Obadiah 1 commentary

This prophecy is against Edom. Its destruction seems to have been typical, as their father Esau's rejection; and to refer to the destruction of the enemies of the gospel church. See the prediction of the success of that war; Edom shall be spoiled, and brought down. All the enemies of God's church shall be disappointed in the things they stay themselves on. God can easily lay those low who magnify and exalt themselves; and will do it. Carnal security ripens men for ruin, and makes the ruin worse when it comes. Treasures on earth cannot be so safely laid up but that thieves may break through and steal; it is therefore our wisdom to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Those that make flesh their trust, arm it against themselves. The God of our covenant will never deceive us: but if we trust men with whom we join ourselves, it may prove to us a wound and dishonour. God will justly deny those understanding to keep out of danger, who will not use their understandings to keep out of sin. All violence, all unrighteousness, is sin; but it makes the violence far worse, if it be done against any of God's people. Their barbarous conduct towards Judah and Jerusalem, is charged upon them. In reflecting on ourselves, it is good to consider what we should have done; to compare our practice with the Scripture rule. Sin, thus looked upon in the glass of the commandment, will appear exceedingly sinful. Those have a great deal to answer for, who are idle spectators of the troubles of their neighbours, when able to be active helpers. Those make themselves poor, who think to make themselves rich by the ruin of the people of God; and those deceive themselves, who call all that their own on which they can lay their hands in a day of calamity. Though judgment begins at the house of God, it shall not end there. Let sorrowful believers and insolent oppressors know, that the troubles of the righteous will soon end, but those of the wicked will be eternal.

There should be deliverance and holiness at Jerusalem, and the house of Jacob would again occupy their possessions. Much of this prophecy was fulfilled when the Jews returned to their own land. But the salvation and holiness of the gospel, its spread, and the conversion of the Gentiles, seem also to be intended, especially the restoration of Israel, the destruction of antichrist, and the prosperous state of the church, to which all the prophets bear witness. When Christ is come, and not till then, shall the kingdom be the Lord's in the full sense of the term. As none that exalt themselves against the Lord shall prosper, and all shall be brought down; so none that wait upon the Lord, and put their trust in him, shall ever be dismayed. Blessed be the Divine Saviour and Judge on Mount Zion! His word shall be a savour of life unto life unto numbers, while it judges and condemns obstinate unbelievers.

Obadiah’s preface is, that he brought nothing human, but only declared the vision presented to him from above. We indeed know that it was God alone that was ever to be heard in the Church, as even now he demands to be heard: but yet he sent his prophets, as afterwards the apostles; yea, as he sent his only begotten Son, whom he has set over us to be our only and sovereign Teacher. Obadiah then by saying that it was a vision, said the same, as though he declared, that he did not presumptuously bring forward his own dreams, or what he conjectured, or discovered by human reason, but that he adduced only a celestial oracle: for חזון, chezun, as we have observed in other places, was a vision, by which God revealed himself to his Prophets.

He then adds, Thus saith Jehovah. Here is a fuller expression of the same declaration. We thus see that the Prophet, in order that the doctrine he brought forward might not be suspected, made God the author; for what faith can be put in men, whom we know to be vain and false, except as far as they are ruled by the Spirit of God and sent by Him? Seeing then that the Prophet so carefully teaches us, that what he declared was delivered to him by God, we may hence learn what I have lately referred to, — that the Prophets formerly so spoke, that God alone might be heard among the people.

He says afterwards, A rumor have we heard. Some render it, a word, or a doctrine. שמועה, shimuoe, is properly a hearing, and is derived from the verb the Prophet subjoins. A hearing then have we heard; so it is translated literally. But some think that what was taught is pointed out, as though he said, “The Lord has revealed this to me and to other Prophets;” according to what Isaiah says, Isaiah 53:1, ‘Who has believed our hearing?’ It is the same word, and he speaks of God’s word or doctrine. But it is probable that he refers here to those tumultuous rumors, which commonly precede wars and calamities. We have then heard a rumor The verb in Jeremiah is not in the plural number, שמענו shimonu, but שמועה שמעתו shimoti shimunoe, ‘I have heard,’ says Jeremiah, ‘a hearing.’ But our Prophet uses the plural number, ‘We have heard a hearing.’ The sense however is the same; for Jeremiah says that he had heard rumors; and the Prophet here adds others to himself, as though he said, “This rumor is spread abroad, but it is from the Lord: it is certain that this rumor has been heard even by the profane and the despisers of God.” But the Prophet shows that wars are not stirred up at random, but by the secret influence of God; as though he said, “When a tumult arises, let us not think that its beginning is from the earth, but God himself is the mover.” We now then apprehend the design of the Prophet: though he speaks of the rumor of wars, he yet shows that chance or accident does not rule in such commotions, but the hidden influence of God.

We have heard, he says from Jehovah, and a messenger, or, an ambassador, to the nations has been sent Or the two lines may thus be rendered,—

A rumor have we heard from Jehovah, And a messenger to the nations hath he sent.

The verb, to send, is here active; and so it is rendered in the Septuagint. It is indeed passive in the corresponding passage in Jeremiah; but there are several other instances of variety in the expressions used by the two Prophets, though there be in sense a material agreement. — Ed. , Arise ye, and we will arise against her to battle. In Jeremiah, it is, ‘Assemble ye, come and arise against her to battle.’ The Prophet here shows, I have no doubt, whence the rumor came, which he had just mentioned; for they were now indeed stirring up one another to destroy that land. If any one had formed a judgment according to human wisdom, he would have said that the Assyrians were the cause why war was brought on the Idumeans, because they had found them either inconstant or even perfidious, or because they had feigned a pretense when there was no just reason for making war. But the Prophet here raises his mind upwards and acknowledges God to be the mover of this war, because he intended to punish the cruelty of that people, which they had exercised toward their own kindred, the Israelites; and at the same time he encourages others also, that they might understand that it was altogether directed by the hidden counsel of God, that the Assyrians, from being friends, became of a sudden enemies, that a war was all in a flame against the Idumeans at a time when they were at ease, without any fear, without any apprehension of danger. It follows —

Obadiah 2-4

2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.

2 Ecce parvum posui te inter gentes, contemptus tu valde.

3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

3 Superbia cordis tui decepit te, qui habitas in scissuras petrae (vel, rupis;) excelsa habitatio ejus, dicens in corde suo, Quis detrahet me in terram?

4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

4 Si exaltaveris quasi aquila, etsi inter nubes posueris nidum suum, inde ego detraham te, dicit Jehova.

Jeremiah uses nearly the same words; but the sense of the expression is ambiguous, when he says, ‘Lo, little have I set thee.’ To me it appears probable, that the Prophet reproves the Idumeans, because they became arrogant, as it were, against the will of God, and in opposition to it, when, at the same time, they were confined to the narrow passes of mountains. It is said elsewhere, (Malachi 1:2,) ‘Jacob and Esau, were they not brethren?’ “But I have given to you the inheritance promised to your father Abraham; I have transferred the Idumeans to mount Seir.” Now it is less bearable, if any one be elated with pride, when his condition is not so honorable. I therefore think that the Idumeans are here condemned because they vaunted so much, and arrogated to themselves more than what was right, when they yet were contemptible, when their condition was mean and obscure, for they dwelt on mount Seir. But others think that the punishment, which was impending over them, is here denounced, Lo, little have I made thee among the nations, and Jeremiah says, ‘and contemptible among men’; he omits the two words, thou and exceedingly; he says only, ‘and contemptible among men’. But as to the substance, there is hardly any difference. If then we understand that that nation was proud without reason, the sense is evident, that is, that they, like the giants, carried on war against God, that they vaunted themselves, though confined to the narrow passes of mountains. Though I leave to others their own free opinion, I am yet inclined to the former view, while the latter has been adopted nearly by the consent of all; and that is, that God was resolved forcibly to constrain to order those ferocious men, who, for no reason, and even in opposition to nature, are become insolent. But if a different interpretation be more approved, we may say, that the Prophet begins with a threatening, and then subjoins a reason why God determined to diminish and even to destroy them: for though they dwelt on mountains, it was yet a fertile region; and further, they had gathered in course of long time much wealth, when they attained security, when no enemy disturbed them. This then is the reasoning, Lo, I have made thee small and contemptible in the mountain, — and why? because the pride of thy heart has deceived thee; and Jeremiah adds, terror, Blayney, for very satisfactory reasons, transfers this word to the preceding verse, and then the passage will be almost literally the same with this of Obadiah. The 15th, and the beginning of the 16th in Jeremiah 49 may be thus rendered, —

15. For, behold, small have I made thee among the nations, Contemptible among the men of thy terror, (that is, such as thou didst fear.)

16. Deceived thee has the pride of thy heart; etc.

— Ed. although some render תפלצתך taphlatastae, image; but this seems not appropriate. Jeremiah then, I doubt not, mentions terror in the first place; for it almost ever happens, that the proud strike others with fear: such then were the Idumeans.

Now if we follow the first meaning I explained, the two verses may be read as connected, Lo, I have made thee small and contemptible among the nations; It is evidently of the past, and not of the future, that this verse speaks. The corresponding passage in Jeremiah is, in our version, rendered in the future tense, but Blayney renders it, as it is, in the past tense. Our version here adopts the past tense in the first line, “I have made,” etc., and the present in the second, “Thou art,” etc., contrary to the rule, that when the auxiliary verb is not expressed in the original, the tense of the verbs expressed is to be observed. The two lines should therefore be thus translated, —

Behold, small have I made thee among the nations; Despised wert thou exceedingly.

