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OBADIAH

(Heb. ʿōḇaḏyâ),

BOOK OF

One of the 12 Minor Prophets; with only 21 verses, the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible. In the MT it follows Amos, perhaps because the canonical compilers wanted to connect it with Amos 9:12; the LXX groups the three undated books (Joel, Obadiah, Jonah) together following the three 8th-century books (Hosea, Amos, Micah).

Text

The Hebrew text of Obadiah has been well preserved. The oldest extant text is in the Minor Prophets scroll from Wadi Murabbaʿat (ca. a.d. 135), a proto-Masoretic text that differs from the Leningrad Codex (a.d. 1008) in only a few places. The ancient versions also attest to texts that generally agree with the Leningrad Codex.

Style

The book consists of a poetic composition (vv. 1-18) with a prose conclusion (vv. 19-21). The poetry exhibits the systematic and dominant use of parallelism that operates “horizontally” between two contiguous lines or cola and “vertically” among larger groupings of lines or cola. The poetic lines are terse, usually 4-10 syllables and 2-4 accents in length. The poetry also draws from a common stock of imagery, although no one image is developed beyond a single verse: e.g., v. 4 compares Edom’s lofty abode with that of an eagle’s nest; v. 10 equates shame with a garment that will cover Edom; v. 16 employs the cup-of-wrath metaphor; and v. 18 likens Israel to fire and Edom to stubble.

Composition

Much scholarly debate has concentrated on the book’s compositional history and unity. Assessments vary from a unity originally composed by one person named Obadiah to a collection of eight originally independent fragments. Some scholars presuppose an original disunity but consider the book in its final form to reflect a redactional cohesion. What causes the debate is the amount of diversity evident in the book in terms of style, emphasis, and perspective. If the reader assumes that prophetic discourse can employ divergent and even dissonant perspectives, emphases, and styles within the same composition, then there is no reason to doubt the original unity of this small book.

Biblical Parallels

Obadiah offers a study in intertextuality since so many of its expressions, images, and motifs appear elsewhere in the OT. Nearly every verse reflects parallels with other biblical texts. Particularly significant is the overlap between Obadiah and Jeremiah’s Edom prophecy (vv. 1-4 = Jer. 49:14-16; vv. 5-6 = Jer. 49:9-10; vv. 7-8 = Jer. 49:7) and between Obadiah and parts of Joel (v. 10 = Joel 3:19[MT 4:19]; v. 11 = Joel 3:3[4:3]; v. 15a = Joel 1:15; 2:1; 3:14[4:14]; v. 15b = Joel 3:4, 7[4:4, 7]; v. 17 = Joel 2:32[3:5]; 3:17[4:17]). The degree of overlap raises the question of dependence. Most scholars contend that Obadiah depended on Jeremiah or they both used a third source, and Joel depended on Obadiah.

Date and Historical Setting

Unlike other prophetic books, the title provides no chronological information. We only know the prophet’s name (“one who serves Yahweh”), a very common name in ancient Israel. Any other information must be inferred from the contents of the prophecy. Early Jewish traditions, followed by Jerome, identified the prophet with the Obadiah in 1 Kgs. 18, , the official in charge of Ahab’s palace who hid 100 prophets. Some scholars locate him at the time of Edom’s revolt against Jehoram ca. 845 b.c. (2 Kgs. 8:20-22; 2 Chr. 21:8-17). Both suggested dates would make our prophet the earliest of the writing prophets, almost a century before Amos. Other scholars date Obadiah in the mid-to-late 5th century during the Persian period. Luther and Calvin located him after the fall of Jerusalem in 587/586, and most recent scholars agree in placing at least the core of the book within Babylonian exile.

The book seems to fit best in the first half of the exilic period, after the fall of Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon in 587/586 and before the demise of Edom in 553. According to vv. 10-14 the Edomites took the side of the “strangers” and “foreigners” who attacked Judah and Jerusalem. The prophet condemns the Edomites for gloating over Judah’s downfall, looting Judah’s towns, and capturing Judah’s refugees (cf. Ezek. 25:12-14; 35–36; Ps. 137; Lam. 4:21-22). Recent archaeological work has revealed a significant Edomite presence in the Negeb during the 7th–early 6th centuries, so some Edomites had the opportunity to take advantage of Judah’s troubles. Perhaps this presence provides the background for the statement in v. 20: “the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negeb” (the returning exiles will retrieve the Negeb’s towns from Edomite control). The process of Edomite settlement in southern Judah continued so that later this area was called Idumea. According to the Nabonidus Chronicle, Nabonidus of Babylon campaigned against Edom in 553 (cf. vv. 7, 11); archaeology seems to attest to this campaign, since several Edomite sites reveal evidence of destruction in the 6th century. During the Persian period the Nabateans began to migrate into the land of Edom.

