Obaja 1:20

1:20 The exiles of this fortress ¹  of the people of Israel

will take possession ²  of what belongs to

the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath, ³ 

and the exiles of Jerusalem ⁴  who are in Sepharad ⁵ 

will take possession of the towns of the Negev.

Obaja 1:10

Edom’s Treachery Against Judah

1:10 “Because ⁶  you violently slaughtered ⁷  your relatives, ⁸  the people of Jacob, ⁹ 

shame will cover you, and you will be destroyed ¹⁰  forever.

Obaja 1:18

1:18 The descendants of Jacob will be a fire,

and the descendants of Joseph a flame.

The descendants of Esau will be like stubble.

They will burn them up and devour them.

There will not be a single survivor ¹¹  of the descendants of Esau!”

Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.

Obaja 1:13

1:13 You should not have entered the city ¹²  of my people when they experienced distress. ¹³ 

You should not have joined ¹⁴  in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress. ¹⁵ 

You should not have looted ¹⁶  their wealth when they endured distress. ¹⁷ 

Obaja 1:15

The Coming Day of the Lord

1:15 “For the day of the Lord ¹⁸  is approaching ¹⁹  for all the nations! ²⁰ 

Just as you have done, so it will be done to you.

You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. ²¹ 

Obaja 1:17

1:17 But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, ²² 

and it will be a holy place once again.

The descendants ²³  of Jacob will conquer ²⁴ 

those who had conquered them. ²⁵ 

Obaja 1:11

1:11 You stood aloof ²⁶  while strangers took his army ²⁷  captive,

and foreigners advanced to his gates. ²⁸ 

When they cast lots ²⁹  over Jerusalem, ³⁰ 

you behaved as though you were in league ³¹  with them.

Obaja 1:19

1:19 The people of the Negev ³²  will take possession ³³  of Esau’s mountain,

and the people of the Shephelah ³⁴  will take

possession ³⁵  of the land of ³⁶  the Philistines.

They will also take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria,

and the people of Benjamin will take possession ³⁷  of Gilead. ³⁸ 

[1:20]  ¹ tn Or “army” (TEV); KJV, NAB, NASB “host”; NIV “company.” Some text critics suggest revocalizing MT הַחֵל (hakhel, “the fortress”) to the place- name הָלָה (halah, “Halah”; so NRSV), the location to which many of the Israelite exiles were sent in the 8th century (2 Kgs 7:6; 18:11; 1 Chr 5:26). The MT form is from הַיִל (hayil, “strength”), which is used elsewhere to refer to an army (Exod 14:17; 1 Sam 17:20; 2 Sam 8:9), military fortress (2 Sam 20:15; 22:33), leaders (Exod 18:21) and even wealth or possessions (Obad 1:11, 13).

[1:20]  ² tn The Hebrew text has no verb here. The words “will possess” have been supplied from the context.

[1:20]  ³ sn Zarephath was a Phoenician coastal city located some ten miles south of Sidon.

[1:20]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:20]  ⁵ sn The exact location of Sepharad is uncertain. Suggestions include a location in Spain, or perhaps Sparta in Greece, or perhaps Sardis in Asia Minor. For inscriptional evidence that bears on this question see E. Lipinski, “Obadiah 20,” VT 23 (1973): 368-70. The reason for mentioning this location in v. 20 seems to be that even though it was far removed from Jerusalem, the Lord will nonetheless enable the Jewish exiles there to return and participate in the restoration of Israel that Obadiah describes.

[1:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “from.” The preposition is used here with a causal sense.

[1:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “because of the slaughter and because of the violence.” These two expressions form a hendiadys meaning “because of the violent slaughter.” Traditional understanding connects the first phrase “because of the slaughter” with the end of v. 9 (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). It is preferable, however, to regard it as parallel to the reference to violence at the beginning of v. 11. Both the parallel linguistic structure of the two phrases and the metrical structure of the verse favor connecting this phrase with the beginning of v. 10 (cf. NRSV, TEV).