The reference is, no doubt, as Calvin says, to the poor inheritance assigned to the Edomites, and to the low station they occupied among other nations; and hence their pride and insolence appeared more evident and unreasonable. — Ed. but the pride of thy heart has deceived thee; some render it, has raised thee up, deriving it from נשא nusha: but they read ש shin, pointed on the left side; for if נשא nusha has the point in the branch of the shin, on the right hand, it means to deceive, but if on the left, it signifies to raise up. Then they give this translations “The pride of thine heart has raised thee up:” but we clearly learn from Jeremiah, that it ought, as almost all interpreters agree, to be rendered thus, “The pride of thine heart has deceived thee:” for he says not השיאך eshiac but השיא אותך eshia autea, that is, it was to thee the cause of error and of madness. Of the sense then of this verb there can be no doubt.

The Prophet now laughs to scorn the Idumeans, because they relied on their own fortresses, and thought themselves, according to the common saying, to be beyond the reach of darts; and hence they petulantly insulted the Israelites and despised God himself. The Prophet therefore says, that the Idumeans in vain felicitated themselves, for he shows that all they promised to themselves were mere delusions. The import of what is said then is, “Whence is this your security, that ye think that enemies can do you no harm? Yea, ye despise God as well as men; whence is this haughtiness? whence also is the great confidence with which ye are puffed up? Verily, it comes only from mere delusions. The pride of thine heart has deceived thee.”

And yet there was not wanting a reason why the Idumeans were thus insolent, as the Prophet also states: but he at the same time shows that they had deceived themselves; for God cared not for their fortresses; nay, he counted them as nothing. Thou dwellest, he says, (this is to be regarded as a concession,) in the clefts of the stone; some read, “between the windings of the rock;” Blayney renders the same words in Jeremiah 49:16, “the encirclings of the rock:” but Parkhurst renders them “the cracks, or fissures of the rock.” — Ed. though others think סלע Salo to be the name of a city. But though I should allow that the Prophet alludes to the name of a city, I yet do not see how can that stand which they hold; for clefts comfort not with a city situated on a plain, though within the ranges of mountains. I do not then doubt but that סלע Salo here means mount Seir. As then the Idumeans had fortresses amidst rocks, they thought that all enemies could easily be kept out.

And hence it follows, The height is his habitation, that is, he dwells in lofty places; and hence he says in his heart, Who shall draw me down to the ground? He afterwards subjoins what I have already stated, — that though their region was exceedingly well fortified, yet the Idumeans were greatly deceived, and indulged themselves in vain delusions, “If thou shouldest raise up thy seat, he says, like the eagle”, — literally, ‘If thou shouldest rise as the eagle,’ — “and if thou shouldest among the clouds Literally it is, “among the stars,” בין כוכבים. — Ed. set and nest, I will thence draw thee down, saith Jehovah”. We now see that the Prophet did not without reason deride the confidence with which the Idumeans were inflated, by setting up their fortresses in opposition to God: for it is the greatest madness for men to rely on their own power and to despise God himself. At the same time he could, as it were, easily dissipate by one blast every idea of defense or of power that is in us; but this subject will be more fully handled by us tomorrow.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou seest us to be on every side at this day beset by so many enemies, even by those who constantly devise means to destroy us, while we are so very weak and feeble, — O grant, that we may learn to look up to thee, and that our trust may so recumb on thee, that however exposed we may be to all kinds of danger according to what appears to the flesh, we may not yet doubt but that thou art ever armed with sufficient power to terrify our enemies, so that we may quietly live even amidst all dangers, and never cease to call on thy name, as thou hast promised to be the sure and faithful defender of our safety in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Lecture Seventieth

We observed in our yesterday’s Lecture, that it nothing avails the ungodly, when they set up their fortresses against the judgment of God, as though they could escape safe from his hand; for as God has heaven and earth under his control, he can, whenever it pleases him, draw down all who now despise his power, and, therefore, deride his Prophets, or regard as nothing their threatening. This passage then ought to be carefully noticed; for God declares that it is in his power to draw down from the very clouds those who so raise themselves up, as to think themselves to be elevated above all dangers. The Prophet now says —

Obadiah 5

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?

5. An fures venerunt ad te? An praedones nocturni? Quomodo in silentium redactus es? (vel, quomodo consumptus es?) annon furati essent sufficientiam suam? An vindemiatores ad te venerunt? Annon reliquissent racemos?

The Prophet shows in this verse that the calamity with which God was resolved to afflict the Idumeans would not be slight, for nothing would be left among them; and he amplifies what he says by a comparison. When one is plundered of his property by thieves, he grieves, that what he had acquired by much labor through life, has been in one moment taken from him: and when any one has spent labor and expense in cultivating his vineyard, and another takes away its fruit, he complains of his great misfortune, that he had lost his property and big labor in the cultivation of his vineyard, while another devours its fruit. But the Prophet intimates that God would not be content with such kind of punishment as to the Idumeans.

Hence he says, Have night thieves or robbers come to thee? They must doubtless have stolen, and have taken away what they thought sufficient for them; but now nothing shall be left to thee. In short, the Prophet intimates that the Assyrians would not be like thieves or night robbers, who stealthily and privately take away what comes to their hands; but he means, that the Idumeans would be so plundered, that their houses would be left wholly empty, and he declares that the Assyrians would thus spoil them like night thieves or robbers, who are wont to proceed with unbridled liberty; for none dares to resist them, or even to say a word against them. This plundering then will not be, says the Prophet, of an ordinary kind; but the enemies will make thee entirely empty.

The same is the object in view when he says, Have vintagers come to thee? To be sure, they commonly leave some clusters; but the Assyrians will leave, no, not one: they shall depart so laden with plunders, that thou shalt be left empty.

But all this, as we have reminded you, was said in order to alleviate or to mitigate the grief of the faithful, who then deemed themselves very miserable, as they were alone plundered by enemies; for they saw that their neighbors were dwelling in safety, and even becoming partakers of the spoil. Their condition therefore was very miserable and degraded. Hence the Prophet, that he might moderate this bitter grief, says, that the Idumeans would in no common way be plundered, for not a hair could be left them. This is the import of the passage.

But some regard the verb נדמיתה nudamite as signifying, “Thou art reduced to silence;” for the verb דום dum or דמה dame means to be silent: and they give this exposition, “How dost thou not endeavor at least to meet thine enemies?” for they take “to be silent” in the sense of being still, as דמה dame is often so taken in Scripture, “How then have they been silent?” but he speaks of the future in the past tense, as though God had already inflicted punishment on the Idumeans, that faith in the prediction might be made more certain: thou hast been reduced to silence, that is, how couldest thou remain quiet on seeing thine enemies plundering with so much violence — how then hast thou been reduced to silence? Others say, How hast thou been consumed? for דמה dame often means to destroy. But to this point belongs no great importance; for the Prophet means, that it could not be ascribed to chance, that enemies would destroy the whole land of Edom, for the cruel assault would by no means be of an ordinary kind: and then as the Idumeans thought that an entrance to their enemies was on every side closed up, as they inhabited the summits of mountains, according to what I have already said, and that they were most safe in their recesses and lofty rocks, the Prophet here sets it forth as a wonderful thing that God’s judgment would yet reach them. Let us proceed —

Obadiah 6

6. How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!

6. Quomodo quaesita sunt Esau, pervestigata abscondita ejus?

He confirms the former sentence, — that the Idumeans in vain trusted that their riches would be safe, because they had hidden and deep recesses. Even when a country is plundered by enemies, the conquerors dare not to come to places of danger; when there are narrow passes, they avoid them, for they think that there is there some evil design. Hence conquerors, fearing hidden places, plunder only those which are open, and always consider well whether their advance is safe: but Idumea, as we have said, had hidden recesses, for its rocks were almost inaccessible, and there were many conveniences there for hiding and concealing its riches. But the Prophet says, that all this would be useless: and that he might more effectually rouse them, he speaks with astonishment, as of something incredible. How have been sought the things of Esau, and thoroughly searched his hidden places! Who could have thought this? for they might have concealed their treasures in rocks and caverns, and thence repelled their enemies. But in vain would be all their attempts: how could this possibly be? Here then he awakens the minds of men, that they might acknowledge the judgment of God; and at the same time he laughs to scorn the vain confidence with which the Idumeans were inflated; and besides, he strengthens the minds of the godly, that they might not doubt but that God would perform what he declares, for he can indeed penetrate even to the lowest deep.

In short, the Prophet intimates that the faithful did not act wisely, if they measured God’s vengeance, which was impending on the Idumeans, by their own understanding or by what usually happens; for the Lord would make a thorough search, so that no hiding-places would escape his sight; and then all their treasures would be exposed as a prey to their enemies. We hence learn, that as men in vain seek hiding places for themselves that they may be safe from dangers; so in vain they conceal their riches; for the hand of God can penetrate beyond the sea, land, heaven, and the lowest deep. Nothing then remains for us but ever to offer ourselves and all our things to God. If he protects us under his wings, we shall be safe in the midst of innumerable dangers; but if we think that subterfuges will be of any avail to us, we deceive ourselves. The Prophet now adds —

Obadiah 7-8

7. All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.

7. Usque ad terminum expulerunt te omnes viri foederis tui; deceperunt te, praevaluerunt tibi, viri pacifici tui (viri pacis tuae;) viri panis tui posuerunt vulnus sub te: nulla est intelligentia in eo.

8. Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

8. Annon in die illa, dicit Jehova, perdam sapientes ex Edom? Et intelligentiam e monte Esau? (hoc est, e monte Seir.)

Here the Prophet expresses the manner in which God would punish the Idumeans: trusting in their confederacies, they despised God, as we have already had to observe. The Prophet now shows that it is in the power of God to change the minds of men, so that they who were their friends being suddenly inflamed with rage, would go forth to destroy the Idumeans. Seeing then that they regarded the Assyrians not only as a shield to them, but also as a defense against God himself, the Prophet here declares that when it would be God’s purpose to punish them, there would be no need to send to a distance for agents or instruments to execute his vengeance; for he would arm the Assyrians themselves and the Chaldeans, inasmuch as he could turn the hearts of men as he pleased. We now see the Prophet’s meaning; for he here takes away and shakes off the vain confidence of the Idumeans, that they might not harden themselves for being fortified by confederacies and for having powerful friends, for the Lord would turn friends into enemies. To thy border, he says, have they driven thee שלח shilach is properly to send forth or to throw away; some render it, they have followed; as though the Prophet here spoke of the neighboring nations, and according to their view the meaning is, “However much thy neighbors may love thee, yet nothing will they show of this love, except that they will follow thee with feigned tears, when thine enemies shall lead thee away captive.” But this is a strained exposition, and corresponds not with the context. The Prophet then describes here, I doubt not, the change, such as would take place, that the Idumeans might know, that they trusted in vain in their power and defenses. The men of thy covenant, he says, have driven thee away; as though he said, “See what thou gainest in anxiously seeking the friendship of those who will yet be thy enemies; hadst thou remained quiet in thy clefts, it would have been much better for thee: but now thou runnest to Assyria and Chaldea, and this will be the cause of thy ruin. Hence the men of thy covenant shall banish thee to the border: but if thou hadst had no friendship nor commerce with them, thou mightest have lived safely in thy recesses, no one would have driven thee out: just, then, has been the reward of thy ambition, for having thus resorted to the Assyrians and Chaldeans.”

Continuing the same subject, the Prophet says, Deceived thee have the men of thy peace — friends and confederates; for the Hebrews call those men of peace, who are connected together by any kind of alliance. The men then of thy peace, that is those whom thou thoughtest thou mightest trust, and on whom thou midst rely; — these have deceived thee, even these have prevailed against thee, and oppressed thee through craft and treachery. The men of thy bread have placed under thee a wound: the men of bread were those who were guests or friends. Some give this rendering, “Who eat thy bread;” and it is an admissible interpretation, for the Assyrians and Chaldeans, as they were insatiable, had taken booty from the Idumeans; for whosoever then hunted for their friendship, must have brought them some gifts. Since then they thus sold their friendship, the Prophet rightly calls them the men of bread with regard to those whose substance and wealth they devoured. If then we take the men of bread in this sense, there is a probability in the meaning. But we may give another interpretation, as though he had said that they were guests and friends: these then have fixed under thee a wound, that is, they have been thy destruction, and that through guile and hidden artifices. When one attacks another openly, he who is attacked can avoid the stroke; but the Prophet says, that the Assyrians and Chaldeans would be perfidious to the Idumeans, so as to conquer them through treachery. Fix then shall they a wound under thee, as when one hides a dagger between the bed and the sheet, when a person intends to go to sleep. So also he says that a wound is placed underneath, when a feigned friend hides himself, that he may more easily hurt him whom he assails deceitfully and craftily.

He at length thus concludes, There is no intelligence in him. Here the Prophet no doubt derides in an indirect way the foolish confidence with which the Idumeans were blinded; for they thought themselves to be in a superlative degree wary, so that they had no reason to fear, as they could see afar off, and arrange their concerns with the utmost prudence. Since then they thought that they excelled in wisdom, and could not be surprised by any craft, the Prophet says here, that there would be in them no understanding.

But he immediately subjoins the reason, “Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, destroy, or extinguish, the wise from Edom?” While the Idumeans were prosperous, because they acted wisely, it was incredible that they could thus in a moment be overthrown: but the Prophet says, that even this was in the hand and power of God; “Can I not,” he says, “put an end to whatever there is of wisdom in the Idumeans? Cannot I destroy all their prudent men? This will I do.” We now then perceive the import of the words.

But this place deserves notice: the Prophet upbraids the Idumeans, and says, that their confederates and friends would prove their ruin, because they had conspired among themselves beyond what was just and right. When men thus mutually join together, there are none of them who do not greedily seek their own advantage; in the meantime, both sides are deceived; for God disconcerts their counsels, and blasts the issue, because they regard not the right end. And when the wicked seek friendships, they ever blend something that is wrong; they either try to injure the innocent, or they seek some advantage. All the compacts then which the ungodly and the despisers of God make with one another, have always something vicious intermixed; it is therefore no wonder that the Lord disappoints them of their hope, and curses their counsels. This is then the reason why the Prophet declares to the Idumeans, that those, whom they thought to be their best and most faithful friends, would be their ruin.

But here it may be objected and said, that the same thing happens to the children of God. For David, though he acted towards all with the utmost faithfulness and the greatest sincerity, yet complains, that the man of his peace and a friend had contrived against him many frauds,

‘Raised up his heel against me,’ he says, ‘has the man of my peace; eat bread together did I with him, and he with me,’ (Psalm 41:9)

It was necessary also that this should have been the case with Christ himself. Now, if the children of God must be conformed to the image of Christ, what the Prophet says is no more than what applies to the whole Church, and to every member of it. This may appear strange at the first view; but a solution may be easily given: for while we strive to maintain peace with all men, though they may perfidiously, through treachery, oppress us, yet the Lord himself will succor us; and in the meantime, however hard may this trial be, we yet know that our patience is tried by God, that he may at last deliver us, so that we may confidently flee to him and testify our sincerity. But while the ungodly mutually cheat one another, while with wicked and sideway artifices they oppress and circumvent each other, while they cast forth their hidden virulence, while they turn peace into war, they know that their recompense is just and merited: they cannot flee to God, for their conscience restrains them. They indeed understand that they have deserved what the Lord has justly repaid them. It is then no wonder that the conspiracy in which the Idumeans trusted, when they made the Chaldeans their friends, should have been accursed; for the Lord turned to their ruin whatever they thought useful to themselves.

This then is the import of the whole, — that if we wish not to be deceived, we must not attempt anything without an upright heart. Provided then we exceed not the limits of our calling, let us cultivate peace with all men, let us endeavor to do good to all men, that the Lord may bless us; but if it be his purpose to try our patience, he will be still present with us, though false friends try us by their treacheries, though we be led into danger by their malice, and be for a time trodden under their feet; if, on the contrary, we act with bad faith, and think that we have fortunate alliances, which have been obtained by wicked and nefarious artifices, the Lord will turn for our destruction whatever we think to be for our safety.

We must now notice what the Prophet says, Shall I not in that day destroy the wise from Edom? Though men be in many respects blind, whom God guides not by his Spirit, and on whom he shines not with his word, yet the worst blindness is, when men become inebriated with the false conceit of wisdom. When therefore any one thinks himself endued with understanding, so that he can perceive whatever is needful, and that he cannot be circumvented, his wisdom is insanity and extreme madness: it would indeed be better for us to be idiots and fools than to be thus inebriated. Since then the wise of this world are insane, the Lord declares that they will have no wisdom when the time of trial comes. God indeed permits the ungodly for a long time to felicitate themselves on account of their own acumen and counsels, as he suffered the Idumeans to go on prosperously. And there are also many at this day who felicitate themselves on their successes, and almost adore their own cunning. Who indeed can persuade the Venetians that there is anywhere consummate wisdom but among themselves, by which, forsooth, they surpass all others in deception? For no other reason do they, amidst many agitations, retain their own position, except that they seem to see farther into what is for their own advantages; nay, that kings in general stand, and continue safe amidst so many shakings, this they ascribe to their own wisdom: “Except I had looked well in this respect to my own affairs, except I had anticipated danger, and except I had foreseen it, it would have been all over as to my condition.” Thus they think within themselves: but the Lord at length infatuates them, that it may be evident, that this was not formerly said in vain to the Idumeans, Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, etc. and it was emphatically added, in that day: for the Prophet means, that it was no wonder that the Idumeans had been hitherto wary and adopted the best counsel; for it was not the Lord’s purpose to deprive them of wisdom; but when the suitable time of vengeance came, he instantly took away whatever prudence there was in them; for it is indeed in God’s hand to take away whatever there is either of understanding or of acuteness in men.

But we are warned by these words, that if we excel in understanding, we are not to abuse this singular gift of God, as we see the case to be with the ungodly, who turn to cunning whatever wisdom the Lord has bestowed on them. There is hardly one in a hundred to be found, who does not seek to be crafty and deceitful, if he excels in understanding. This is a very wretched thing. What a great treasure is wisdom? Yet we see that the world perverts this excellent gift of God; the more reason there is for us to labor, that our wisdom should be founded in true simplicity. This is one thing. Then we must also beware of trusting in our own understanding, and of despising our enemies, and of thinking that we can ward off any evil that may impend over us; but let us ever seek from the Lord, that we may be favored at all times with the spirit of wisdom, that it may guide us to the end of life: for he can at any moment take from us whatever he has given us, and thus expose us to shame and reproach.

When he says, from mount Esau, he means mount Seir, as I have already reminded you. But he meant to point out their whole country; for they were almost surrounded by mountains, and dwelt, as it is well known, in that Arabia which is called Patraea. It follows —

Obadiah 9

9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

9 Et deficient (vel, frangentur) fortes tui, Theman, ut excidatur vir e monte Esau prae occisione (vel, quia excidetur; למען enim postest duobis modis exponi.)

