Obadiah 1:18 - Exposition

The last clause of the preceding verse is here expanded and more fully explained. The house of Jacob … the house of Joseph. The kingdoms of Judah and Israel, the two and the ten tribes united once more, In Psalms 77:15 the whole people are called "the sons of Jacob and Joseph." So elsewhere. The reunion of the tribes is mentioned in Hosea 1:11 ; Ezekiel 37:19 ; Zechariah 10:6 . The future salvation is to be for all. For stubble, which the Israelites used rather than wood for lighting fires and heating ovens ( Matthew 6:30 ). (For the image of fire consuming the ungodly as stubble, see Exodus 15:7 ; Isaiah 5:24 ; Nahum 1:10 .) They shall kindle in them. This may mean, the Israelites "shall burn among" the Edomites; but more probably is merely a repetition of what has gone before: the Jews shall consume the Edomites. There shall not be any remaining. This refers to the total annihilation of the Edomites under John Hyrcauus (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 12.8. 6; 13.9, 1), and is a punishment quite distinct from their defeat at the hands of the Nabathaeans predicted in verses 1-9 (see Introduction, § I.). The LXX . gives, οὐκ ἕσται πυροφόρος ( τυρφόρος , Alex.); St. Jerome reads, πυροφόρος , which he translated frumentarius. Many of the Fathers read, πυρφόρος : thus, too, the Arabic and Coptic Versions. Schleusner, sub voce , thinks that the LXX . had in view the Greek proverb, οὐδέ πυρφόρος , which is used to express the idea that not even a single survivor remains (see Herod; 8.6). For the Lord hath spoken it ( Joel 3:8 ).