Structure and Genre

The book can be divided into five parts: vv. 1-4; 5-7; 8-15; 16-18; 19-21, connected by the use of grammatical links and catchwords.

The authorial voice of the book is the prophet Obadiah, who functions as Yahweh’s mouthpiece and addresses Yahweh’s speech to Edom in vv. 1-15 and to Judah in vv. 16-18. The use of the plural form of “you” in v. 16a signals the shift in addressee to the Judahites. The final three verses are presented as the prophet’s own expansion. The opening two thirds of the book (vv. 1-15) consist of announcements of doom, accusation, and warning for Edom, whereas the final one third (vv. 16-21) contains promises of restoration and victory for Israel. Much of the book concerns the Edomites who, according to biblical tradition, are the descendants of Esau. Prophetic judgment speeches against Edom occur also in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, and Malachi. This is part of a larger category, prophecies against foreign nations.

Contents

Obadiah announces Edom’s coming doom. God has recruited the nations to attack Edom and thereby will bring Edom down, despite Edom’s sense of security based on its location high in the Edomite mountains (vv. 1-4). Edom’s hiding places and hidden treasures will not go undetected (vv. 5-7); the attacking nations will turn out to be Edom’s own covenant partners (i.e., the Babylonians?). God will destroy Edom’s wise men and terrify its warriors so that everyone will be cut off from Edom (vv. 8-9). The prophet attempts to persuade Edom that none of its strengths and defenses can fend off the coming destruction: its status among the nations, inaccessible location, hiding places and wealth, allies, wisdom, and military power.

Obadiah then explains the basis for Edom’s future judgment as grounded on Edom’s past violence against its own brother, Jacob (v. 10). Instead of coming to the defense of their brother, the Edomites sided with the invading “strangers” and “foreigners” and even acted like one of these outsiders (v. 11). Verses 12-14 serve a twofold function. First, they specify the charges: Edom gloated over Judah’s demise and took advantage of the situation by looting and capturing Judah’s survivors. Second, they serve as warnings for Edom to stop its anti-Judahite hostilities before it is too late (v. 15a). On that day Yahweh will judge Edom (and presumably the other nations; v. 15b).

Beginning in v. 16 the prophet addresses the question of Israel’s future status. While Edom’s judgment is based on Edom’s past actions, Israel’s future restoration is based solely on God’s unconditional commitment to Jacob and Zion. This is depicted as a reversal of the judgment recently experienced by Israel. Just as the Judahites and the Jerusalemites drank the cup of Yahweh’s wrath, so also the other nations including Edom will have to drink it (v. 16; Jer. 25:15-29). But Mt. Zion will be the place of escape from the impending divine judgment (v. 17a). Whereas it was profaned by “strangers” and “foreigners” in the past (v. 11), in the future Zion will regain its sacred status (v. 17a; cf. Joel 3:17[4:17]). The Israelites will repossess their land (v. 17b), and they will completely defeat and eradicate Edom (v. 18).

The conclusion expands on the divine promises made in vv. 17-18. All of Israel, including the exiles, will regain the full extent of their land (vv. 19-20), and Mt. Zion will rule over Mt. Esau (v. 21a). Yahweh will definitively manifest his rule over all nations (v. 21b). Both these themes of the eschatological kingdom of Yahweh and the eschatological day of Yahweh (v. 15) became important in the NT and thus contribute to Obadiah’s continuing significance.

Bibliography. J. R. Bartlett, Edom and the Edomites. JSOTSup 77 (Sheffield, 1989); E. Ben Zvi, A Historical-Critical Study of the Book of Obadiah. BZAW 242 (Berlin, 1996); P. R. Raabe, Obadiah. AB 24 (New York, 1996); “Why Prophetic Oracles against the Nations?” in Fortunate the Eyes That See, ed. A. B. Beck et al. (Grand Rapids, 1995), 236-57; H. W. Wolff, Obadiah and Jonah (Minneapolis, 1986).

Paul R. Raabe

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

OBADIAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)