Obaja 1:14

1:14 You should not have stood at the fork in the road ¹  to slaughter ²  those trying to escape. ³ 

You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. ⁴ 

Obaja 1:11

1:11 You stood aloof ⁵  while strangers took his army ⁶  captive,

and foreigners advanced to his gates. ⁷ 

When they cast lots ⁸  over Jerusalem, ⁹ 

you behaved as though you were in league ¹⁰  with them.

Obaja 1:9

1:9 Your warriors will be shattered, O Teman, ¹¹ 

so that ¹²  everyone ¹³  will be destroyed ¹⁴  from Esau’s mountain!

Obaja 1:21

1:21 Those who have been delivered ¹⁵  will go up on Mount Zion

in order to rule over ¹⁶  Esau’s mountain.

Then the Lord will reign as King! ¹⁷ 

Obaja 1:7

1:7 All your allies ¹⁸  will force ¹⁹  you from your homeland! ²⁰ 

Your treaty partners ²¹  will deceive you and overpower you.

Your trusted friends ²²  will set an ambush ²³  for ²⁴  you

that will take you by surprise! ²⁵ 

Obaja 1:13

1:13 You should not have entered the city ²⁶  of my people when they experienced distress. ²⁷ 

You should not have joined ²⁸  in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress. ²⁹ 

You should not have looted ³⁰  their wealth when they endured distress. ³¹ 

Obaja 1:17

1:17 But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, ³² 

and it will be a holy place once again.

The descendants ³³  of Jacob will conquer ³⁴ 

those who had conquered them. ³⁵ 

Obaja 1:1

God’s Judgment on Edom

1:1 The vision ³⁶  that Obadiah ³⁷  saw. ³⁸ 

The Lord God ³⁹  says this concerning ⁴⁰  Edom: ⁴¹ 

Edom’s Approaching Destruction

We have heard a report from the Lord.

An envoy was sent among the nations, saying, ⁴² 

“Arise! Let us make war against Edom!” ⁴³ 

[1:14]  ¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word פֶּרֶק (pereq; here translated “fork in the road”) is uncertain. The word is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in Nah 3:1, where it means “plunder.” In the present context it seems to refer to a strategic intersection or fork in a road where bands of Edomites apprehended Israelites who were fleeing from the attack on Jerusalem. Cf. NAB, NIV, NLT “crossroads”; NRSV “crossings.”

[1:14]  ² tn Heb “to cut off” (so KJV, NRSV); NASB, NIV “to cut down.”

[1:14]  ³ tn Heb “his fugitives”; NAB, CEV “refugees.”

[1:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the day of distress” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the day of your standing”; NAB “On the day when you stood by.”

[1:11]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps, “wealth” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The Hebrew word is somewhat ambiguous here. This word also appears in v. 13, where it clearly refers to wealth.

[1:11]  ⁷ tc The present translation follows the Qere which reads the plural (“gates”) rather than the singular.

[1:11]  ⁸ sn Casting lots seems to be a way of deciding who would gain control over material possessions and enslaved peoples following a military victory.

[1:11]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like one from them”; NASB “You too were as one of them.”

[1:9]  ¹¹ sn Teman, like Sela, was a prominent city of Edom. The name Teman is derived from the name of a grandson of Esau (cf. Gen 36:11). Here it is a synecdoche of part for whole, standing for all of Edom.

[1:9]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word used here (לְמַעַן, lÿma’an) usually expresses purpose. The sense in this context, however, is more likely that of result.

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “a man,” meaning “every single person” here; cf. KJV “every one.”

[1:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “cut off” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV, NLT “cut down”; CEV “wiped out.”

[1:21]  ¹⁵ tc The present translation follows the reading מוּשָׁעִים (musha’im, “those who have been delivered”; cf. NRSV, CEV) rather than מוֹשִׁעִים (moshi’im,“deliverers”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) of the MT (cf. LXX, Aquila, Theodotion, and Syriac).

[1:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to judge.” In this context the term does not mean “to render judgment on,” but “to rule over” (cf. NAB “to rule”; NIV “to govern”).

[1:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “then the kingdom will belong to the Lord.”

[1:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “All the men of your covenant”; KJV, ASV “the men of thy confederacy.” In Hebrew “they will send you unto the border” and “all the men of your covenant” appear in two separate poetic lines (cf. NAB “To the border they drive you – all your allies”). Since the second is a noun clause functioning as the subject of the first clause, the two are rendered as a single sentence in the translation.

[1:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “send”; NASB “send you forth”; NAB “drive”; NIV “force.”

[1:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to the border” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “the men of your peace.” This expression refers to a political/military alliance or covenant of friendship.

[1:7]  ²² tn Heb “your bread,” which makes little sense in the context. The Hebrew word can be revocalized to read “those who eat bread with you,” i.e., “your friends.” Cf. KJV “they that eat thy bread”; NIV “those who eat your bread”; TEV “Those friends who ate with you.”

[1:7]  ²³ tn Heb “set a trap” (so NIV, NRSV). The meaning of the Hebrew word מָזוֹר (mazor; here translated “ambush”) is uncertain; it occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. The word probably refers to something “spread out” for purposes of entrapment, such as a net. Other possibilities include “trap,” “fetter,” or “stumbling block.”

