Discovery BoxObadiah 1:19-20
Context1:19 The people of the Negev 1 will take possession 2 of Esau’s mountain,
and the people of the Shephelah 3 will take
possession 4 of the land of 5 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 6 of Gilead. 7
1:20 The exiles of this fortress 8 of the people of Israel
will take possession 9 of what belongs to
the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath, 10
and the exiles of Jerusalem 11 who are in Sepharad 12
will take possession of the towns of the Negev.
Obadiah 1:7-8
Context1:7 All your allies 13 will force 14 you from your homeland! 15
Your treaty partners 16 will deceive you and overpower you.
Your trusted friends 17 will set an ambush 18 for 19 you
that will take you by surprise! 20
1:8 At that time,” 21 the Lord says,
“I will destroy the wise sages of Edom! 22
the advisers 23 from Esau’s mountain! 24
Obadiah 1:1
Context1:1 The vision 25 that Obadiah 26 saw. 27
The Lord God 28 says this concerning 29 Edom: 30
We have heard a report from the Lord.
An envoy was sent among the nations, saying, 31
“Arise! Let us make war against Edom!” 32
Obadiah 1:11-13
Context1:11 You stood aloof 33 while strangers took his army 34 captive,
and foreigners advanced to his gates. 35
When they cast lots 36 over Jerusalem, 37
you behaved as though you were in league 38 with them.
1:12 You should not 39 have gloated 40 when your relatives 41 suffered calamity. 42
You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. 43
You should not have boasted 44 when they suffered adversity. 45
1:13 You should not have entered the city 46 of my people when they experienced distress. 47
You should not have joined 48 in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress. 49
You should not have looted 50 their wealth when they endured distress. 51
[1:19] 1 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] 2 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] 3 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] 4 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] 5 tn The words “the land of” are not present in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[1:19] 6 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] 7 sn Gilead is a mountainous region on the eastern side of the Jordan River in what is today the country of Jordan.
[1:20] 8 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] 9 tn The Hebrew text has no verb here. The words “will possess” have been supplied from the context.
[1:20] 10 sn Zarephath was a Phoenician coastal city located some ten miles south of Sidon.
[1:20] 11 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:20] 12 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.
[1:7] 15 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] 16 tn Heb “send”; NASB “send you forth”; NAB “drive”; NIV “force.”
[1:7] 17 tn Heb “to the border” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[1:7] 18 tn Heb “the men of your peace.” This expression refers to a political/military alliance or covenant of friendship.
[1:7] 19 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] 20 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] 21 tn Heb “beneath” (so NAB).
[1:7] 22 tn Heb “there is no understanding in him.”
[1:8] 22 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV, NIV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “on that day.”
[1:8] 23 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] 24 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] 25 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.
[1:1] 29 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
[1:1] 30 sn The name Obadiah in Hebrew means “servant of the
[1:1] 31 tn Heb “the vision of Obadiah” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “This is the prophecy of Obadiah.”
[1:1] 32 tn Heb “Lord
[1:1] 33 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] 34 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] 35 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] 36 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.”
[1:11] 36 tn Heb “in the day of your standing”; NAB “On the day when you stood by.”
[1:11] 37 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] 38 tc The present translation follows the Qere which reads the plural (“gates”) rather than the singular.
[1:11] 39 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] 40 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:11] 41 tn Heb “like one from them”; NASB “You too were as one of them.”
[1:12] 43 tn In vv. 12-14 there are eight prohibitions which summarize the nature of the Lord’s complaint against Edom. Each prohibition alludes to something that Edom did to Judah that should not have been done by one “brother” to another. It is because of these violations that the Lord has initiated judgment against Edom. In the Hebrew text these prohibitions are expressed by אַל (’al, “not”) plus the jussive form of the verb, which is common in negative commands of immediate urgency. Such constructions would normally have the sense of prohibiting something either not yet begun (i.e., “do not start to …”) or something already in process at the time of speaking (i.e., “stop…”). Here, however, it seems more likely that the prohibitions refer to a situation in past rather than future time (i.e., “you should not have …”). If so, the verbs are being used in a rhetorical fashion, as though the prophet were vividly projecting himself back into the events that he is describing and urging the Edomites not to do what in fact they have already done.
[1:12] 44 tn The Hebrew expression “to look upon” often has the sense of “to feast the eyes upon” or “to gloat over” (cf. v. 13).
[1:12] 45 tn Heb “your brother” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NCV “your brother Israel.”
[1:12] 46 tn Heb “in the day of your brother, in the day of his calamity.” This expression is probably a hendiadys meaning, “in the day of your brother’s calamity.” The Hebrew word נָכְרוֹ (nokhro, “his calamity”)_is probably a word-play on נָכְרִים (nokherim, “foreigners”) in v. 11.
[1:12] 47 tn Heb “in the day of their destruction” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “on the day of their ruin.”
[1:12] 48 tn Or “boasted with your mouth.” The Hebrew text includes the phrase “with your mouth,” which is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
[1:12] 49 tn Heb “in the day of adversity”; NASB “in the day of their distress.”
[1:13] 50 tn Heb “the gate.” The term “gate” here functions as a synecdoche for the city as a whole, which the Edomites plundered.
[1:13] 51 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] 52 tn Heb “you, also you.”
[1:13] 53 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] 54 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] 55 tn See the note on the phrase “suffered distress” in the previous line.
