Obadiah 1:1

The vision of Obadiah,.... Or the prophecy, as the Targum; which was delivered unto him by the Lord in a vision; it was not what he fancied or dreamed of, but what he saw, what he had a clear

The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

The vision, which the prophet received immediately from the Lord; so prophets are called seers, 1 Samuel 9:9 Amos 7:12; and their prophecy is vision, Isaiah 1:1 Joe 2:28. Of Obadiah: who this was appears not on any certainty, or when he prophesied. That it was not Obadiah who hid and fed the prophets of the Lord in Ahab's time is evident, for that the prophet doth threaten Edom for their cruelty against Jerusalem in the day it was taken and sacked, which was three hundred and thirty or forty years after Ahab's time; he began to reign about A.M. 3025, and Jerusalem was sacked about 3363. His name speaks a servant or a worshipper of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God: this includes his authority, the certainty of the things he speaks of concerning Edom, or against Edom; both people and country are so called from their progenitor or founder, Esau, called Edom, Genesis 25:30. This country is called Idumea, Isaiah 34:5,6 Ezekiel 35:15, which see; it was a part of Arabia Petrea. We have heard; other prophets, as I, have heard this news to tell to Edom, or to send to them, Isaiah 11:14 Jeremiah 27:3 Joe 3:19 Amos 1:12. A rumour; not an uncertain and vain report, but it comes from God by his prophets. An ambassador, a herald, or muster-master, who should gather forces together for this expedition, is sent, by the Lord first, and next by Nebuchadnezzar, who executed on Edom what is here foretold. God stirred up the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar to make war on Edom, which was (as well as other nations) given up to Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 27:3,6. Among the heathen, or nations, both those that were confederate with or subject to Nebuchadnezzar, whom all nations served, Jeremiah 27:6,7. Arise ye: this is a summons to them from Nebuchadnezzar, that they send in their proportions of soldiers. Let us rise up against her in battle: this seems the voice of soldiers willing to and desirous of the war.

Obadiah 1:1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.Ver. 1. The vision of Obadiah] The same, say some, that hid the Lord’ s prophets, and fed them by fifty in a cave, when sought for to the slaughter by wicked Jezebel, 1 Kings 18:4, whereupon himself also received a prophet’ s reward; that is (saith Lyra), was endued with the spirit of prophecy. Jerome addeth, that he was buried at Samaria (called afterwards Sebaste, by Herod, in honour of Augustus), and that there his sepulchre was yet to be seen. The Rabbis say, that this Obadiah was that widow’ s husband whom Elisha relieved by multiplying her oil, 2 Kings 4:6. Others (with more show of reason) conjecture that this was that Obadiah mentioned 2 Chronicles 34:12, a faithful Levite, set by Josiah to oversee the artificers, who repaired the temple in the eighteenth year of his reign; and so was contemporary to Ezekiel and Jeremiah, with whom also he consenteth in many passages, Jeremiah 49:1-39 Ezekiel 25:1-17 : and besides, he maketh mention of the Babylonish captivity, and the Edomites’ cruelty to the Jews at that time, Psalms 137:7. But let him be who he will (for where the Scripture hath no tongue we need not find ears; but may well content ourselves with a learned ignorance), his doctrine he entitleth not a burden, because he concludeth it comfortably, but a vision, which is more general; it being his scope to comfort the people of God, that were under great affliction. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom] If Obadiah were himself an Edomite, but a proselyte to the Church (as some Rabbis have reported him), his vision should have taken the better with his cruel countrymen, to bring them to repentance. But whether he were or not, they should have observed his authority: and that his doctrine came cum privilegio, and that it was the Lord God, the Tremend Trinunus, that spake by him; and that he was, according to his name, a servant of the most high God, which showed unto them the way of salvation, Acts 16:17. Sed surdo fabulam: the Edomites were so fleshed in blood, and such inveterate enemies to the Church, that there was little good to be done upon them. Howsoever, to leave them without excuse, and, if possible, to rouse them out of their security, he saith, We have heard a rumour from the Lord] We, that is, I and my fellow prophets (who are a secretis to the Lord, Amos 3:7), have heard for a certainty that the Edomites are devoted to destruction. And that this was no vain rumour, but accordingly accomplished, see Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 25:21 Malachi 1:3.

