Welcome back to my study/review of The Book of Obadiah. If you missed the previous parts of this study, you can find them HERE.
Obadiah 10-14
10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
do not boast
in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.
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As discussed in the Introduction, there are two dates usually given for when Obadiah was written. The traditional date was that it was written in the time of Elijah, which was before the exile, 853–841 BC. Jewish traditions favor the earlier date because the Jewish Talmud identifies Obadiah as an Edomite himself, and a descendant of Eliphaz the Temanite, a friend of Job. The other date is given for the dating of Obadiah is 607–586 BC, when Jerusalem was attacked by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, which led to the Babylonian exile. An argument for the later date is that Obadiah seems to be writing about the actions of the Edomites in the past tense, particularly in this section.
Given that the book is considered prophetic, if we assume the crimes from the verses are concerning the Babylonian conquest, then the debate is over whether it is predicting Edom’s betrayal of Judah, and its punishment, or just the punishment on its own. Alternatively, the crimes may have been committed during the pre-Exilic period.
2 Chronicles 21: 16 And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger[b] of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. 17 And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.
Perhaps it is relevant to how we might feel about the eventual punishment Edom receives that Edom may be guilty of the same perceived crime against its “brother” Israel on more than one occasion.
This verses explain what Edom has done wrong. From The Pulpit Commetnaries:
For thy violence against thy brother Jacob. The special action to which Obadiah alludes, and which he particularizes in the following verses, occurred at the time of the invasion of Judaea by Philistines and Arabians during the reign of Jehoram, when the Edomites sided with the enemy, and acted as the prophet intimates (2 Chronicles 21:16, etc.; see Introduction, § III.). The iniquity of such conduct is aggravated by the fact that the victim was the “brother Jacob,” who was commanded not to hate the Edomites (Deuteronomy 23:7). This enjoined friendship was not reciprocated by the descendants of Esau. Whether from envy at the superior privileges of Israel, or from other causes, the Edomites, from the time of Moses, had always been actively hostile to the Israelites. They had been subdued by David, but had lately rebelled and scoured their independence, and were always looking for an opportunity of revenging themselves on their conquerors (comp. Amos 1:11; Ezekiel 25:12; Ezekiel 35:5). Shame shall cover thee. Shame for the destruction that hath overtaken thee (Micah 7:10). Thou shalt be cut off forever (comp. Malachi 1:4; see Introduction, § I.). Terrible retribution fell on Idumea in the time of the Maccabees (see 1 Macc. 5:3; 2 Macc. 10:15, etc.; Josephus, ‘Ant.,’ 12.8. 1), Before that time they had been dispossessed of Petra by the Nabathaeans.
The text continues listing Edom’s crimes. From Ellicott’s Bible Commentary:
(11) In the day . . .—Literally, In the day of thy standing over against, as if to particularise some one occasion; but instead of proceeding to state it, the prophet recalls other events of the same time, and sums up Edom’s offence in the charge, “thou, too, as one of them,” acting the part of an enemy instead of that of a friend, though probably in the base character of a neutral (comp. “My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore,” Psalms 38:11), ready to take the winning side.
Forces.—It is difficult to choose between this and the marginal reading, substance. Shâvah is usually “to take prisoner,” but there are many instances of its use in the sense of carrying off booty (1 Chronicles 5:21; 2 Chronicles 21:17, where see marg., and 2 Chronicles 14:14). And chayil, whose root-meaning is strength, while often meaning forces, has eleven times the meaning riches (Isaiah 8:4, &c.), and eight times substance (Job 5:5, &c.).
The three clauses in this verse form a climax:—(1) The plunder of the open country; (2) entry into the gates of the cities; (3) casting lots for the spoil in the very capital itself. It is natural to regard this latter event as identical with that in Joel 3:3, the final destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion of its inhabitants into captivity. But for the question of the event intended and its connection with the date of the prophecy, see Excursus.
Joel 3 – mentioned in the note above – describes the following, which also sounds like the crimes being described here in Obadiah.
