Obadiah 1:18

18. The restored exiles will execute vengeance upon Edom. Several times the prophet has made it plain that Jehovah will destroy Edom; but, if the above suggested interpretation of Obadiah 1:1 is correct, he has failed to state thus far how it is to be accomplished. This lack he supplies in Obadiah 1:18, where he names the executors of the divine purpose.

House of Jacob… house of Joseph Though common usage may be urged against it, the context seems to require that the former should be interpreted as referring to the southern kingdom, the latter to the kingdom of the ten tribes. The two will become reunited at the time of the restoration (Hosea 1:11; Ezekiel 37:15 ff.; Isaiah 11:13-14), and will be used by Jehovah as instruments of judgment (Zechariah 9:13).

Fire,… flame The figure is based upon devastation wrought by prairie and forest fires, which are not uncommon in Palestine during the dry season (see on Joel 1:19; compare Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 10:17).

Stubble Which is readily devoured by the flames. The destruction will be so complete that no one will survive.

Jehovah hath spoken it Therefore nothing can prevent the carrying out of the threat (Joel 3:8).

The remaining verses of Obadiah present grave difficulties, and the details of interpretation are more or less uncertain. However, the general thought seems to be that Israel, having destroyed Edom, will enter upon an era of prosperity and territorial expansion. This expansion is made necessary by the large number of restored exiles. The old territory of Judah cannot hold them; they overflow in every direction. Lack of space forbids the consideration of the different translations, emendations, and interpretations proposed; all that can be done here is to point the way to the most probable interpretation.

An examination of Obadiah 1:19 and a comparison of it with LXX. and with Joshua 15:20 ff., where the divisions of the territory occupied by Judah are named, leads to the following observations: 1. The verbs in Obadiah 1:19 are in the plural, while the nouns that are ordinarily considered the subjects are in the singular. This creates apparently a difficulty; but construction according to the sense rather than according to strict grammatical rules is not uncommon in the Old Testament (G.-K., 145b), especially when a noun expresses a collective idea. Hence the English translators are undoubtedly correct in making neghebh the subject and rendering it “they of the south,” the inhabitants of the Negeb. 2. The first verb is followed immediately by its subject; after the second verb the subject of the first must be supplied, which results in an unusually heavy and somewhat awkward sentence. 3. LXX. reads after the second verb το ορος , “the mount,” which may be taken as subject in the Greek, and it omits the first, “the field of.” 4. In Joshua 15:20 ff., the territory of Judah is divided into three sections (or four, but the fourth is very small); the first is called “South” or “Negeb” (Obadiah 1:21), the second “Lowland” (33), the third “Hill Country” (48), Hebrews har, which corresponds to the Greek ορος . Bearing in mind these considerations it seems legitimate to emend the text of Obadiah 1:19 so that it will read: “And the Negeb (the inhabitants of the Negeb) shall possess Mount Esau, and the Lowland (shall possess) the Philistines; the Hill Country shall possess (the field of) Ephraim and the field of Samaria, and Benjamin (shall possess) Gilead.”

Negeb Commonly translated “south.” A geographical term, denoting the southern section of the Central Range of Palestine. It is generally spoken of as extending from south of Beer-sheba to the wilderness of Tih; the Old Testament, however, places its northern border near Hebron. The new inhabitants of this district will expand eastward and occupy the territory of Edom (see on Obadiah 1:18).

Lowland Hebrews shephelah. Also a geographical term, denoting the low foothills between the Central Range and the Philistine Plain; the inhabitants of this region will spread to the west and southwest and occupy Philistia.

Hill country That portion of the territory of Judah which covered the Central Range, between the Shephelah and the Jordan valley or the Dead Sea. Its inhabitants will reach northward and claim the territory south of the Plain of Esdraelon, which before 721 had belonged to the northern kingdom, and part of which seems to have fallen to Judah after the deportation of the northern tribes (2 Kings 23:15). Nearly the entire territory here promised to Judah is allotted in Joshua 15:0 to that tribe. During its national existence Judah never possessed all this territory; here the prophet promises that subsequent to the day of Jehovah it will surely enter upon its possessions; yea, in the south at least, it will go even beyond its ideal borders (compare Genesis 28:14).

