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1. Vision of Obadiah

¹ The vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Sovereign LORD says about Edom—

We have heard a message from the LORD:
An envoy was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle”—

    ² “See, I will make you small among the nations;
   you will be utterly despised.
³ The pride of your heart has deceived you,
   you who live in the clefts of the rocks Or of Sela
   and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
   ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
⁴ Though you soar like the eagle
   and make your nest among the stars,
   from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
⁵ “If thieves came to you,
   if robbers in the night—
oh, what a disaster awaits you!—
   would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
   would they not leave a few grapes?
⁶ But how Esau will be ransacked,
   his hidden treasures pillaged!
⁷ All your allies will force you to the border;
   your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
   but you will not detect it.

    ⁸ “In that day,” declares the LORD,
   “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom,
   those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
⁹ Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified,
   and everyone in Esau’s mountains
   will be cut down in the slaughter.
¹⁰ Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
   you will be covered with shame;
   you will be destroyed forever.
¹¹ On the day you stood aloof
   while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
   and cast lots for Jerusalem,
   you were like one of them.
¹² You should not gloat over your brother
   in the day of his misfortune,
nor rejoice over the people of Judah
   in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much
   in the day of their trouble.
¹³ You should not march through the gates of my people
   in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity
   in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
   in the day of their disaster.
¹⁴ You should not wait at the crossroads
   to cut down their fugitives,
nor hand over their survivors
   in the day of their trouble.

    ¹⁵ “The day of the LORD is near
   for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
   your deeds will return upon your own head.
¹⁶ Just as you drank on my holy hill,
   so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
   and be as if they had never been.
¹⁷ But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
   it will be holy,
   and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
¹⁸ Jacob will be a fire
   and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
   and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
   from Esau.” The LORD has spoken.

    ¹⁹ People from the Negev will occupy
   the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
   the land of the Philistines.
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
   and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
²⁰ This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
   will possess the land as far as Zarephath;
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
   will possess the towns of the Negev.
²¹ Deliverers will go up on Or from Mount Zion
   to govern the mountains of Esau.
   And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.

By saying that the day of Jehovah was nigh upon all nations, the Prophet may be regarded as reasoning from the greater to the less: “If God will not spare other nations, how canst thou escape his hand?” In a like manner does Jeremiah speak in chapter 49, (Jeremiah 49:12) he addresses the Idumeans in these words, ‘Behold, they shall drink of the cup, who have not been by judgment condemned to drink; and shalt thou not taste? by drinking thou shalt drink to the very dregs. He shows then that the Idumeans deserved a double vengeance; for if indeed they were compared with the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the fault of the latter would appear small: the Chaldeans might pretend some causes for the war, they were aliens, they were, in short, professed enemies; but the Idumeans were neighbors and kindred. The same thing might be also said of other nations. But the words may be explained in a simpler manner; and that is, that God would not only take vengeance on one or two nations, but on all. “See,” he says, “a change will take place not only in one corner, but in the whole world. The Lord will thus show that he is the judge of the whole earth. Hence it follows, that the Idumeans also must render an account, for God has resolved to execute judgment on all nations; no one whatever shall be passed by.”

Behold, then, nigh is the day of Jehovah. We have said that the time in which Obadiah prophesied is unknown to us. But it is no matter of wonder that he declares that nigh is the day of Jehovah; for the Lord hastens not after the manner of men; but, at the same time, he knows his own seasons; and this is ever accomplished, that when the ungodly think themselves to be at rest, then sudden destruction overtakes them.

He draws this conclusion, As thou hast done, so shall it be done to thee. There seems, however, to be here an implied comparison between the chastisement of the chosen people and the punishment which shall be inflicted on other nations. When the Idumeans saw that the kingdom of Israel and of Judah was trodden under foot, they thought that the children of Abraham were thus punished because they had despised their own Prophets, because they had become immoral and perverse in the extreme. Thus they exempted themselves and others from punishment. Now the Prophet declares that God had been the judge of his people, but that he is also the judge of the whole world, and that this would quickly be made evident. When, therefore, he says, that nigh was the day of Jehovah, he had, I have no doubt, a regard, as I have already said, to the chastisement of the Church; as though he said, “As God has proved himself to be one who justly punishes sins with respect to Israel and Judah; so also at length he will ascend his tribunal to judge all the nations; no one, therefore, shall escape punishment. All then in their different conditions shall be constrained to give an account of their actions, for the Lord will spare none: and though he has begun with his Church and his own house, yet there will come afterwards the suitable time to take vengeance, when he will extend his hand to punish all heathen nations.” This, seems to me to be the real meaning.

Rightly then does he conclude, As then thou hast done, it shall be done to thee: “Think not that thou shalt be unpunished for having gone against thy brother. It was God’s purpose to exhibit an example of his severity towards others, while he spared thee; but thou hast abused his forbearance; for thou mightest have remained quiet at home: the Lord will then repay thee.” And then he subjoins, Thy reward shall recoil, or return, on thine own head Here the Prophet announces what Christ also says

‘With what measure any one measures, it shall be repaid to him,’ (Matthew 7:2.)

This sentence is worthy of being noticed: for when God leaves the innocent to the will of the ungodly, they think that they may do whatever they please with impunity, as though they were the executioners of God. As then they become thus insolent when the Lord spares them, let us take notice of what the Prophet says here, — that a reward is prepared for every one, and that whatever cruelty the ungodly may exercise, it shall be returned on their own heads. It follows —