3 “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”
Continuing in Ellicott:
(12) Thou shouldest not . . .—Here, and in Obadiah 1:13-14, correctly as in marg., Do not, &c. Al with the apoc. pres. or fut. must be prohibitory. Calasio’s Concordance supplies 207 instances (see Pusey’s note). But the warning against these particular offences undoubtedly springs from the reminiscence of such conduct in former times. The passage is neither definitely historical nor definitely prophetic. What has happened in the past becomes a type of what will happen in the future. For look (raah), with the sense of disdain or scorn, comp. Song of Solomon 1:6; Job 40:11; Job 41:34 (Heb. 26). The word is repeated with the same sense in Obadiah 1:13. Pusey remarks: “Malicious gazing on human calamity, forgetful of man’s common origin and common liability to ill, is the worst form of human hate. It was one of the contumelies of the Cross.”
In the day that he became a stranger.—Literally, in the day of his strangeness. The form nokher is only found here, and in Job 31:3 (nekher) with different pointing, where it is translated “strange punishment.” The adjective nokhri, also, has always the sense of strange, though the root-verb seems to have the signification to recognise. From to recognise an apparent stranger to treat as a stranger (which the derived conjugations, that alone are used, sometimes mean) is a natural transition. Perhaps here, “unheard of calamity.”
Spoken proudly.—Literally, as in marg., made thy mouth great (comp. Psalms 35:21; Isaiah 57:4). The mention of grimaces adds to the graphic character of the picture. Again we are reminded of the wanton and savage insolence around the Cross.
Ellicott gives a good rundown above regarding the underlying Hebrew words used, their translations, and where else in the text that they can be found. Returning to The Pulpit Commentaries in verse 13:
In this verse it is the making common cause with the enemy in the plundering of Jerusalem that is complained of. Thou shouldest not have entered. Do not enter; so below, “do not look,” “lay not hands” (see note on Obadiah 1:12). The gate of my people; i.e. Jerusalem, the capital, as Micah 1:9. In the day of their calamity, repeated thrice with sorrowful emphasis, as making the Edomites’ conduct more reproachful. Yea, thou shouldest not have looked. Hebrew, “look not thou also”—thou, as well as the alien enemies. What is natural in them is a crime in thee (comp. Psalms 22:17). Their affliction; Septuagint, τὴν συναγωγὴν αὐτῶν, “their gathering”—a different reading from the Masoretic. Substance, as in Micah 1:11. This was a further aggravation; they helped to plunder Jerusalem. Septuagint, μὴ μεγαλοῤῥημονῇ, “Do not set upon their host;” Vulgate, Et non emitteris adverus exercitum ejus. This implies a warning against being instigated by the enemy to attack the Jewish forces. But the rendering in the text is doubtless correct.
The climax of injury is the cutting off of fugitives, and delivering them into captivity. Neither shouldst thou have stood in the crossway; and stand not thou is the crossway. The Edomites, as neighbours, would know all the passes into the wilderness by which the Judaeans would seek to escape. Neither shouldst thou have delivered up; and deliver not up; Septuagint, νηδὲ συγκλείσῃς,, “shut not up;” Vulgate, et non concludes. So Pusey, “shut not up,” i.e. with the enemy, driving them back upon their pursuers (comp. Psalms 31:8). The Hebrew word implies both meanings—”to deliver over to confinement;” and the meaning here is—do not seize on the people to give them over into captivity (comp. Amos 1:6, Amos 1:9). Those of his that did remain. Those whom the invaders had spared.
So at the end of this section of Edomite sins, it is easy to see why these verses are associated both with the Babylonian captivity, but also with other and earlier crimes committed by the Edomites against Israel, also described in Scripture. From the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness with Moses, the Edomites never treated them as a brother, but instead as an enemy.
The rest of the chapter focuses on Edom’s punishment, and included therein is a dense amount of eschatological / Day of the Lord type teaching.
Nice post
Thank you!