Benjamin shall possess Gilead The popular impression is that Benjamin joined Judah after the division subsequent to the death of Solomon, though 1 Kings 12:20, says, “There was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.” In reality the border line ran through the territory of Benjamin, the greater part belonging to the northern kingdom. Obadiah’s promise is for those Benjamites who allied themselves with Judah. They will share the prosperity of Judah; and while the latter will possess the territory west of the Jordan as far north as the Plain of Esdraelon, the former will receive the entire territory east of the Jordan.

Obadiah 1:20 is another exceedingly difficult verse; it perplexed the English translators, as may be seen from the marginal notes in R.V. Nowack considers the text “hopelessly corrupt,” and his opinion is shared by other commentators. The most probable rendering of the present Hebrew text is offered in R.V. margin, “And the captives of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South (or Negeb).” In Obadiah 1:19 the prophet seems to have in mind the great body of exiles in the far east; but we know that many Jews took refuge among the neighboring nations (Jeremiah 40:11-12). Of two colonies made up of these fugitives the prophet seems to speak in Obadiah 1:20.

Israel,… Jerusalem Most commentators think that the prophet distinguishes here between the descendants of the exiles coming from the northern kingdom, Israel, and those coming from the south, Judah, called here by the name of its capital, Jerusalem. It is better, however, to understand “Israel” as synonymous with “Jacob” (Obadiah 1:18), denoting the people of Judah; and in distinction from “Jerusalem” the rural population, which scattered before the Chaldean armies. The one company addressed by the prophet is made up of these people, and the other is composed of former inhabitants of the capital.

This host The force of this is not quite clear, unless we assume that Obadiah is speaking of and to a company of which he himself is a member. To know that the prophet himself was an exile would add interest to his utterances. It has been explained also by assuming that he was addressing a definite company which he desired to comfort on its way into exile.

The land of the Canaanites Palestine, the prophet seems to think, however, especially of the northern portion, including a part of Phoenicia. There is nothing impossible or improbable in the thought that some of the Jews fled to these regions when they saw the Chaldeans approaching.

Zarephath In Luke 4:26, R.V. margin, “Sarepta” (compare 1 Kings 17:9-24). At one time a city of considerable size; now an Arabic village called Sarafend, about midway between Tyre and Sidon.

Sepharad The Targum of Onkelos and many Jewish authorities take Sepharad to mean Spain; hence the name of Spanish Jews, Sephardim, as distinguished from German Jews, who are called Ashkenazim. Keil thinks of Sparta. Most modern commentators identify it with a region in Asia Minor, mentioned several times in Persian inscriptions; Winckler understands the name to be a designation of the whole of Asia Minor. The latter, however, was not subject to the Chaldeans; it was first conquered by Cyrus, and was organized into a satrapy by Darius Hystaspis. If the last-mentioned interpretation is correct the name points to a date subsequent to the fall of Jerusalem; and it is the presence of this name that has led many commentators to give a very late date to the prophecy in its present form. Others identify it with a Shaparda in Media, mentioned in the annals of Sargon. Until new information is brought to light the place mentioned in Obadiah cannot be identified with absolute certainty; nor is it wise to base upon the presence of the name any conclusions as to the date of the prophecy. This uncertainty, however, does not affect the general sense of the utterance, which is that not only the exiles in Babylon but also those scattered throughout other portions of the world shall be brought back to their old homes in the south, from which the invasion of the Chaldeans had driven them. If this is the right interpretation of Obadiah 1:20 its logical position would be before Obadiah 1:18.

An entirely different meaning is given to the verse by the translators of A.V., which agrees, in part at least, with R.V. They give to it the meaning that the first company of exiles named will come into possession of northern Palestine, including a part of Phoenicia, while the second will occupy the southern portion, the two together the entire promised land. Certainty cannot be had; the probability is that the text has suffered.