Obadiah 1 Study Notes
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1 The parallel passage in Jr 49:14 more clearly indicates that God is calling the nations together to go to war against Edom.
2 Insignificant can also mean “small, unimportant, inferior.”
3 Clefts of the rock may also be translated as “clefts of Sela” (or Petra). The Nabateans, who built the famed rock-hewn temples at Petra, drove out the Edomites, who settled in southern Judah (Idumea in NT times). The Edomites may have been completely destroyed by about AD 70 (with “no survivor,” v. 18), possibly suffering the same fate as many Jews when Jerusalem fell to the Romans.
4 The Edomites thought they were unconquerable. But even eagles among the stars cannot get away from God. See Jb 39:27.
5 Thieves . . . grape pickers is a twofold illustration of the thoroughness of the impending judgment (Jr 49:9). Even more completely than thieves pillaging from their victims’ houses (cp. Ob 11, Edomites’ ravaging of Israel’s wealth) or farmers harvesting crops, this destruction would leave no remnant behind (v. 5; Jr 49:10). The mention of grapes (lit “gleanings of grapes or olives”) alludes to the practice of leaving leftovers from the harvest in the corners of the field for widows, orphans, and aliens to gather (Lv 23:22; Ru 2). Whereas gleaning in the OT often entails a remnant (Is 17:6; Jr 6:9), Obadiah left no room for hope. No remnant would be left for Edom (cp. Ob 18).
6 Esau, the brother of Jacob (vv. 10,12), was the father of the Edomites. Thus his descendants the Edomites would be pillaged and destroyed like stubble (v. 18). In vv. 9,21, everyone from the hill country of Esau would be destroyed so that it would become the possession of Jacob’s descendants (vv. 17-18).
sela‘
| Hebrew pronunciation | [SEH lah] |
| CSB translation | rock, cliff |
| Uses in Obadiah | 1 |
| Uses in the OT | 63 |
| Focus passage | Obadiah 3 |
Sela‘ occurs (4x, Ps 71:3) alongside tsur (76x), which encompasses various kinds of rock. Sela‘ often involves rock faces, particularly cliffs (Is 2:21), where eagles (Jb 39:28) and hyraxes (Pr 30:26) live. People are thrown off them (Ps 141:6). Mountain goats is literally “goats of the sela‘ ” (Jb 39:1). Sela‘ identifies named rocks (Jdg 15:8) and rock columns (1Sm 14:4). Some think that Ob 3 specifies Sela, an Edomite fortress city, rather than rock. The Septuagint sometimes translates sela‘ (Is 42:11) as petra, perhaps corresponding to Petra in Jordan. Sela‘ is associated with crevices and clefts (Jr 13:4; 49:16), also with fortresses (Is 33:16). God is our sela‘ (Ps 18:2). Tyre stripped of civilization is sela‘ (Ezk 26:14). Crypts were carved in sela‘ (Is 22:16). Sela‘ implies stone (Jdg 6:20); the plural suggests rocks (1Sm 13:6).
7 Near the end of the sixth century BC the Edomites were driven from Edom by the Arabs, who may have had a treaty with them.
8-9 Edom was known for its wisdom (Job’s companion Eliphaz was from Teman, Jb 2:11; Jr 49:7), but God would take away their wisdom and understanding. Teman, the area east of Petra, is used to refer to Edom.
10 To harmonize the phrase destroyed forever with the seemingly contradictory statement in Am 9:12, see note at Ob 18.
11 Conquering soldiers who cast lots (Jl 3:2-3; Nah 3:10) probably did so by shaking a container of marked pebbles until one fell out. He whose stone fell out first picked the choice portions of Jerusalem.
12-14 The repetition of the day of their disaster emphasizes the calamity and suffering of Judah at the time of Edom’s mistreatment. Ironically this preoccupation with distress and disaster prepared the way for the “day of the Lord” (v. 15), when God would pay back Edom accordingly (cp. v. 8, “in that day”).
15 The day of the Lord was a time of retribution for the Edomites because of their cooperation with the conquering Babylonians in the day of Judah’s distress (see note at vv. 12-14). What you deserve is lit “your payback or retribution.” Retribution would come upon Babylon the ally of Edom (Ps 137:8) and all who had insulted Judah (Lm 3:61-64). The promise of “retribution on your heads” to all Israel’s enemies will be fulfilled in the last days (Jl 3:4,7).
16 The initial occasion for the drinking bout (as you have drunk on my holy mountain) may have been the Edomite celebration over the recent demise of Judah (ca 586 BC). However, the reference to future drinking (so all the nations will drink continually) does not picture celebration but rather judgment against Edom (see notes at Ps 75:8; Is 19:14). Drunken, they would stagger and “fall down and never get up again” as the sword swept through the land (Jr 25:27-29). “Edom” represents not just the Edomites, but ultimately all the nations who oppose Israel in the end times. They will all fall under God’s judgment.
17 This deliverance (lit “escape; escaped ones”) for God’s people in the last days is also prophesied in Jl 2:32 and Is 4:2-4. The surviving righteous remnant of Jerusalem will be holy.
18 God’s burning anger will consume his enemies like grass or chaff. He will use Israel as a blazing fire consumes grass to destroy their enemies (Zch 12:6). The phrase no survivor (cp. Ob 10, “destroyed forever”) is in tension with Am 9:12, which states that Israel will possess “the remnant of Edom.” Will there or won’t there be a remnant? The most likely solution is that “remnant of Edom” in Am 9:12 broadly represents Israel’s remaining enemies in the end times, not the Edomites specifically (see note at Ob 16).
19-21 The land of Edom will be given to the Israelites living in the Negev, or the southern section of the land. God’s people, who were once exiles, will once again possess the land that they had taken originally from the Canaanites. Saviors, or deliverers, will rule the hill country of Esau, and Yahweh will rule over the entire kingdom.