The Prophet, after having spoken of one kind of God’s vengeance, adds another, — that he would break whatever there was of strength in Idumea: and thus he shows that the courage and strength of men, no less than their understanding, are in the hand of God. As then God dissipates and destroys, whenever it pleases him, whatever wisdom there may be in men, so also he enervates and breaks down their hearts: in a word, he deprives them of all strength, so that they fail and come to nothing of themselves. Were they who are proud of their strength and counsels rightly to consider this, they would at length learn to submit themselves in true humility to God. But this truth is what the world cannot be made to believe: yet God shows to us here, as in a picture, that however men may flourish for a time, they would immediately vanish, were not he to sustain them, and to support his gifts in them, and keep them entire; and, especially, that empty smoke is everything, that seems to be understanding and strength in men; for the Lord can easily take away both, whensoever it may please him.

We ought therefore carefully to observe what he says here, Broken down shall be thy brave men, O Teman. Some think that a particular country is here pointed out; for Teman is the south, that is, with regard to Judea. But as Teman, we know, was one of the grandsons of Esau, (Genesis 36:15,) and as a part of Arabia was called by this name, it is the more probable, that the Prophet turns here his discourse to Idumea. But as to the word Teman, it is, a part taken for the whole.

For cut off, he says, shall be man: by saying, cut off shall man, he means, that all to a man would be destroyed. How? “by slaughter” This word has been by some critics removed to the beginning of the next verse, but as it appears for no sufficient reasons, while indeed there is nothing in the context that requires such a change. — Ed. . But קתל kothel means a slaughter in which no one remains alive. We hence see what the Prophet means, — that all the Idumeans would be so broken down, that all would fall, for there would be no heart nor strength to resist. It now follows —

Obadiah 10-11

10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

10. Propter oppressionem fratris tui Jacob, operiet te opprobrium, et excideris in perpetuum.

11. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.

11. Die quo stabas ex opposito, die quo alieni auferebant substantiam ejus, et extranei ingressi sunt portas ejus, et super Jerusalem miserunt sortem, etiam tu quasi unus ex illis.

The Prophet here sets forth the reason why God would deal so severely and dreadfully with the Idumeans. Had he simply prophesied of their destruction, it would have been an important matter; for the Jews might have thereby known that their ruin was not chance, but the scourge of God; they might have known that they themselves were with others chastised by God, and this would have been a useful instruction to them: but what brought them the chief consolation was to hear, that they were so dear to God that he would undertake the defense of their wrongs and avenge them, that he would have a regard for their safety. Hence, when they heard that God, because he loved them, would punish the Idumeans, it was doubtless an invaluable comfort to them in their calamities. To this subject the Prophet now comes.

For the unjust oppression of thy brother Jacob, etc. The word חמס chemes, violence, is to be taken passively; as though he said, “See, how thou hast acted towards thy brother Jacob.” And he calls him his brother, not for honor’s sake, but, on the contrary, for the purpose of showing forth more fully the cruelty of the Idumeans; for consanguinity had had no effect in preventing them from raging against their own brethren, and as it were against their own bowels. It was therefore a proof of barbarous inhumanity, that the Idumeans, forgetting their common nature, had been so inflamed with hatred against their own brethren: for, as it is well known, they had descended from the same common father, Abraham, and also from Isaac, and had the symbol of circumcision. The Idumeans indeed professed that they were the descendants of Abraham, and were God’s peculiar people. Since then God had made his covenant with their common father Isaac, and since they had equally retained circumcision, which was the seal of that covenant, how did it happen, that the Idumeans conducted themselves so cruelly towards their brethren? We hence see, that the name of brother in this clause — for the oppression of thy brother Jacob, is mentioned for the purpose of enhancing their crime.

As then, he says, thou hast been so violent against thy brother, cover thee shall reproach, and forever shalt thou be cut off. He intimates that the calamity would not be only for a time as in the case of Israel, but that the Lord would execute such a punishment as would prove that the Idumeans were aliens to him; for God in chastising his Church ever observes certain limits, as he never forgets his covenant. He proves indeed that the Idumeans were not his people, however much they might falsely boast that they were the children of Abraham, and make claim to the sign of circumcision; for they were professedly enemies, and had entirely departed from all godliness: it was then no wonder that their circumcision, which they had impiously profaned, was made no account of. But he afterwards more fully and largely unfolds the same thing.

In the day, he says, in which thou didst stand on the opposite side”. But the Idumeans might have made this objection, “Why dost thou accuse us for having violently oppressed our brother? for we were not the cause why they were destroyed: they had a quarrel with the Assyrians, we labored to protect our own interest in the midst of these disturbances; we sought peace with the Assyrians, and if necessity so compelled us, that ought not to be ascribed to us as a crime or blame.” In this way the Idumeans might have made a defense: but the Prophet dissipates all such pretenses by saying, In the day in which thou didst stand on the opposite side, in the day in which strangers took away his substance, and aliens entered his gates, and cast lots on Jerusalem — were not thou there? Even thou were as one of them. Now this is emphatically introduced — Even thou or, thou also; (Tu etiam) for the Prophet exhibits it here as a hateful omen: “It was no wonder that the Assyrians and Chaldeans shed the blood of thy brethren, for they were enemies, they were foreigners, they were a very distant people: but thou, who were of the same blood, thou, whom the bond of religion ought to have restrained, and further, even thou, who oughtest by the very claims of vicinity either to have helped thy brethren, or at least to have condoled with them — yea, thou were so cruel as to have been as one of his enemies: this surely can by no means be endured.”

We now perceive what the Prophet meant by saying, In the day in which thou didst stand on the opposite side: it is then as it were, an explanation of the former sentence, lest the Idumeans should make a false excuse by objecting that they had not been violent against their brethren. It was indeed the worst oppression, when they stood over against them; though they were not armed they yet took pleasure in a spectacle so mournful; besides they not only were idle spectators of the calamity of their brethren but were also as it were a part of their enemies. “Hast thou then not been as one of them?” I shall not proceed farther now.

Prayer

Grant Almighty God, that as thou hast once received us under thy protection, and hast promised that our salvation would be so much cared for by thee, that whatever Satan and the whole world may contrive, thou wilt yet keep us safe and secure, — O grant, that being endued with perseverance, we may remain within our borders, and be not carried away here and there either by craft or by wicked counsels; but be thou pleased to keep us in genuine integrity, that being protected by thy help, we may, by experience, find that true which thou declarest in thy word, that they who call on thee in truth shall ever know thee to be propitious to them: and since thou hast already made open to us an access to thee in the person of thy only — begotten Son, O grant, that we the sheep, may rely on him as our shepherd, and resignedly abide under his protection until we be removed from all dangers into that eternal rest, which has been obtained for us by the blood of thy Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lecture Seventy-first.

Obadiah 12-14

12. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

12. Et non aspicias in die fratris tui, in die alientationis ejus, et ne gaudeas super filiis Jehudah die exitii corum, et ne magnifices os tuum in die afflictionis (hoc est, ne magnifice loquaris.)

13. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

13. Ne intres in portam populi mei die exitii eorum, ne aspicias etiam tu in afflictione ejus, (in malo ejus,) in die exitii ejus, et ne extendas (manum subaudiendum est) in substantiam ejus in die exitii ejus;

14. Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

14. Et ne stes super exitum (vel, lacerationem, confractionem,) ad perdendum eos qui evaserint, et ne tradas (vel, concludas) residuos ejus in dic afflictionis.

The Prophet enumerates here the kinds of cruelty which the Idumeans exercised towards the Church of God, the children of Abraham, their own kindred. But he speaks by way of prohibition; it is then a personification, by which the Prophet introduces God as the speaker, as though he taught and admonished them on the duties of human kindness. Engraven, indeed, on their hearts ought all these to have been, on account of which he now reproaches them; for by forgetting humanity they had departed from everything right which nature requires. God indeed did not commence by instructing or teaching the Idumeans what were their duties; but the Prophet reminds them of things which must have been well known to them, and were beyond all dispute true.

Hence he says, Thou shouldest not look on in the day of thy brother, in the day of his alienation. The day of Judah he calls that in which God visited him: so the day of Jerusalem is called the day of calamity. Thou shouldest not then look on: we know in what sense this verb, to look on, is usually taken in Scripture; it is applied to men, when they lie in wait, or very anxiously desire anything, or rejoice at what they witness. The Prophet no doubt takes it metaphorically for taking delight in the misery of the chosen people; for, shortly after, he repeats the same word. Thou shouldest not then look on in the day of thy brother, even in the day of his alienation Some take another sense; but I approve of their opinion, who regard this alienation as meaning exile; at the same time, they give not the reason for this metaphor, which is this, — that such a change then took place in the people, that they put on a new appearance. It was then alienation, when God wholly abolished the glory of the kingdom of Judah, and when he took away all his favors, so that the appearance of the people became deformed. In the day then of his alienation, that is, when the Lord stripped him of his ancient dignity.

Thou shouldest not rejoice, he says, over the children of Judah, in the day of their destruction, that is of their ruin; “thou shouldest not make thy mouth great in the day of affliction”. We now perceive what the Prophet means. Though indeed he seems here to show to the Idumeans their duty, he yet reproves them for having neglected all the laws of humanity, and of having been carried away by their own pride and cruelty. It hence follows that they were worthy of that dreadful vengeance which he has already mentioned. In case then the Idumeans complained that God dealt too severely with them, the Prophet here reminds them, that they in many ways sought such a ruin for themselves, — How so? “Were not thou delighted with the calamity of thy brother? Didst not thou laugh when Judah was distressed? And didst not thou speak loftily in ridicule? Was this outrageousness to be endured? Can the Lord now spare thee, as thou hast been so cruel towards thy brother?” And he repeats the name of brother, for the crime was the more atrocious, as it has been already said, as they showed no regard for those of their own blood. But the Prophet often mentions either affliction, or ruin, or calamity, or evils, or adversity; for it is a feeling naturally implanted in us, that when one is distressed, we are touched with pity; even when we see our enemies lie prostrate on the ground, our hatred and anger are extinguished, or at least are abated: and all who see even their enemies ill-treated, become, as it were, other men, that is, they put off the anger with which they were previously inflamed. As then this is what is common almost to all men, it appears that the Idumeans must have been doubly and treble barbarous, when they rejoiced at the calamity of their brethren, and took pleasure in a spectacle so sad and mournful, and even spoke proudly, and jeered the miserable Jews; for this, as we have said, is the meaning of the words, to make great the mouth.

