OBADIAH (Worshipper of Jehovah) prophesied, it has been conjectured, before the destruction of Jerusalem (B.C. 588), and the conquest of Edom (583). As Nahum had foretold the downfall of Assyria, and Habakkuk that of Chaldea, so Obadiah predicts that of the implacable foe of Israel, Edom, warning them not to rejoice in the day of their brother's calamity (for the Hebrew tenses are future, not past as in our translation). He foretells the utter annihilation of Edom, and contrasts it with the future restoration of Israel, which should also possess the land of Edom and Philistia, and enjoy the promises of her offspring, the Messiah.

Eight verses (1-8) are incorporated by Jeremiah (xlix.) amongst his own prophecies. This similarity has caused a doubt which of the two prophets repeated the denunciations of the other; and therefore the exact date of this book is rendered uncertain, some advocating its priority to that of Jeremiah, others ascribing it to a later date. Dr. Pusey maintains that the Hebrew future determines the question in favour of the priority of the Book of Obadiah. Those who take the opposite view conjecture that the occasion of this prophecy was the hostility shewn by the sons of Esau to their brethren the Israelites at the time of the Babylonish invasion. They seem to have rejoiced in the downfall of Jerusalem, and to have cut off those Jews who attempted to fly through Idumæa into Egypt. Hence arose the prayer of the Jewish captives in Babylon (Ps. cxxxvii. 7), and the answer to it in the denunciations of Obadiah, who predicts the Divine retribution on Edom, and the future glory of Israel, in the occupation of Idumæa. This prophecy was partially fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar, and further by the entire subjugation of Edom by John Hyrcanus, after which it vanishes from history; but its completion, in the possession of Idumæa by the Israelites, must still be anticipated after the final return of that people to their promised inheritance; and therefore this book is the most favourite study of the Jews to this day.

Summary. 1. The Edomites fancied themselves secure in the fastnesses of their rocks (ver. 3). 2. The spoiler should utterly destroy them (vv. 4–16). 3. The chastisement inflicted on the Jews should be but temporary; and, after their return from captivity, they should possess Edom and Philistia, and at length rejoice in the glorious reign of the Messiah (vv. 17–21).

The Prophets after the Restoration are Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Jewish tradition identifies them with the three men with Daniel when he saw the vision (Dan. x. 7). After the Captivity they were members of the great synagogue of 120 elders.