1-9.—THE DIVINE AGAINST EDOM .(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.” Amos speaks of the “words which he saw;” Isaiah (Isaiah 13:1) of the “burden which he did see;’ and Obadiah, after the word vision, instantly proceeds, “Thus saith,” &c. The word vision (Heb., chazτn, from the same verb as “seer”), appears, from 1 Samuel 3:1; 1 Samuel 9:9, to have acquired this general sense at a very early time. It is not necessary from the use of the word to suppose that the future was unfolded to Obadiah “in the form of sights spread out before his mind, . . . a succession of pictures which he may have seen” (Pusey). Vision here = revelation, however supplied. The question of authorship is discussed in the Excursus. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom.—After these words we should expect the words of the message, not the statement that a message had come. Among the attempts at explanation, the two most plausible are: (1) The two-fold heading is due to a later hand than Obadiah, who only prefixed the first part, “vision,” &c., to his work; (2) These words are merely a mode of stating generally that the seer of the vision was divinely inspired. The view taken of the authorship and composition must decide between these two. If an earlier oracle is incorporated in the book, it is more natural to conclude that the second part of the double title, which in a slightly different form occurs also in Jeremiah 49:7, was introduced in order to bring the prophecy into closer similarity to the circle of oracles against foreign nations which is contained in Jeremiah. Arise ye . . .—Now at length we have the Divine message. Long ago, in the mysterious oracle of Dumah (Isaiah 21:11), the foreboding of a pending chastisement of Seir found a voice, and now, as in consequence of a signal from heaven, or as if brought by an angel, goes forth the summons to the nations to begin the movement against Edom. The cup of iniquity was full. There is a suggestiveness even in the vagueness of the summons. The nations, without distinction of good or bad, must become the instruments of the Divine chastisement of overweening pride. Edom becomes the type of wickedness that has reached a head, and against which all the sounder elements of the world unite with God. For the full picture, here suggested only in a word, see Isaiah 13:1-17, and comp. Joe 2:11; Jeremiah 51:11. (2-9) Edom’s pride and consequent humiliation. A general statement of the reason of the Divine wrath against Edom. Particular offences will be enumerated presently (Obadiah 1:10-14).

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET OBADIAH Chronological Notes relative to this book, upon the supposition that it was written about five hundred and eighty-seven years before the commencement of the Christian era -Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3417. -Year of the Jewish era of the world, 3174. -Year since the Flood, 1761. -Year from the vocation of Abram, 1335. -Year from the foundation of Solomon's temple, 425. -Year since the division of Solomon's monarchy into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 389. -Year of the era of Iphitus, 298. -Second year of the forty-eighth Olympiad. -Year from the building of Rome, according to the Varronian or generally received computation, 167. -Year from the building of Rome, according to the Fasti Consulares, 166. -Year from the building of Rome, according to Polybius the historian, 165. -Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 161. -Year since the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, 135. -Year since the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 2. -Year of the Julian Period, 4127. -Year of the era of Nabonassar, 161. -Year before the birth of Christ, 583. -Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 587. -Cycle of the Sun, 11. -Cycle of the Moon, 4. -Thirtieth year of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of the Romans. -Thirty-ninth year of Cyaraxes or Cyaxares, the fourth king of Media. -Nineteenth year of Agasicles, king of Lacedaemon of the family of the Proclidae. -Twenty-first year of Leon, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Eurysthenidae. -Thirty-third year of Alyattes II., king of Lydia. -Sixteenth year of AEropas, the seventh king of Macedon. -Eighth year of Apries, king of Egypt; the same with the celebrated Pharaoh-hophrah. -Ninth year of Baal, king of the Tyrians. -Twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. OBADIAH God is here represented as summoning the nations against Edom, and declaring that his strongholds should not save him, 14; that not a remnant, not a gleaning, should be left of him, 5; that the enemy would search out his people, and totally subdue them; and that none of their allies should stand by them, 6-9. He then enlarges on their particular offense, and threatens them with a speedy recompense, 10-16. The Babylonians accordingly subdued the Edomites, and expelled them from Arabia Petraea, of which they never afterwards recovered possession. The remaining verses contain a prophecy of the restoration of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, and of their victory over all their enemies, 17-21. Some commentators think that these last verses were fulfilled by the conquests of the Maccabees over the Edomites. See 1Macc 5:3-5, 65, c. Who was this prophet? where born? of what country? at what time did he prophesy? who were his parents? when and where did he die? are questions which have been asked from the remotest antiquity and which, to this day, have received no answer worthy of recording.