It follows, Thou shouldest not enter the gates of my people in the day of their destruction, nor shouldest thou look on in their calamity. Probably the Idumeans had made an irruption in company with the Assyrians and Chaldeans, when they ought to have remained at home, and there to lament the slaughter of their brethren. For if I cannot save my friend from death or from a calamity, I shall yet withdraw myself, for I could not bear to look on: but were I constrained to look on my friend, and be not able to succor him in his necessity, I should rather close my eyes; for there is in the eyes, we know, the tenderest sympathy. As then the Idumeans willingly went forth and entered Jerusalem with the enemies, it was hence evident that they were no better than wild beasts. Thou shouldest not then, he says, enter the gates of my people in the day of slaughter, nor shouldest thou especially then, look on. He again repeats גם אתה gam ate, thou also, or, especially thou: “If other neighbors do this, yet thou shouldest abstain, for thou art of the same blood; if thou can’t not bring help, show at least some token of grief and of sympathy: but as thou willingly and gladly lookest on their calamities, it is quite evident that there is not in thee a particle of right feeling.”

He afterwards adds, Thou shouldest not stretch forth thy hand to his substance. Here he accuses the Idumeans of having been implicated in taking the spoils with other enemies, as though he said, “Ye have not only suffered your brethren to be pillaged, but ye became robbers yourselves. Ye ought to have felt sorrow in seeing them distressed by foreign enemies; but ye have plundered with them, and enriched yourselves with spoils; this certainly is by no means to be endured.”

It follows, And thou shouldest not stand on the going forth. The word פרק perek signifies to break, to dissipate, to rend; hence פרק perek, as a noun, in Hebrew means rending and breaking. Therefore some take it metaphorically for a place where two ways meet, when one road is cut or divided into two. When the two meet then there is a going forth by two ways; hence they take פרק, perek, for such a place. But we may simply take it for the rending of the people. Though I am certainly pleased with the first explanation, yet I do not confine the word to that meaning; and I prefer the idea of going forth, as it harmonizes better with the context: Thou hast stood then on the going forth; and for what purpose? To destroy those who had escaped, and to stop or to deliver up his remaining captives in the day of affliction. In short, the Prophet means that the Idumeans occupied all the ways, to intercept the miserable exiles, to whom flight was the only way of safety.

As then the miserable Jews tried by winding outlets to provide for their own safety, the Prophet says that they were intercepted by the Idumeans, lest any of them should escape, and that they were stopped, that afterwards they might be slain by their enemies. Inasmuch as the Assyrians and the Chaldeans were a people far remote from Judea, it is probable that the roads were unknown to them, and that they were afraid of being entrapped; but the Idumeans, who were familiarly acquainted with all their roads, could stand at all the outlets. Some give the following explanation, but it is too frigid: Thou shouldest not stand for the rending of thy brethren, that is, thou should not stand still, but strive to extend a helping hand to the distressed: but this, as I have said, is too frigid and strained. Thou shouldest not then stand on the going forth of the roads to destroy We now see what the Prophet had in view; to destroy, he says, and whom did they destroy? Even those who had already escaped. Expressly then is pointed out here the cruelty to which I have referred, that the Idumeans were not contented with the ruin of the city, and the great slaughter which had been made; but in case any had stealthily escaped, they occupied the outlets of the roads, that they might not flee away: and the same thing is meant when he adds, that all were betrayed or stopped who had remained alive in the day of affliction.

We now understand the Prophet’s meaning; — that the Idumeans could not complain that God was too severe with them, when he reduced them to nothing, because they had given examples of extreme cruelty towards their own brethren, and at a time when their calamities ought to have obliterated all hatred and old enmities, as it is usually the case even with men the most alienated from one another. Let us proceed —

Obadiah 15

15. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

15. Quia propinquus dies Jehovae super omnes gentes; sicut fecisti fiet tibi; merces tua revertetur in caput tuum.

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 —

Obadiah 16

16. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.

16. Quia sicuti bibistis super montem sanctum meum, bibent omnes gentes jugiter, bibent (inquam) et sorbebunt; et erunt quasi non sint.

Here Obadiah proceeds farther and says, that God would revenge the wrongs done to his Church. The declaration in the last verse was general, “Behold, on all the nations the day of Jehovah is nigh; as then thou hast done, God will repay thee:” but now he shows that this would be, because God purposed to defend his own servants, (clientes — clients;) and as they had been cruelly treated, he would become the avenger of their wrongs; As then ye have drunk on my holy mountain, etc. The Prophet, I have no doubt, taking a part for the whole, included in the word drink their triumphs and rejoicings. As then ye have rejoiced on my holy mountain, so also all the nations shall drink and continue their excess; they shall drink up, so that ye shall utterly perish. But the Prophet appears to me evidently to add here a proof of their avariciousness. He had shortly before accused the Idumeans of having taken away a part of the spoil, together with the foreign nations, when the miserable Jews were plundered. So also, he says now, Ye have drunk, in token of triumph and rejoicing.

Ye have then drunk wine on my holy mountain: now drink shall all the nations This latter drinking is to be taken in a sense different from the former. What then? Drink they shall, and drink up, that is, “They shall consume all your substance.” And he afterwards adds, And drink they shall continually; and they shall be as though they had not been, that is they shall not cease to eat and to drink until they shall consume whatever is among you. He then intimates that the Idumeans, who had enriched themselves with the spoils of their brethren, and who had also kept feastings in token of their joy on the holy mountain, would hereafter be the food of others, for all the nations would drink, and drink them up To drink then here is the same as to consume. It follows, (for I am under the necessity of finishing this prophecy today, and time, I hope, will allow me) —

Obadiah 17

17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

17. Et in monte Sion erit evasio, et erit sanctitas (nempe mons ipse;) et possidebit domus Jacob possessiones suas (alii vertunt, eos a quibus possidebantur.

Here the Prophet promises deliverance to the Jews; for other consolations would have been of no great moment, had they, who then were perishing, no hope of being some time restored to safety. The Jews might indeed have objected, and said, “What is it to us, though the Lord may avenge our wrongs? Should the Idumeans be destroyed for our sake, what profit will that be to us? We are in the meantime destroyed and have no hope of deliverance.” The Prophet here meets this objection, and says, In mount Zion shall be escape Though then the Idumeans had attempted to intercept all outlets, as it has been before mentioned, yet God promises here that there would be an escape in mount Zion: he says not, from mount Zion, but in the very mountain. What does this mean? even that God would restore those who might seem then to be lost. Then Obadiah clearly promises that there would be a restoration of the Church.

But we are taught in this place, that the punishment, by which the Lord chastises his people for their sins, is ever for a time. Whenever then God inflicts wounds on his Church, prepared at the same time is the remedy; for God designs not, nor does he suffer, that his own people should be wholly lost. This we may learn from the Prophet’s words, when he says, that there would be escape in Zion. And it was no ordinary comfort for the Jews to know, that even in their extreme decay, there remained for them some hope of deliverance, and that the people, who might appear at the time to be extinct, would yet be saved, and preserved alive, as though they arose from the dead.

He says that mount Zion would be holiness or holy, by which he means that God would be mindful of his covenant. As then he had chosen mount Zion where he would be worshipped, the Prophet intimates that God’s name was not there involved presumptuously or in vain. Inasmuch as God had chosen this mount for himself, it was holy; for God is said to have profaned the land and the temple, when he forsook them and delivered them up into the hands of enemies. So also now when the Prophet says, that mount Zion would be holy, it is the same as though he had said, that God would have a care for this mountain, because he had once consecrated it to himself, and designed it to be his own habitation. The cause then is put here for its effect. He had said, that the Jews would survive, how much soever like the lost and the dead they might for a time be, — How could such a thing be? The reason is this, — mount Zion shall be holy: it was a dreadful profanation of mount Zion when the temple was destroyed, when the holy vessels were taken away by the Babylonians, when, in short, the enemies showed there every kind of insolence. But when the Lord restored his people, when the altar was built again, and sacrifices were offered, then mount Zion recovered its holiness, that is, God manifested that the grace of his election had not been abolished, for he had again sanctified mount Zion, and thus designed it to be preserved safe. Holy then shall be mount Zion Were any one disposed to refine more on the Prophet’s words, he might say, that it is evidently the manner of our salvation that is intended, when God is said to sanctify or govern us by his Spirit: but the Prophet, I have no doubt, has regard here simply to the election of God.

And the house of Jacob shall again possess his own possessions, that is whatever God has given as an heritage to the children of Abraham, he will restore to them when they return from exile. If any one prefers to take possessions to be those of Edom, I do not object. But yet I think that the real meaning of the Prophet is, that when the children of Israel should return from exile, God would restore to them their ancient country, that they might possess whatever had been promised to their father Abraham. He means then, by their possessions, the whole land, which came by lot into the possession of the chosen people, as it had been promised to Abraham. It follows —

Obadiah 18

18. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it

18. Et erit domus Jacob ignis, et domus Joseph in flammam (flamma, ut respondeat,) et domus Esau erit palea; et ardebunt in ipsis et consument (vorabunt) eos; et non erit quidquam residuum domui Esau, quia Jehova loquutus est.

