Obadiah 1:15-16

The terrors of the day of Jehovah, Obadiah 1:15-16.

In Obadiah 1:10 the prophet announces judgment upon the Edomites for their ill treatment of Judah; in Obadiah 1:11 he describes in greater detail their wrongdoings; in 12-14 he warns them to abstain from further violence. These warnings he backs up in Obadiah 1:15-16 by calling attention to the day of Jehovah, when Edom and all other enemies of Jehovah will receive their just dues.

For Connects with Obadiah 1:14 more directly than with Obadiah 1:9.

The day of Jehovah is near upon all the heathen R.V., “all the nations.” Edom is joined here with the other enemies of Jehovah; but 15b sets her apart again from the rest. Though the transition from 15a to 15b is abrupt there is insufficient reason for rejecting the latter as out of harmony with the former. The seeming difficulty may be removed by regarding 15b as an attempt on the part of the prophet to emphasize the special guilt of the Edomites, which might possibly be overlooked, were they not singled out for condemnation. In a sense, therefore, 15b is a parenthetical clause.

Day of Jehovah See on Joel 1:15.

As thou hast done The latter part of Obadiah 1:15 lays down the basis of recompense, the lex talionis (compare Ezekiel 35:15; Psalms 137:8; see on Joel 3:7). This idea is continued, in somewhat different form, in Obadiah 1:16. “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.”

The interpretation of Obadiah 1:16 depends upon the determination as to who are the persons addressed with you. 1. Are they Edomites? “As ye Edomites have drunk in triumphant revelry and carousal on my holy mountain, rejoicing with unhallowed joy over its destruction, so shall (ye and) all the nations drink continually the wine of God’s wrath and indignation.” 2. Are they the Jews? “As ye have drunk (who are) upon my holy mountain; as even you who are my chosen people, and inhabit the mountain consecrated by my presence, have not escaped the cup of my wrath, so all the nations shall drink of that same cup, not with a passing salutary draught as you have done, but with a continuous swallowing down, till they have wrung out the dregs thereof and been brought to nothing by their consuming power.” Against the first and in support of the second interpretation it is urged: (1) The former would necessitate a change of meaning in drink; in the first sentence it would have to be understood literally, in the second figuratively. (2) In other parts of the book Edom is addressed in the singular, here in the plural. (3) The Edomites are a part of “all the nations” (15a); it would be peculiar to have them separated in Obadiah 1:16 (15b is of a different nature). (4) “The contrast between the Edomites reveling upon Mount Zion and the nations drinking the cup of Jehovah’s wrath gives no sense.” (5) It is also urged that the second interpretation alone does justice to continually “by virtue of the contrast which it suggests between the Jews for whom the bitter draught was only temporary, for amendment and not for destruction, and the heathen who were to drink on until they perished.” (6) The parallel passage (see, however, p. 291) in Jeremiah 49:12 (compare Jeremiah 25:15-29; Lamentations 4:21-22) is also quoted in support. But the second interpretation is by no means free from difficulties: (1) The rendering, “As ye have drunk who are upon my holy mountain,” is grammatically impossible; “upon my holy mountain” belongs to “as ye have drunk.” This objection, however, is valid only against the above-mentioned translation of the passage; a proper translation might remove the difficulty. (2) Throughout the whole prophecy Edom seems to be addressed, never the people of Judah directly. (3) The parallelism with “even as thou hast done,” referring to Edom (Obadiah 1:15), favors the first view. (4) The meaning which Jeremiah gives to the passage cannot determine the meaning of Obadiah. If the two passages are dependent the one on the other, which is by no means certain (p. 291), the borrower evidently took considerable liberty with the passage borrowed, and he may have gone so far as to alter the original meaning. On the whole, the first interpretation seems to be the more natural. It is in more perfect accord with the context, and it gives to the expression “drunk upon my holy mountain” its natural meaning. The use of drink in a twofold sense is not a serious objection; on the contrary, such change would be striking, and thus would add force to the prophetic message. The word continually would not lose its significance. Abrupt transitions from singular to plural, or plural to singular, are not uncommon in prophetic literature; and in this case the change may easily be accounted for by assuming that the prophet desired to include, in thought at least, all the nations. This assumption is supported by the fact that in Obadiah 1:15-16 the Edomites and the other nations are thought of as intimately associated, both in oppressing Judah and in enduring the judgment. For these reasons we may consider the words addressed to the Edomites, and by implication to all the nations.

As ye have drunk There is nothing improbable in the thought that the Edomites joined the destroyers in carousals and revelry to celebrate the downfall of the Jewish nation and the capture of the city, and that they did this on the temple mountain.

My holy mountain See on Joel 2:1.

So shall all the heathen [“nations”] drink All who have manifested hostility toward the chosen people of God must drink the cup of the divine wrath.

Continually “So that the turn to drink never passes from the nations to Judah” (Isaiah 51:22-23).

Swallow down R.V. margin, “talk foolishly.” Of these the former is to be preferred. They will be compelled to empty the cup to the bottom.

A figurative description of the severity and completeness of the judgment. The result will be utter destruction for the nations that have been the enemies of Jehovah and of his people.