Another Bible Commentary: Obadiah

Obadiah means “Servant of the Lord” or “Slave of YHWH”. He preached against Edom between 585 and 550 BC, give or take. See Ezekiel 36:5 and Amos 1:11. Edom helped Babylon sack Jerusalem, so the Deuteronomy 23:7 pass wore off, so to speak. See also Psalm 137:7, Lamentations 4:21-22, and Ezekiel 35. Inhospitable Sodom was on land later claimed by Edom. There are many similarities between this short book and Jeremiah 49:7-22. Since “Edom” and “Adam (humanity)” are similar words, sometimes you can sense a hint at all of God’s enemies when Edom is mentioned.

1 like Jeremiah 49:14.

3-6 “clefts of the rocks” regarding Petra. The history of Sardis was similar enough to this scenario (both with Cyrus the Great of Persia getting in and also the later Seleucids) that this is referenced in Revelation 3:3.

5-6 like Jeremiah 49:9-10; see Leviticus 23:22.

7 God treated Edom like Assyria had treated Israel.

8 Edom was apparently known for wise citizens such as Eliphaz the Temanite (Jeremiah 49:7, Job 2:11).

10 See Amos 1:11. As fellow descendants of Isaac and Abraham, this was fratricide.

15 “for all nations”; remember the similarity of “Edom” and “humanity”. “As you have done…” This statement about karma is an antecedent to Matthew 7:12.

16 See Isaiah 34:9-10. They continually drink the cup of wrath and are in a state “as if they had never been”; phrasing like this and the smoke of their judgment being forever point more to annihilationism than to eternal conscious torment for those scoring that debate, but you don’t really want either. Everybody: take the deal from Jesus, please and thank you.

19 God treated Edom like Assyria treated Israel.

20 “Sepharad” Much like there’s Paris in France, Texas, etc., we have options for this place. Now, the name Sepharad is Hebrew for the Iberian peninsula, Spain, etc., hence “Sephardic Jews”. Other scholars say that in this context Sepharad referred to Sardis, the once wealthy capital of Lydia. You may have heard of rich King Croesus who was defeated by Cyrus the Great of Persia.

21 We will rule the world with Christ.

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