Here again the Prophet meets a doubt, which might come into the mind of each of them; for the Idumeans were flourishing, and their condition was independent, when the Israelites as well as the Jews were led into exile, and Jerusalem with its temple was destroyed. They might under such circumstances despair; but the Prophet shows, that though for a time the house of Jacob seemed to be dead, yet a fire would be kindled, which would consume the Idumeans, though they were then proud of their power and their wealth, and also of the prosperous issue of the victory over the Jews, for they had been enriched, and well as the Assyrians, by the overthrow of their brethren. A similar mode of speaking Isaiah also adopts; though he directs his discourse, not to the Idumeans, but to others, yet his manner of speaking is the same when he says, that God, the light of Israel, would be a fire and a flame to consume the wicked, (Isaiah 29:6.)

But this was fulfilled, when the Lord avenged the cruelty of Edom, though the Jews were then in exile and could not move a finger, when they were without arms, yea, when they were miserable slaves: the Idumeans were even then consumed, by what fire? how was this burning kindled? Even then the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph were like a fire and a flame The cause of this ruin, it is true, did not immediately appear to the Idumeans: but we must here look to the purpose of God. Why did God with so much severity punish the Idemeans? Because he intended by this example to show how much he loved his Church. Since then their cruelty was the cause of ruin to the Idumeans, rightly does the prophet say, that the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph would be like a fire and a flame to consume the Idumeans. And it was not a small solace to the miserable exiles, when they understood, that they were still regarded by God in their depressed condition. Inasmuch then as they were exposed to the reproach and ridicule of all, it pleased God to testify that they were the objects of his care, and that he would, for their sake, destroy whole nations even those who then gloried in their power. We now then see why the Prophet adopted this figurative language. By the house of Joseph, he means as we have said elsewhere the kingdom of Israel; he mentions a part for the whole. It follows —

Obadiah 19-20

19. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead

19..Et possidebunt meridiem montis Esau, et planietiem Philistim, et possidebunt agros Ephraim et agros Samariae; et Benjamin possidebit Gilead.

20. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

20. Et migratio exercitus hujus filiorum Israel, quod Chananaeorum fuit usque ad Zerphath (vel, qui sunt in Chananaeis,) et migratio Jerusalem, quod in Sepharad, possidebunt (in quam) urbes Australes (vel, meridionales.) The rendering of the first of these two verses is materially different from our version. There are difficulties here which are considerable. Our version in the first part follows Septuagint; and others have followed the same, such as Newcome and Henderson, though Junius and Tremulius and Dathius have rendered it materially the same with Calvin, and certainly more in consistency with the Hebrew text. The following may be considered as a literal version of the whole verse: —

19. And they shall inherit the south, the mount of Esau, And the plain, even that of the Philistines, And they shall inherit the field of Ephraim and the field of Samaria, And of Benjamin, even Gilead.

The word “to possess” does not convey the meaning of ירש, which means to inherit, or to possess by inheritance, as Junius and Tremelius render it — haereditario jure possidebunt — “They shall possess by an hereditary right.” And this exactly corresponds with Calvin’s explanation. Though our version follows the Septuagint in the two first lines, it yet departs from it the two last.

But the 20th verse is the most difficult. “Captivity” is more properly “migration” or transmigration, as Calvin renders it. Then follow the words, החל-חזה לבכי ישראל, literally, in my view, “the beginning, this, to the children of Israel.” So the Septuagint takes the word החל, as meaning “beginning,” and not “host:” it wants the ו except in three copies, and it always has this, when it means a host. I propose the following translation: —

And the migration, which commenced with the children of Israel, Shall inherit what the Canaanites had as far as Sarephath; And the migration from Jerusalem, which are in Saphrad, The cities of the south.

The latter verse is a fuller explanation of the former; and, as is the case commonly in Hebrew, when two things previously mentioned are referred to, the order is reversed, the last particular is mentioned first, so it is here. The verb “inherit” is in the last clause in Hebrew; but the idiom of our language requires it to be in the first. — Ed.

The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, — that God would not only gather the remnants of his people from the Babylonian exile, but would restore the exiles, that they might rule far and wide, and that their condition might be better than it was before: for the Prophet, as I think, directs the attention to the first blessing of God, which had been deposited in the hand of Abraham. God had promised to the posterity of Abraham the whole land from Euphrates to the sea. Now this land had never been possessed by the children of Abraham. This happened, as it is well known, through their sloth and ingratitude. David in his time enlarged the borders; but yet he only made those tributaries whom God had commanded to be destroyed. So this blessing had never been fulfilled, because the people put a hindrance in the way. The Prophet now, speaking of the restoration of the Church, tells the people, who would return from exile, that they were to occupy the country which had been promised to their fathers as though he said, “There will come to you a full and complete inheritance.”

Now it is certain that this prophecy has never been completed: we know that but a small portion of the land was possessed by the Jews. What then are we to understand by this prophecy? It does unquestionably appear that the Prophet speaks here of the kingdom of Christ; and we know that the Church was then really restored, and that the Jews not only recovered their former state from which they had fallen, but that their kingdom was increased: for how great became the splendor of the kingdom and of the temple under Christ? This then is what the Prophet now means, when he promises to the Jews the heritage which they had lost; yea, God then enlarged the borders of Judea. Hence he shows that they should not only be restored to their former condition, but that the kingdom would be increased in splendor and wealth, when Christ should come. Let us now run over the words.

Possess then shall they the south of the mount of Esau. The space was no doubt great: even when David reigned, the Jews did not possess that part or south portion of mount Seir. Then the Prophet, as I have said, shows that the borders of the kingdom would be more extensive than they had been. And the plain, he says, of the Philistines On that side also the Lord would cause that the Jews would extend farther than their kingdom. And possess they shall the fields of Ephraim Here I will not spend much labor in describing the land: but it is enough for us to understand that the design of the Prophet was to show, that the state of the people after their exile would be far more splendid than it had been before, even under the reign of David. What he means by Gilead is not very clear: but it is not probable that mount Gilead is referred to here, which was not far distant from the tribe of Benjamin, but rather that a town or some place distant from that part, and not included in their portion, is pointed out.

He afterwards adds, And the migrations of this host of the children of Israel, etc. There is here an obscurity in the words. The Hebrews by Canaan mean the Illyrians as well as Germans, and also the Gauls: for they say, that the migration, which shall be dispersed in Gaul, and in Germany, and in these far regions, shall possess the southern cities. Now by Zarephath they understand Spain. But we know, as we have elsewhere said, that the Jews are very bold in their glosses: for they are not ashamed to trifle and to blend frivolous things; and they assert this as though it were evident from history, and easily found out. Thus they prattle about things unknown to them, and this they do without any reason or discrimination. The Prophet, I doubt not, means here that all those territories, which had been formerly promised to the children of Abraham, would come into their possession when the Lord would send his Christ, not only to restore what had fallen, but also to render the state of the people in every way blessed. The import of the whole then is, that the Jews shall not only recover what they had lost, but what had not hitherto been given them to possess: all this the Lord would bestow on them when Christ came. It follows —

Obadiah 21

21. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

21. Et ascendent servatores in montem Sion, ad judicandum montem Esau; et erit Jehovae regnum.

Here the Prophet says, that there are in God’s hand ministers, the labor of whom he employs to preserve his own people. He alludes here, I have no doubt, to the history of the judges. We indeed know that the people of Israel were often so distressed, that their deliverance was almost incredible; and that yet they were also delivered in such a way as to have made it evident that the hand of God had appeared from heaven. Since this then was well known to the Jews, the Prophet here reminds them that God had still in his hand redeemers, whenever it might please him to gather his people. God then shall send preservers, even as he did send them formerly to your fathers. They had indeed found true by experience what the Prophet says here, not only once, but more than ten times. This then ought to have served much to confirm this prophecy.

Ascend then shall they who will judge the mount of Esau, — who, being endued with the power of God and his authority, will execute judgment on mount Seir and on the whole nation, and will avenge the cruelty which Edom had exercised towards the children of Abraham.

But this passage shows, that Christ came not to be the minister of our deliverance and salvation in an ordinary way, but that he became our savior in a special manner; so that he stands alone in that capacity: and this is a very strong argument against the Jews. They confess that the Messiah would be the Redeemer of his people, but they ascribe this office to him in a general way, as they do to David and other kings. But it certainly appears from this passage, that the Messiah would not be of the common class, for saviors would be under him as his ministers. This the Jews dare not to deny, though they grumble: for it would be absurd that he should be one of their number. Since then he was sent to be a Redeemer and Savior in a way different from others, it follows that he is not man only, but that he is the Author of salvation. It would indeed be easy to reply, “Why do you speak to us of many redeemers? Do you not hope for one Savior? If God will commit this office to many in an equal degree, why are there so many glorious promises respecting the Messiah? Why are we ever reminded of him alone? Why is he alone set forth to us as the ground of our salvation?” It hence certainly appears that Christ is to be distinguished from all others, and that others are saviors under his authority; and such were the apostles, and such are all at this day, the labor and ministry of whom God employs to defend and support his Church.

Now he adds, Jehovah’s shall be the kingdom. But as it is certain, that it was God’s purpose to rule among his people after having restored them, in no other way than by the power of Christ, the Prophet, by saying that the kingdom of Christ would be Jehovah’s, means, that it would be really divine, and more illustrious than if he had employed the labor of men. But two things must be here observed by us, — that God himself really rules in the person of Christ, — and that it is the legitimate mode of ruling the Church, that God alone should preside, and hold alone the chief power. Hence it follows, that when God does not appear as the only King, all things are in confusion, without any order. Now God is not called a King by way of an empty distinction: but then only is he regarded a King in reality, when all submit themselves to him, when they are ruled by his word; in short, when all creatures become silent in his presence. To God then belongs the kingdom. We hence see that the Church has no existence, where the word of God does not so prevail in its authority, as to keep down whatever height there is in men, and to bring them under the yoke, so that all may depend on God alone, that all may look up to him, and that he may have all in subjection to himself.

