Obadiah 1:2-4

1:2 The Lord says, ¹  “Look! I will ²  make you a weak nation; ³ 

you will be greatly despised!

1:3 Your presumptuous heart ⁴  has deceived you –

you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs, ⁵ 

whose home is high in the mountains. ⁶ 

You think to yourself, ⁷ 

‘No one can ⁸  bring me down to the ground!’ ⁹ 

1:4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, ¹⁰ 

even if you ¹¹  were to make your nest among the stars,

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

¹ tn The introductory phrase “the Lord says” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the identity of the speaker.

² tn The Hebrew perfect verb form used here usually describes past events. However, here and several times in the following verses it is best understood as portraying certain fulfillment of events that at the time of writing were still future. It is the perfect of certitude. See GKC 312-13 §106.n; Joüon 2:363 §112.h.

³ sn Heb “I will make you small among the nations” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NRSV “least among the nations”; NCV “the smallest of nations.”

⁴ tn Heb “the presumption of your heart”; NAB, NIV “the pride of your heart”; NASB “arrogance of your heart.”

⁵ tn Heb “in the concealed places of the rock”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “in the clefts of the rock”; NCV “the hollow places of the cliff”; CEV “a mountain fortress.”

⁶ tn Heb “on high (is) his dwelling”; NASB “in the loftiness of your dwelling place”; NRSV “whose dwelling (abode NAB) is in the heights.”

⁷ tn Heb “the one who says in his heart.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew imperfect verb used here is best understood in a modal sense (“Who can bring me down?”) rather than in the sense of a simple future (“Who will bring me down?”). So also in v. 4 (“I can bring you down”). The question is not so much whether this will happen at some time in the future, but whether it even lies in the realm of possible events. In their hubris the Edomites were boasting that no one had the capability of breaching their impregnable defenses. However, their pride caused them to fail to consider the vast capabilities of Yahweh as warrior.

⁹ tn Heb “Who can bring me down?” This rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “No one!”

¹⁰ sn The eagle was often used in the ancient Near East as a symbol of strength and swiftness.

¹¹ 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.