Obadiah 1:5

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night,.... Whether the one came by day, and the other by night, or both by night, the same being meant by different words, whose intent is to plunder and steal,

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?

In this verse the prophet doth in an abrupt manner of speech, mixed of wonder and doubt, express the strange havoc and desolation made in Edom, as if lie had said, Who have been here? or in what posture wast thou found, O Edom! that such strange desolution is found in thee? If thieves by day had spoiled thee, they would not have thus stripped thee. If robbers, which practise their violences in the night, had been with thee, they would have left somewhat behind them. How art thou cut off? here is either a trajection, this placed here which must be read first in the verse, or an exclamation of one as in haste to know whence such unexpected events; or an insulting derision of that pride which boasted so much and performed so little in self defence. Would they not have stolen till they had enough? thieves and robbers take till they have what is sufficient for them at present and leave the rest, but here is nothing left. If the grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? if Edom be a vine, and gathered, some gleanings would be left by grape-gatherers; but, alas, here have been those that have cut up the vine! and is all thy confidence and boasting come to this?

Obadiah 1:5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave [some] grapes?Ver. 5. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night] Or, what? have thieves come to thee? have robbers been here? O, sure it is worse than so with thee; they would never have made such clean work as they say, but have left somewhat behind them; they would never have played the harpies in this sort, and taken all before them. Thus the neighbour nations stand wondering at this woeful desolation, and sarcastically insulting. Now to be mocked in misery is no small grief to the party. Thus the prophet pricks them by a rhetorical addubitation, the better to affect their minds with an effectual fear of no ordinary or easy calamity, but such as will be wonderful and incredible; so that they that hear of it will say, How art thou cut off!] Or, how silent art thou! what, did thine enemies set upon thee per amica silentia lunae? did they take thee napping that they shred thee thus? Have they dealt by thee as Sir Francis Drake in his travels did by the Spaniard, whom he found sleeping on the bank of a river with many wedges of gold lying by him; he never waked the man, but eased him of his charge: or rather as Epaminondas did by the watchman, whom he found fast asleep; he thrust him through with his sword; and being chid for so severe a fact, replied, Talem eum reliqui, qualem inveni, I left him but as I found him. If the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grates?] Surely they would, Deuteronomy 24:21; there would likely be a gleaning of grapes after the vintage is done, Isaiah 24:13, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough; four or five in the outmost fruitful branches, Isaiah 17:6. It is hard but some may escape out of the battle to bring the ill news. Edom’ s ruin therefore and desolation was most deplorable and irreparable, since none was left alone; but all, both men and means, raked and racemated. A rapacious, plundering, or grasping person; one that preys upon other ŒD A salt of racemic acid. ŒD

(5-9) The completeness of the overthrow awaiting Edom. It is no mere inroad of a marauding tribe. Something would escape the robber, though he might go away quite satisfied with his plunder; and even a raid in vintage time, for the purpose of doing all the mischief possible to the country, would leave here and there a scattered bunch, gleanings for the inhabitants when the spoilers had retired, but now everything is doomed to destruction. Edom is completely robbed and ransacked. Notice how the sad, almost pathetic, conviction of this breaks out—as if rather from a friend (see Introduction) than an enemy—in the parenthetical “how art thou cut off!” in the very middle of the sentence. Every one must perceive, the prophet seems to say, a higher hand at work here. (5) Some grapes.—Gleanings, as in margin. (Comp. Isaiah 17:6; Isaiah 24:13.) (6) How are the things of Esau searched out!—Literally, How are they searched out Esau! Where Esau is either taken collectively = Edom as a nation, or we must supply, as in the Authorised Version, “the things of,” or, as Ewald, “they of.” For search, comp. Zephaniah 1:12. His hidden things.—Heb., matspunξm, from tsapan = to hide, but whether hidden treasures or hiding places cannot be determined, as the word only occurs here. (7-9) Overtaken by this terrible calamity, and deserted by her allies, Edom will turn in vain for counsel to her senators and wise men, and for support to her heroes and mighty men, for these will not only share in the general ruin, but are marked out for an overthrow as signal as their renown. (7) All the men of thy confederacy. . . .—This desertion by allies is doubtless put prominently forward as the due retribution on Edom for his treachery and cruelty to his natural ally, his brother Jacob. The members of the confederacy are not specified. In Jeremiah 27:3 we find Edom associated with Moab, Ainmon, Tyre, and Sidon, in the warning to submit to Nebuchadnezzar. The two former would be the natural allies of Edom, and in Ezekiel 25:8 Seir is joined with Moab as reproaching Israel. From Psalms 60:8, we may add to these Philistia (comp. also Obadiah 1:19). The expression “have brought thee to the border” is variously understood. The most natural explanation is that the fugitives from the ruin of Edom, flying into the territory of neighbouring and allied tribes for help, are basely driven back to their own frontier, and left to their fate. The men that were at peace with thee.—As in margin, the men of thy peace, an expressive Hebrew idiom occurring in Jeremiah 20:10; Jeremiah 38:22, and in Psalms 41:9, where it is translated “mine own familiar friend.” Great difference of opinion exists as to the connection of this and the following clause, and as it stands the text presents considerable difficulty.

Verse 5. If thieves came to thee] That is, if thieves entered thy dwellings, they would not have taken every thing; they would have laid hold on thy wealth; and carried off as much as they could escape with conveniently; if grape-gatherers entered thy vineyards, they would not have taken every bunch; some gleanings would have been left. But the Chaldeans have stripped thee bare; they have searched out all thy hidden things, Obadiah 1:6, they have left thee nothing. Hour art thou cut off! Thou art totally and irretrievably ruined! The prophet speaks of this desolation as if it had already taken place.

5, 6. The completeness of the destruction and desolation of Edom is depicted by a double contrast. Two cases are supposed in which something would be left behind. The thief or the robber would take his fill and depart: the grape-gatherer would not strip every cluster from the vine. But the enemies of Edom would do worse than either of these. They would spare nothing, nor stay their hand till they had left her utterly desolate and bare. how art thou cut off] These words are an exclamation of the prophet, forced from him by the utter devastation which in prophetic vision he sees before his eyes. This is no work of the common robber, of the ordinary spoiler!

If thieves came to thee - The prophet describes their future punishment, by contrast with that which, as a marauding people, they well knew. Thieves and robbers spoil only for their petty end.

In Obadiah 1:5-6 the prophet pictures the completeness of the destruction by a comparison of the calamity to come with familiar experiences. Thieves… robbers… grape-gatherers — R.V.