¹ sn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is repeated ten times in vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">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. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">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. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">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 tn The identification of the referent of “you” in v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">16a is uncertain. There are three major options: (1) On the surface, it would appear to be Edom, which is addressed in v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">15b and throughout the prophecy. However, when Edom is addressed, second person singular forms are normally used in the Hebrew. In v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">16a the Hebrew verb “you drank” is a plural form שְׁתִיתֶם (shÿtitem), perhaps suggesting that Edom is no longer addressed, at least solely. Perhaps Edom and the nations, mentioned in v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">15a, are both addressed in v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">16a. However, since the nations are referred to in the third person in v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">16b, it seems unlikely that they are addressed here. (2) Another option is to take the final mem (ם) on the Hebrew verb form (שְׁתִיתֶם) as an enclitic particle and revocalize the form as a singular verb (שָׁתִיתָ, shatita) addressed to Edom. In this case v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">16a would allude to the time when Edom celebrated Jerusalem’s defeat on Mount Zion, God’s “holy hill.” Verse Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">16b would then make the ironic point that just as Edom once drank in victory, so the nations (Edom included) would someday drink the cup of judgment. However, this interpretation is problematic for it necessitates taking the drinking metaphor in different ways (as signifying celebration and then judgment) within the same verse. (3) Another option is that the exiled people of Judah are addressed. Just as God’s people were forced to drink the intoxicating wine of divine judgment, so the nations, including those who humiliated Judah, would be forced to drink this same wine. However, the problem here is that God’s people are never addressed elsewhere in the prophecy, making this approach problematic as well.

¹ tn In vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A31&tab=notes" ver="">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.