Prayer.

Grant, Almighty God, that as we are so scattered in our pilgrimage in this world, that even a dreadful spectacle is presented to our eyes, when we see thy Church so miserably rent asunder, O grant, that being endued with the real power of thy Spirit, and gathered into one, we may so cultivate brotherly kindness among ourselves, that each may strive to help another, and at the same time keep our eyes fixed on Christ Jesus; and though hard contests may await us, may we yet be under his care and protection, and so exercise patience, that having finished our warfare, we may at last enjoy that blessed rest, which thou hast promised to us, and which is laid up for us in heaven, and which has also been purchased for us by the blood of Christ thy Son, one Lord. Amen.

End of the Commentaries on Obadiah.

A Translation of

Calvin’s Version of

The Prophecies of Joel.

Chapter 1

1 The word of Jehovah which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

2 Hear this, ye the aged; And give ear, al ye inhabitants of the land; Hath this been in your days, Or in the days of your fathers?

3 This to your children declare, And your children to their children, And their children to the next generation, —

4 “The residue of the locust hath the chafer eaten, “The residue of the chafer hath the cankerworm eaten, “The residue of the cankerworm hath the caterpillar eaten.”

5 Awake ye drunkards, and weep; Howl ye all who drink wine for the new wine; For cut off it is from your mouth.

6 Verily a nation came up over my land, Strong and without number: Its teeth the teeth the teeth of a lion, And its jaw-bones those of a young lion:

7 It exposed my vine to desolation, And my fig-tree to the stripping of the bark; By denuding it denuded it and cast it away, White have been made its branches.—

8 Lament as a young woman, girded with sackcloth, For the husband of her youth.

9 Cut off is offering and libation From the house of Jehovah; Mourn do the priests, the ministers of Jehovah;

10 Wasted is the field, mourn does the land; For laid waste is the corn, Dried up is the wine, destroyed is the oil.

11 Be ashamed, ye husbandmen, howl, ye vinedressers, On account of the wheat and the barley; For perished has the harvest of the field,

12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree is destroyed; The pomegranate, the palm also and the apple tree,— All the trees of the field have dried up: Verily dried up is joy among the children of men!

13 Be girded and lament, ye priests; Howl ye ministers of the altar; Come, spend the night in sackcloth, Ye ministers of my God; For withheld from the house of your God Is offering and a libation:

14 Sanctify a fast, call an assembly, Gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land, Into the house of Jehovah your God, And cry ye to Jehovah.—

15 Alas the day! For nigh is the day of Jehovah, And as a desolation from the Almighty it will come.

16 Has not the meat before your eyes been cut off, Joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17 Rotted have the grains under the clods, Desolate are the granaries, Pulled down have been the barns, For dried up has the corn.

18 How has the beast groaned! Confounded are the herds of oxen! For wanting to them are pastures; The flocks of sheep are also desolate.

19 To thee Jehovah will I cry; For the fire hath consumed the pastures of the desert, And the flame hath burnt all the trees of the field:

20 The beasts of the field will also cry to thee; For dried up have the streams of waters, For the fire hath consumed the pastures of the desert.

Chapter 2

1 Sound ye the trumpet in Zion, And cry aloud on my holy mountain: Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For coming is the day of Jehovah, for nigh it is,—

2 A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of cloudiness and of obscurity, Like the dawn expanding over the mountains,— A people, great and strong, The like of them has not been from the beginning, Nor after them shall be for many generations;

3 Before them, a devouring fire, And after them, a flame, shall burn; Like the garden of Eden the land before them, And after them, a desert of solitude; And so there will be no escape from them:

4 As the appearance of horses, their appearance, And as horsemen they will run;

5 As the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, As the sound of the flame of fire devouring the stubble, As a strong people prepared for battle;

6 Their face will the people dread, All faces will gather blackness;

7 As giants will they run here and there, As men of war will they ascend the wall, And each in his ways will proceed, And they shall not stay their goings;

8 No one will thrust his brother, Every one in his way will march on; On the sword shall they fall, and shall not be wounded;

9 Though the city shall they go, over the wall shall they run, Into houses shall they climb, Into the windows shall they enter like a thief:

10 Before them shall tremble the earth, And in anguish shall be the heavens, The sun and moon shall be darkened, And the stars shall withdraw their brightness;

11 And Jehovah will utter his voice before his army, For very great will be his camp. For strong is he who doeth his word; For great will be the day of Jehovah, And very terrible, and who will endure it?

12 But even now, saith Jehovah, Turn to me with your whole heart, And with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;

13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn to Jehovah your God; For he is propitious and merciful, Slow to wrath, and abundant in goodness, And will repent of the evil:

14 Who knows, whether he will return and repent, And leave behind him a blessing— An offering and a libation to Jehovah your God?

15 Sound ye the trumpet in Zion, Sanctify a fast, proclaim a meeting,

16 Gather the people, sanctify the assembly, Bring together the aged, gather the children And those suckling the breasts; And let the bridegroom come forth from his recess, And the bride from her chamber;

17 Between the porch and the altar let the priests, The ministers of Jehovah, weep and say,— “Be propitious, Jehovah, to thy people, “And give not thy heritage to reproach, “That the nations should rule over them; “Why should they say among the people, “‘Where is their God?’”

18 Then jealous will Jehovah be for his land, And he will be propitious to his people;

19 And Jehovah will answer, and say to his people: This line is rendered to the version of Calvin, and not according to his comment. See p. 75. “Behold, I will send to you corn, and wine, and oil, “And ye shall be satisfied with them; “And I will make you no more a reproach among the nations;

20 “And the Northlander will I remove far from you, “And drive him to a desert and dry land, “With his face to the eastern sea, “And his rear to the hindmost sea; “And ascend shall his ill savor, “And ascend shall his rottenness; “For high hath he exalted himself to do his purpose.”

21 Fear not, thou land; exult and rejoice; For Jehovah hath high exalted himself to do his purpose:

22 Fear not, ye beasts of the fields; For grow shall the pastures of the desert, For the tree shall bring forth its fruit, The fig-tree and the vine shall yield their substance:

23 And ye children of Zion, exult, And rejoice in Jehovah your God; For he will give you rain in due measure, And make to come down for you the showering rain, And the rain in the first month;

24 And filled shall the floors be with corn, And overflow shall the vats with wine and oil;

25 And I will restore years to you For those which the locust hath eaten, The chafer, and the caterpillar,— My great army, which I sent to you:

26 And eating, ye shall eat and satisfy yourselves, And shall praise the name of Jehovah your God, Because he hath dealt wondrously with you; And ashamed shall not my people be for ever.

27 And ye shall know that in the midst of Israel I am, And that I Jehovah am your God, and none else; And ashamed shall not my people be forever.

28 And shall it be afterwards, That I will pour my Spirit on all flesh, And prophesy shall your sons and your daughters, And your old men shall dreams dream, And your young men shall visions see;

29 And also on servants and maid-servants Will I in those days pour my spirit:

30 And I will set prodigies in heaven and on earth,— Blood and fire, and columns of mist;

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, The moon into blood, Before it comes—the day of Jehovah, great and terrible:

32 Then it shall be, that whosoever shall call On the name of Jehovah, shall be delivered; For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem Shall be deliverance, as Jehovah hath promised, And for the residue whom Jehovah shall call.

Chapter 3

1 For, behold in those days, and at that time, When I shall restore the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will then gather all the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehosaphat; And I will there contend with them, For my people and for my heritage Israel; Because they have scattered them among the nations,

2 And divided my land, and on my people cast lots, And have given a boy for a harlot, And have sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

3 And yet, what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the borders of Palestine? Will ye recompense return to me?

4 Now if ye repay me with this, Quickly—suddenly will I return Your recompense on your own head.

5 Because ye have taken away my silver and my gold, And my desirable things have removed to your temples,

6 And have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem To the children of the Grecians, That ye might drive them far from their own borders;—

7 Behold, I will raise them from the place to which ye have sold them, And will return your recompense on your head;

8 For I will sell your sons and your daughters to the children of Judah, And they shall sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation; For thus hath Jehovah spoken.

9 Publish this among the nations, Proclaim a war, rouse the strong, Let them come, let them ascend, all the men of war:

10 Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning-hooks into spears; Let the weak say, “I am strong.”

11 Assemble and come all ye nations, Assemble all around; There will Jehovah lay prostrate all thy valiant ones.

12 Awake let the nations, and ascend to the valley of Jehosaphat; For there will I sit to judge all the nations around.

13 Put forth the sickle, for ripened has the harvest; Come, go down, for full is the wine-press, Overflowing are the vats, For multiplied has their wickedness.

14 Nations! Nations! In the valley of the sledge; For nigh is Jehovah’s day in the valley of the sledge: The sun and the moon shall be darkened, And the stars shall withdraw their brightness;

15 And Jehovah from Zion shall roar, And from Jerusalem shall utter his voice, And tremble shall the heavens and the earth;

16 But Jehovah will be a hope to his people, And a strength to the children of Israel:

17 Then ye shall know that I Jehovah am your God, Dwelling in Zion, the mount of my holiness; And Jerusalem shall be holiness, And aliens shall pass through it no more.

18 And it shall be in that day, That distill new wine shall the mountains, And the hills shall cause milk to run down, And all the rivers of Judah shall send forth waters; A fountain also from the house of Jehovah shall go forth, And it shall water the valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt shall be a solitude, And Edom shall be a desert of solitude, For the outrage done to the children of Judah, Because they shed innocent blood in their own land:

20 But Judah shall forever safely dwell, And Jerusalem shall be from age to age; And I will cleanse their blood which I have not cleansed, And Jehovah shall dwell in Zion.

a translation

of Calvin’s Version

of The Prophecies of Amos.