1–16. The Destruction of Edom. 1–9. The Punishment of Edom foretold 1. The vision of Obadiah.] This is the short Title of this short Book. It tells us the name of the Author, which is all that we know of him, and the nature of his work. The vision] This word, like its cognate verb, when it is used with reference to prophetic revelation (e.g. Habakkuk 1:1; Isaiah 1:1; Isaiah 2:1; Nahum 1:1, comp. “seer,” 1 Chronicles 21:9 and the explanation given in 1 Samuel 9:9, where however the Heb. word for “seer” is not the same) properly signifies that which appears as it were before the eyes of the prophet, the picture which is represented to his mind in prophetic ecstasy. In that strict sense, part at least of what here follows was the vision of Obadiah. He sees the Edomites in the rocky fastnesses of Petra, like the eagles on their crags (Obadiah 1:3-4). He beholds them taking part against the Israelites in the day of their calamity, and as a spectator of their actions cries out to them repeatedly, “Do it not” (Obadiah 1:11-14). But the word comes to be used in a wider sense, and is often, as here, the title of a whole Book, in which, together with visions proper, historical and other matter is contained (comp. Isaiah 1:1 with 2 Chronicles 32:32). Obadiah] i.e. servant, or worshipper of Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom] This is not a second title of the Book. It does not stand as an independent sentence, but is closely connected with what follows. The word “her” at the end of the verse and the direct addresses without mention of name, Obadiah 1:2-5, refer to and require the word “Edom” in this clause. It is rather the opening announcement of the prophet, that all that he is about to utter is not his own word, but Jehovah’s. The remainder of the verse follows logically, rather than formally, upon this announcement. In Obadiah 1:2, Jehovah is introduced as the speaker. We have heard] This has been taken to mean, “I, and other prophets of my own or earlier times,” or “I, and my countrymen,” implying, in this latter case, “that the tidings were of the greatest interest to Israel, and would afford it consolation.” (Delitzsch.) But the absence of the personal pronoun in the Hebrew, and the use of the singular number, “I have heard,” by Jeremiah in the parallel passage (Jeremiah 49:14) seem rather to shew that “We” has here no special emphasis. To the prophet as a Jew the world was divided into two parts, his own countrymen and the heathen. “A rumour,” he says, “has reached us: a herald is sent to them.” rumour] lit. hearing. The same Hebrew word is rendered “report” Isaiah 53:1, and elsewhere. (Comp. ἀκοαίπολέμων, Matthew 24:6.) It means here tidings (R.V.), or message. There is no idea of uncertainty as in the English word rumour. ambassador] or a messenger (comp. Proverbs 13:17; Proverbs 25:13).

The vision of Obadiah - , i. e., of “the worshiper of God.” The prophet would be known only by that which his name imports, that he worshiped God.

The Announcement of the judgment, Obadiah 1:1-9.1. The prophecy has two titles: (1) “The vision of Obadiah”; (2) “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom” (compare Nahum 1:1).