Obadiah 1:3, Obadiah 1:4 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Obadiah 1:3-4

The deceptiveness of human pride. The prophecies of Obadiah were mainly addressed to the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, a wild and warlike people who inhabited the mountainous region to the south of the Dead Sea. Their hostility and treachery towards their kinsmen, the descendants of Israel, were the occasion of the threatenings with which this book abounds. Fancying themselves secure and impregnable in their singular mountain fastnesses, they deemed their neighbours altogether... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Obadiah 1:3

The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee - Not the strength of its mountain-fastnesses, strong though they were, deceived Edom, but “the pride of his heart.” That strength was but the occasion which called forth the “pride.” Yet, it was strong in its abode. God, as it were, admits it to them. “Dweller in the clefts of the rocks, the loftiness of his habitation.” “The whole southern country of the Edomites,” says Jerome, “from Eleutheropolis to Petra and Selah (which are the possessions of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Obadiah 1:1-4

Obadiah 1:1-4. The vision of Obadiah The name of this prophet signifies, a servant, or a worshipper, of the Lord. Such he undoubtedly was, and also a prophet, but what he was in other respects we are not informed. It is not improbable that he had other visions, or revelations, from God, besides this which is here recorded, but this only has been preserved for the benefit of future ages. Thus saith the Lord This declaration includes his commission and authority to prophesy, together... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Obadiah 1:1-14

OBADIAH’S MESSAGEEdom’s sin (1-14)The Edomites thought their land was unconquerable because of the defence system that they had built throughout their rocky mountains. Obadiah warns them that no matter how high up the mountains they go or how strong they make their defences, nothing will save them from the coming destruction. Already the enemy armies are preparing to attack Edom (1-4).A house burglar steals only what he wants, and leaves the remainder of the goods in the house; a vineyard... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Obadiah 1:3

the clefts, &c. Referring to the natural position of the Edomites. Compare 2 Kings 14:7 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Obadiah 1:3

"The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?"This is a description of the national character of the Edomites, the traditional enemies of Israel, who were also their very close kinsmen, both being descended from the twin sons (Jacob and Esau) of Isaac, the Edomites being descended from Esau, and the Israelites from Jacob. The enmity between the two peoples... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Obadiah 1:3

3. clefts of . . . rock— (Song of Solomon 2:14; Jeremiah 48:28). The cities of Edom, and among them Petra (Hebrew, sela, meaning "rock," 2 Kings 14:7, Margin), the capital, in the Wady Musa, consisted of houses mostly cut in the rocks. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Obadiah 1:3

The outstanding mark of Edom’s national character was pride. The Hebrew word for pride (zadon) comes from a verb meaning to boil up (zid). It pictures pride as water that boils up under pressure in a cooking pot. Similarly the proud person is like a bubble that thrusts itself up but is hollow. Interestingly, the same Hebrew word occurs three times in the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, squandering his birthright (Genesis 25:27-34).". . . the key that unlocks the central moral... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Obadiah 1:1-4

1-9.—THE DIVINE HOSTILITY AGAINST EDOM PROCLAIMED.(1) The vision of Obadiah.—Properly, vision of Obadiah, without the article. There are three recognised headings to prophetical books—word, burden (i.e., oracle), and vision—and all are used without the article, and in a general way, for the contents of the books, without any intention to distinguish between different kinds or modes of prophecy. Thus Nahum combines burden and vision: “Burden of Nineveh. Book of vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.”... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Obadiah 1:1-21

EDOM AND ISRAELObadiah 1:1-21IF the Book of Obadiah presents us with some of the most difficult questions of criticism, it raises besides one of the hardest ethical problems in all the vexed history of Israel.Israel’s fate has been to work out their calling in the world through antipathies rather than by sympathies, but of all the antipathies which the nation experienced none was more bitter and more constant than that towards Edom. The rest of Israel’s enemies rose and fell like waves:... read more