Obaja 1:4

1:4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, ¹ 

even if you ²  were to make your nest among the stars,

I can bring you down even from there!” says the Lord.

Obaja 1:8

1:8 At that time,” ³  the Lord says,

“I will destroy the wise sages of Edom! ⁴ 

the advisers ⁵  from Esau’s mountain! ⁶ 

[1:4]  ¹ sn The eagle was often used in the ancient Near East as a symbol of strength and swiftness.

[1:4]  ² tc The present translation follows the reading תָּשִׂים (tasim; active) rather than שִׁים (sim; passive) of the MT (“and your nest be set among the stars,” NAB). Cf. LXX, Syriac, Vg.

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV, NIV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “on that day.”

[1:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “Will I not destroy those who are wise from Edom?” The rhetorical question functions as an emphatic affirmation. For the sake of clarity this has been represented by the emphatic indicative in the translation.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “understanding”; NIV “men of understanding.” This undoubtedly refers to members of the royal court who offered political and military advice to the Edomite kings. In the ancient Near East, such men of wisdom were often associated with divination and occultic practices (cf. Isa 3:3, 47:10, 13). The Edomites were also renown in the ancient Near East as a center of traditional sagacity and wisdom; perhaps that is referred to here (cf. Jer 49:7).

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and understanding from the mountain of Esau.” The phrase “I will remove the men of…” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness. Here “understanding” is a synecdoche of part for whole; the faculty of understanding is put for the wise men who possess it.