[1:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “beneath” (so NAB).

[1:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “there is no understanding in him.”

[1:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the gate.” The term “gate” here functions as a synecdoche for the city as a whole, which the Edomites plundered.

[1:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in the day of their distress.” The phrase is used three times in this verse; the Hebrew word translated “distress” (אֵידָם, ’edam) is a wordplay on the name Edom. For stylistic reasons and to avoid monotony, in the present translation this phrase is rendered: “when they experienced distress,” “when they suffered distress,” and “when they endured distress.”

[1:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “you, also you.”

[1:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in the day of his distress.” In this and the following phrase at the end of v. 13 the suffix is 3rd person masculine singular. As collective singulars both occurrences have been translated as plurals (“they suffered distress…endured distress” rather than “he suffered distress…endured distress”).

[1:13]  ³⁰ tc In the MT the verb is feminine plural, but the antecedent is unclear. The Hebrew phrase תִּשְׁלַחְנָה (tishlakhnah) here should probably be emended to read תִּשְׁלַח יָד (tishlakh yad), although yad (“hand”) is not absolutely essential to this idiom.

[1:13]  ³¹ tn See the note on the phrase “suffered distress” in the previous line.

[1:17]  ³² tn Heb “will be a fugitive.” This is a collective singular. Cf. NCV “some will escape the judgment.”

[1:17]  ³³ tn Heb “house” (so most English versions); NCV, TEV “the people of Jacob.” The word “house” also occurs four times in v. 18.

[1:17]  ³⁴ tn Heb “dispossess.” This root is repeated in the following line to emphasize poetic justice: The punishment will fit the crime.

[1:17]  ³⁵ tc The present translation follows the reading מוֹרִשֵׁיהֶם (morishehem; literally, “those dispossessing them”; cf. NAB, NRSV, CEV) rather than מוֹרָשֵׁיהֶם (morashehem, “their possessions”) of the MT (cf. LXX, Syriac, and Vg, followed by KJV, ASV, NASB).

[1:1]  ³⁶ sn The date of the book of Obadiah is very difficult to determine. Since there is no direct indication of chronological setting clearly suggested by the book itself, and since the historical identity of the author is uncertain as well, a possible date for the book can be arrived at only on the basis of internal evidence. When did the hostile actions of Edom against Judah that are described in this book take place? Many nineteenth-century scholars linked the events of the book to a historical note found in 2 Kgs 8:20 (cf. 2 Chr 21:16-17): “In [Jehoram’s] days Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah and established a king over themselves.” If this is the backdrop against which Obadiah should be read, it would suggest a ninth-century b.c. date for the book, since Jehoram reigned ca. 852-841 b.c. But the evidence presented for this view is not entirely convincing, and most contemporary Old Testament scholars reject a ninth-century scenario. A more popular view, held by many biblical scholars from Luther to the present, understands the historical situation presupposed in the book to be the Babylonian invasion of Judah in the sixth century (cf. Ps 137:7; Lam 4:18-22; Ezek 25:12-14; 35:1-15). Understood in this way, Obadiah would be describing a situation in which the Edomites assisted in the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem. Although it must be admitted that a sixth-century setting for the book of Obadiah cannot be proven, the details of the book fit reasonably well into such a context. Other views on the dating of the book, such as an eighth-century date in the time of Ahaz (ca. 732-716 b.c.) or a fifth-century date in the postexilic period, are less convincing. Parallels between the book of Obadiah and Jer 49:1-22 clearly suggest some kind of literary dependence, but it is not entirely clear whether Jeremiah drew on Obadiah or whether Obadiah drew upon Jeremiah, In any case, the close relationship between Obadiah and Jer 49 might suggest the sixth-century setting.

[1:1]  ³⁷ sn The name Obadiah in Hebrew means “servant of the Lord.” A dozen or so individuals in the OT have this name, none of whom may be safely identified with the author of this book. In reality we know very little about this prophet with regard to his exact identity or historical circumstances.

[1:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the vision of Obadiah” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “This is the prophecy of Obadiah.”

[1:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Lord Lord.” The phrase אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih) is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God.” Cf. NIV, TEV, NLT “Sovereign Lord.”

[1:1]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew preposition לְ (lÿ) is better translated here “concerning” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or “about” (so NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV) Edom rather than “to” Edom, although much of the book does speak directly to Edom.

[1:1]  ⁴¹ sn The name Edom derives from a Hebrew root that means “red.” Edom was located to the south of the Dead Sea in an area with numerous rocky crags that provided ideal military advantages for protection. Much of the sandstone of this area has a reddish color. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob (Gen 25:19-26).

[1:1]  ⁴² tn Although the word “saying” is not in the Hebrew text, it has been supplied in the translation because what follows seems to be the content of the envoy’s message. Cf. ASV, NASB, NCV, all of which supply “saying”; NIV, NLT “to say.”

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Arise, and let us arise against her in battle!” The term “Edom” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to specify the otherwise ambiguous referent of the term “her.”