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About this book: Obadiah

Obadiah is the shortest book of the Old Testament, a single chapter aimed at Edom, the nation descended from Esau and long a neighbor and rival of Judah. Edom lived in high rock strongholds and trusted that no one could reach it. The prophet says pride has deceived it, and that God will bring down what seems untouchable. The reason is spelled out with painful detail: when Jerusalem fell, Edom stood aside, gloated, helped loot the city and handed over fugitives. This was a betrayal of family, not just a political choice. The book then widens to the day of the Lord, when nations will receive what they have done to others. It closes with a hopeful note for the people of God: survivors on Mount Zion, the land possessed again, and in the final line, the kingdom belonging to the Lord. Readers have found in Obadiah a warning against pride and cruelty toward those who suffer, and a reminder that God sees wrongs that no court ever answers.

Author
The prophet Obadiah; nothing else is said about him, and the name was common.
Date
Uncertain. Many place it soon after Jerusalem fell in 586 BC; some propose an earlier invasion in the ninth century BC.
Audience
Edom, which is addressed directly, and Judah, who would hear the message as comfort.

Themes

The danger of prideBetrayal of a brotherGod's justice among the nationsThe day of the LordRestoration of God's people

Outline

  1. 1:1–1:9Edom's pride and coming fall
  2. 1:10–1:14The charge: standing by on Jerusalem's day of ruin
  3. 1:15–1:18The day of the Lord and the fate of Esau
  4. 1:19–1:21Zion restored and the kingdom the Lord's

Key verses

About this chapterObadiah delivers a vision against Edom, the descendants of Esau who lived in the rocky heights south of Judah. The Lord will bring Edom down from its lofty home, no matter how high it soars like an eagle, because its pride has deceived it. Edom's allies will betray it. The main charge is that on the day Jerusalem fell, Edom stood aloof, gloated over its brother Jacob, looted the city, blocked the fugitives and handed over survivors. The day of the Lord is near for all nations, and as Edom did, so will be done to it. Yet deliverance will come on Mount Zion, and in the end the kingdom will be the Lord's.

Obadiah delivers a vision against Edom, the descendants of Esau who lived in the rocky heights south of Judah. The Lord will bring Edom down from its lofty home, no matter how high it soars like an eagle, because its pride has deceived it. Edom's allies will betray it. The main charge is that on the day Jerusalem fell, Edom stood aloof, gloated over its brother Jacob, looted the city, blocked the fugitives and handed over survivors. The day of the Lord is near for all nations, and as Edom did, so will be done to it. Yet deliverance will come on Mount Zion, and in the end the kingdom will be the Lord's.

Themes

  • Edom's pride
  • Failing a brother in need
  • The day of the Lord
  • The kingdom is the Lord's

Key verses

Audio Bible · Obadiah 1

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Obadiah 1

Berean Standard Bible21 verses · 3 min read

1This is the vision of Obadiah: This is what the Lord GOD says about Edom— We have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy has been sent among the nations to say, “Rise up, and let us go to battle against her!”— 2“Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you will be deeply despised. 3The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ 4Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down,”declares the LORD. 5“If thieves came to you, if robbers by night— oh, how you will be ruined— would they not steal only what they wanted? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? 6But how Esau will be pillaged, his hidden treasures sought out! 7All the men allied with you will drive you to the border; the men at peace with you will deceive and overpower you. Those who eat your bread will set a trap for you without your awareness of it. 8In that day, declares the LORD, will I not destroy the wise men of Edom and the men of understanding in the mountains of Esau? 9Then your mighty men, O Teman, will be terrified, so that everyone in the mountains of Esau will be cut down in the slaughter. 10Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever. 11On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them. 12But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress. 13You should not enter the gate of My people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over their affliction in the day of their disaster, nor loot their wealth in the day of their disaster. 14Nor should you stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, nor deliver up their survivors in the day of their distress. 15For the Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return upon your own head. 16For as you drank on My holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp it down; they will be as if they had never existed. 17But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance, and it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will reclaim their possession. 18Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble— Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it. Therefore no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.”For the LORD has spoken. 19Those from the Negev will possess the mountains of Esau; those from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20And the exiles of this host of the Israelites will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev. 21The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to rule over the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to the LORD.

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Verses in Obadiah 1

Chapters of Obadiah

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