[1:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “the violence of your brother.” The genitive construction is to be understood as an objective genitive. The meaning is not that Jacob has perpetrated violence (= subjective genitive), but that violence has been committed against him (= objective genitive).

[1:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “your brother Jacob” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV “your relatives, the Israelites.”

[1:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “be cut off” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will be no survivor”; NAB “none shall survive.”

[1:13]  ¹² tn Heb “the gate.” The term “gate” here functions as a synecdoche for the city as a whole, which the Edomites plundered.

[1:13]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you, also you.”

[1:13]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn See the note on the phrase “suffered distress” in the previous line.

[1:15]  ¹⁸ sn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is repeated ten times in vv. 11-14 referring to the time period when Judah/Jerusalem suffered calamity which Edom exploited for its own sinful gain. In each of those cases יוֹם was qualified by a following genitive to describe Judah’s plight, e.g., “in the day of your brother’s calamity” (v. 12). Here it appears again but now followed by the divine name to describe the time of God’s judgment against Edom for its crimes against humanity: “the day of the Lord.” In the present translation, the expression בְּיוֹם (bÿyom; literally, “In the day of”) was rendered “When…” in vv. 11-14. However, here it is translated more literally because the expression “the day of the Lord” is a well-known technical expression for a time of divine intervention in judgment. While this expression sometimes refers to the final eschatological day of God’s judgment, it may also refer occasionally to historical acts of judgment.

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “near” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “is coming soon.”

[1:15]  ²⁰ sn God’s judgment would not be confined to Edom. Edom would certainly be punished in just measure for its wrongdoing, but “the day of the Lord” would also encompass judgment of the nations (v. 15).

[1:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “your deed will return on your own head.” Verses 15 and 16 provide an example of ironic reversal, whereby the tables are turned and poetic justice is served. This is a motif that is common in prophetic oracles against foreign nations.

[1:17]  ²² tn Heb “will be a fugitive.” This is a collective singular. Cf. NCV “some will escape the judgment.”

[1:17]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “dispossess.” This root is repeated in the following line to emphasize poetic justice: The punishment will fit the crime.

[1:17]  ²⁵ 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).

[1:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in the day of your standing”; NAB “On the day when you stood by.”

[1:11]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tc The present translation follows the Qere which reads the plural (“gates”) rather than the singular.

[1:11]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “like one from them”; NASB “You too were as one of them.”

[1:19]  ³² tn Heb “the Negev”; ASV “the South”; NCV, TEV “southern Judah.” The Hebrew text does not have the words “the people of,” but these words have been supplied in the translation for clarity. The place name “the Negev” functions as a synecdoche (container for contents) for the people living in the Negev.

[1:19]  sn The Negev is a dry, hot, arid region in the southern portion of Judah.

[1:19]  ³³ sn The verb יָרַשׁ (yarash, “to take possession of [something]”) which is repeated three times in vv. 19-20 for emphasis, often implies a violent means of acquisition, such as through military conquest. Obadiah here pictures a dramatic reversal: Judah’s enemies, who conquered them then looted all her valuable possessions, will soon be conquered by the Judeans who will in turn take possession of their valuables. The punishment will fit the crime.

[1:19]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew text does not have the words “the people of,” but they are supplied in the translation since “the Shephelah” functions as a synecdoche referring to residents of this region.

[1:19]  sn The Shephelah as a region refers to the Palestinian foothills that rise from the coastal plain. In much of Old Testament times they served as a divide between the people of Judah and the Philistines.

[1:19]  ³⁵ tn The phrase “will take possession” does not appear in this clause, but is implied from its previous use in this verse. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[1:19]  ³⁶ tn The words “the land of” are not present in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:19]  ³⁷ tn The phrase “will take possession” does not appear in this clause, but is implied from its previous use in this verse. It is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:19]  ³⁸ sn Gilead is a mountainous region on the eastern side of the Jordan River in what is today the country of Jordan.