not final, that restoration would come; however, at the same time, the prophecy is a caution lest they behave in the same way as the Edomites, risking a similar punishment. See the article “Prophets and Prophecy.” ◆
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1 vision. Lit. “what is seen,” the term also used to introduce the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa 1:1) and Nahum (Na 1:1). Obadiah. The name means the “servant” or “slave” of the Lord. He is, therefore, one who does what he is told by his master, here as an agent delivering a message. Edom. The principal theme of the book of Obadiah is an indictment of Edom for its crimes against Judah. The nation of Edom, located south and east of the Dead Sea, has a mixed tradition among the Israelites (see note on 1Ki 11:14–17). During the period of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the Neo-Babylonian Empire (734–586 BC), Edom had been a vassal state. Most likely Obadiah’s complaint against Edom relates to the participation of Edom in the final destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its people by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 587/586 BC, but records are unclear concerning the precise role that Edom played. envoy. The rare Hebrew word used here is only found in the poetical books (Pr 13:17; 25:13; Isa 18:2; 57:9). There is nothing to distinguish it from the common word for “messenger” or “angel” (see note on Ex 3:2). Throughout the ancient world, the messenger’s role was essential, for there was no other means of formal communication. When nations went to war in the ancient Near East, it was necessary to call on all covenant partners and vassal states to send troops and supplies for a combined effort. Messengers would be sent to call on them to honor their treaty commitments and conscript the specified number of soldiers (see 1Sa 11:3–4 and the reciprocal defense pact found in the treaty between Pharaoh Rameses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III). The Mari texts even describe the practice of sending envoys to the temple of a god to inform the deity of the military situation and call on his aid in the coming conflict.
2 small. Nothing in Edom’s history could lead it to place itself among the “great powers,” even if it did control the valuable trade routes bringing incense, gold and other rarities by land and sea from southern Arabia.
3 clefts of the rocks. A major cause of Edom’s pride is revealed. The natural cliffs and ravines edging its land provided inaccessible fortresses and made it ideal for guerrilla activity. The phrase may equally well be translated “clefts of Sela,” the name of the fortress that Amaziah captured and renamed Joktheel (2Ki 14:7, cf. 2Ch 25:11–12). There are two possible locations for Sela. One is Umm el-Biyara, a flat-topped rock rising almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) above the Petra basin and 3,700 feet (1,130 meters) above sea level. Ruined buildings of the eighth and seventh centuries BC were excavated there, and among the finds was an imprint on clay of a king of Edom’s seal. The rival candidate is another flat-topped rock near Bozrah, still called Sela, also yielding Iron Age remains.
4 eagle. Edom’s cliffs offer ideal nests for the griffon vulture and the imperial eagle, although their numbers have fallen markedly in modern times.
5 grapes. Although only small quantities of grapes are grown in the area today, the Edomite vineyards were evidently renowned in Biblical times. Isaiah pictured God, having subdued the nations, as one coming from Edom and Bozrah, his clothes stained as if he had trodden the grapes there (Isa 63:1–6), while earlier Isaiah spoke of the devastation of the vineyards of Moab (Isa 16:7–10; cf. Jer 48:32). The Israelites were commanded, “Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner” (Lev 19:10; cf. Dt 24:21), but nothing was to be left of Edom (cf. Jer 6:9; Mic 7:1). Edom’s failure to stand by its brother Jacob (Ob 10; cf. Am 1:11) and its exultation at the fall of Jerusalem condemned it to isolation and annihilation by the Babylonians.
7 allies . . . friends. “Allies” translates the Hebrew for “men of your covenant,” while “friends” translates the Hebrew for “men of your peace.” These are defined as “those who eat your bread” in solemnization of a pact or treaty (cf. Jacob and Laban [Ge 31:46, 54], Joshua and the Gibeonites (Jos 9:14]). So for one partner to turn against the other was gross treachery (cf. “close friend” of Ps 41:9). Many ancient Near Eastern texts contain similar concepts. A pharaoh complained to a Syrian ruler that he had heard “you are at peace with the ruler of Qadesh and eat and drink together . . . Why are you at peace with a ruler whom (I) am fighting with?” “Peace and brotherhood” was the term used for an alliance. In the pact made by Pharaoh Rameses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III about 1259 BC, the Egyptian says of the Hittite, “He is my brother, and I am his brother. He is at peace with me, and I am at peace with him forever.” A Hittite king wrote to a newly enthroned king of Babylon in phrases found in many diplomatic documents: “[When your father] and I established friendly relations and became brothers, [we] spoke [as follows]: ‘We are brothers. To the enemy of one another [we will be hostile and with] the friend of one another we will be friendly.’ ”
8 the wise men of Edom. The tradition of Edomite wisdom can be somewhat substantiated by the nation’s association with Job, who was from Uz, which is considered by some to be in Edom, and with Job’s friend, Eliphaz the Temanite (see Job 1:1; 2:11). Living on the fringe of the northern Arabian desert and benefitting from the caravan trade and accessible copper deposits, it may be that Edom was known for its business acumen or diplomatic shrewdness (see the parallel statement in Jer 49:7).
10 brother Jacob. Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, who in turn was the father of the Israelites. When this book pits Israel against Edom, it is logical to harken back to the enmity between the two brothers.
11 gates. See notes on Job 5:4; 29:7; Pr 8:3; 31:23. cast lots. Where a decision had to be made that could result in inequity, as with looted objects that could not be divided, throwing lots was an acceptable solution across the ancient world (Jos 18–19; Ps 22:18; Pr 18:18). Laws from Assyria prescribe that the eldest brother, after choosing his primary portion of the estate, should throw lots equally with his brothers for his second share.
16 drink and drink. From early times, drinking bouts have been popular, leading to stupefaction. Edom’s enjoyment of Judah’s disaster, like excessive drinking, brought Edom down to the level of all other nations (cf. La 4:21).
18 no survivors. Powerful kings showed no mercy to rebellious vassals. Thus Assyrian kings boasted that “not a man escaped” when their troops crushed rebels who broke their oaths of loyalty. In the same way, God pronounced his verdict on nations that defied him.
19 Edom’s demise, in common with the disappearance of other local enemies of God’s people, would allow dispossessed Israelites to occupy their territories, moving from the Negev eastward into Edom and from the foothills westward to the Philistine cities on the coast and back into the hill country of Israel, with the small tribe of Benjamin gaining the rich pastures of Transjordanian Gilead. the land of the Philistines. The southwestern corner of the promised land was already in Philistine hands before Israel arrived in Canaan (Ex 13:17). They remained obstacles to Israel even after the exile (Ne 13:23–24).
20 Zarephath. Ten miles (16 kilometers) south of Sidon, Sarepta in Greek (Lk 4:26), modern Sarafand, lay in the northern part of the unconquered territory (Jos 13:4, 6; Jdg 1:31). Throughout the days of the kings of Israel and Judah this was the land of the Phoenicians, each major city controlling the area around it, with Zarephath falling under the sway of Sidon, then of Tyre. Obadiah foresees Israelite exiles living in Canaan, at last taking the region for themselves. Sepharad. Possible locations for this site range from Spain to the Hesperides to western Media. These identifications are based on place-names and some textual evidence from the Neo-Assyrian period. However, the most likely site for Sepharad is Sardis in western Asia Minor. This was the Lydian capital during the Persian period and a bilingual inscription found there names the city in Aramaic with the same consonants as the Hebrew name here in Obadiah. This would be a very far distance for exiles from Jerusalem to travel, but the implication in the text is that even the most distant would return to reclaim a portion of the land.
21 to govern. A small kingdom could become a vassal of a greater power, retaining much of its independence so long as it was loyal. Alliance with the suzerain’s enemy or other forms of rebellion would bring heavy punishment, as seen above in Egypt, and absorption of the kingdom into the suzerain’s realm under a governor of his choice. When Samaria rebelled against Sargon of Assyria, e.g., Sargon captured the city, deported the inhabitants and reported, “I repopulated Samerina, making it greater than before. I brought into it people from other lands my hands had conquered. I appointed one of my officers as governor over them.” That would be Edom’s destiny, becoming part of the kingdom of Israel’s God; Edom would become a servant of the Lord, like Obadiah.