Chapter 1

1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds at Tekos, which he saw concerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake; and he said,—

2 Jehovah from Zion will roar, And from Jerusalem will he utter his voice; And perish shall the habitations of shepherds, And wither shall the top of Carmel.

3 Thus saith Jehovah,— For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not be propitious to it; (157) Because they have threshed Gilead with iron wains:

4 And I will send fire into the house of Hazael, And it shall devour the palaces of Benhadad;

5 And I will break in pieces the bar of Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, And the holder of the scepter from the house of Eden; And removed shall be the people of Syria to Kir, saith Jehovah.

6 Thus saith Jehovah,— For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not be propitious to it; For they carried away a complete captivity, To shut them up in Edom:

7 And I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, And it shall devour its palaces;

8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Azotus, And the holder of the scepter from Ascalon; And I will turn my hand against Ekron, And perish shall the remnants of the Philistines, Saith the Lord Jehovah.

9 Thus saith Jehovah,— For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not be propitious to it; For they have shut up a complete captivity in Edom, And have not remembered the covenant of brethren:

10 And I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, And it shall devour its palaces.

11 Thus saith Jehovah,— For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not be propitious to it; For he pursued with the sword his own brother, And destroyed his own compassions; And raged continually has his anger, And his wrath has he kept perpetually:

12 And I will send a fire on Teman, And it shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.

13 Thus saith Jehovah,— For three transgressions of the children o Ammon, and for four, I will not be propitious to him; For they have rent the pregnant women of Gilead, That they might extend their own borders:

14 And I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah, And it shall devour its palaces, With clamor in the day of battle, With whirlwind in the day of tempest;

15 And pass shall its king into captivity, He and his princes together, saith Jehovah.

Chapter 2

1 Thus saith Jehovah,— For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not be propitious to him; For he burnt the bones of the king of Edom into ashes:

2 And I will send a fire on Moab, And it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth; And die in a tumult shall Moab, With shouting, at the sound of the trumpet;

3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst of him, And with him all his princes will I slay, saith Jehovah.

4 Thus saith Jehovah,— For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not be propitious to him; For they have despised the law of Jehovah, And his statutes have they not kept; And to go astray have their lies made them, After which their fathers walked:

5 And I will send a fire on Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

6 Thus saith Jehovah,— For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not be propitious to him; For they have sold the just for silver, and the poor for shoes;

7 Panting for the dust of the earth on the head of the needy, They turn aside the way of the miserable; The son and his father enter in into the same maid, So that they profane my holy name;

8 And on pledged garments they lie near every altar, And the wine of the condemned they drink In the house of their god.

9 Yet I exterminated the Amorite before their face, Whose tallness was like the tallness of cedars, And who was strong like the oak; And I destroyed his fruit above and his root beneath;

10 And I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And led you in the desert forty years, That you might possess the land of the Amorite;

11 And I raised up Prophets from your sons, And from your youths, Nazarites;— Have I not done all this, O children of Israel, saith Jehovah:

12 But to the Nazarites have ye quaffed wine; And on my Prophets have ye laid a command, Saying, “Ye shall not prophesy.”

13 Behold, I am fast bound under you, (196) As a wagon is bound, which is full of sheaves.—

14 Perish shall flight from the swift, And the valiant shall not confirm his strength, And the strong shall not deliver his life,

15 And the holder of the bow shall not stand, And the swift on foot shall not escape, Nor shall he who mounts a horse save his life;

16 Yea, the strong of heart, among the valiant, Shall flee away naked in that day, saith Jehovah.

Chapter 3

1 Hear ye this word which Jehovah pronounces Against you, children of Israel—against the whole family, Which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,—

2 “Only you have I known of all the families of the earth, “I will therefore visit on you all your iniquities.”

3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion roar in his den, when nothing is taken?

5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the ground without a fowler? Will a fowler take up his snare from the ground before he catches?

6 Shall a trumpet sound in a city, and the people tremble not? Shall there be an evil in a city, which Jehovah hath not done?

7 For nothing will the Lord Jehovah do, Except he has revealed his secret to his servants the Prophets.

8 The lion hath roared, who would not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken, who would not prophesy?

9 Publish in the palaces of Ashdod, And in the palaces of the land of Egypt, and say,— “Assemble ye on the mountains of Samaria, “And see the great tumults within it, “And the oppressions in the midst of it.”

10 And they know not how to do right, saith Jehovah,— Treasuring up the fruit of robbery and plunder in their palaces.

11 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah,— Lo, an adversary! And one around the land! And he will take from thee thy strength, And plundered shall be thy palaces.

12 Thus saith Jehovah,— As when a shepherd snatches from the mouth of a lion Two legs and the extreme part of the ear, So shall be rescued the children of Israel, Who dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, And in Damascus on a couch.

13 Hear ye and testify to the house of Israel, Saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts,—

14 That in the day in which I shall visit upon him the sins of Israel, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; And broken shall be the horns of the altar, And they shall fall to the ground;

15 And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house, And perish shall the houses of ivory, And come to an end shall the great houses, saith Jehovah.

Chapter 4

1 Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, Which are on the mountain of Samaria, Which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, Which say to their masters, “Bring, and we shall drink.”

2 Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by his sanctuary, That, lo, in the days are coming on you, That he will take you away by a hook, And your residue by a fishing-hook;

3 And through the breaches shall ye go out, Each one over against her; And ye shall cast yourselves down from the palace, saith Jehovah.

4 Go ye to Bethel and transgress, And in Gilgal transgress still more, And bring, in the morning, your sacrifices, In the third year, your tithes,

5 And burn incense with the leaven of thanks-offering. And publish voluntary offerings, proclaim them; For so it hath pleased you, O children of Israel, Saith the Lord Jehovah.

6 But I even gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And want of bread in all your borders; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah:

7 I also withheld from you the rain, When as yet there were three months to the harvest; And I rained on one city, And on another city I made it not to rain; One part was rained upon, And the part where it rained not dried up;

8 And there came two and three cities to one city, To drink water, and were not satisfied; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah:

9 I smote you with the east wind and mildew; Your large gardens and your vineyards, (236) And your fig-trees and your olives the chafer devoured; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah:

10 I sent on to you the plague after the manner of Egypt; I smote with the sword your strong men, And led captive your horses; I made to ascend the stench of your camps even to your nostrils; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah:

11 I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And ye were as a brand snatched from the burning; Yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah.

12 Therefore thus will I do to thee, Israel, And because I will do this to thee, Prepare thyself to meet thy God, Israel.

13 For, behold he who formed the mountains, Who created the spirit, Who declares to man what is his thought, Who makes the dawn and the darkness, Who walks on the high places of the earth,— Jehovah, God of Hosts, is his name.

Chapter 5

1 Hear ye this word which I raise upon you, Even a lamentation, O house of Israel.

2 Fallen is the virgin of Israel, and she will rise no more; Left is she on her land, none is there to raise her up.

3 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah,— The city from which went forth a thousand, There will remain in it a hundred; And that from which it went forth a hundred, There will remain ten to the house of Israel. <div sID="gen85748" type="

INTRODUCTION

This is the shortest book in the Old Testament. The name means "servant of Jehovah." Obadiah stands fourth among the minor prophets according to the Hebrew arrangement of the canon, the fifth according to the Greek. Some consider him to be the same as the Obadiah who superintended the restoration of the temple under Josiah, 627 B.C. (2Ch 34:12). But Ob 11-16, 20 imply that Jerusalem was by this time overthrown by the Chaldeans, and that he refers to the cruelty of Edom towards the Jews on that occasion, which is referred to also in La 4:21, 22; Eze 25:12-14; 35:1-15; Psa 137:7. From comparing Ob 5 with Jr 49:9, Ob 6 with Jr 49:10, Ob 8 with Jr 49:7, it appears that Jeremiah embodied in his prophecies part of Obadiah's, as he had done in the case of other prophets also (compare Is 15:1-16:14 with Jr 48:1-47). The reason for the present position of Obadiah before other of the minor prophets anterior in date is: Amos at the close of his prophecies foretells the subjugation of Edom hereafter by the Jews; the arranger of the minor prophets in one volume, therefore, placed Obadiah next, as being a fuller statement, and, as it were, a commentary on the foregoing briefer prophecy of Amos as to Edom [Maurer]. (Compare Am 1:11). The date of Obadiah's prophecies was probably immediately after the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, 588 B.C. Five years afterwards (583 B.C.) Edom was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah must have incorporated part of Obadiah's prophecies with his own immediately after they were uttered, thus stamping his canonicity.

Jerome makes him contemporary with Hosea, Joel, and Amos. It is an argument in favor of this view that Jeremiah would be more likely to insert in his prophecies a portion from a preceding prophet than from a contemporary. If so, the allusion in Ob 11-14 will be to one of the former captures of Jerusalem: by the Egyptians under Rehoboam (1Ki 14:25, 26; 2Ch 12:2, &c.), or that by the Philistines and Arabians in the reign of Joram (2Ch 21:16, 17); or that by Joash, king of Israel, in the reign of Amaziah (2Ch 25:22, 23); or that in the reign of Jehoiakim (2Ki 24:1, &c.); or that in the reign of Jehoiachin (2Ki 24:8-16). On all occasions the Idumeans were hostile to the Jews; and the terms in which that enmity is characterized are not stronger in Obadiah than in Joe 3:19 (compare Ob 10); Am 1:11, 12. The probable capture of Jerusalem alluded to by Obadiah is that by Joash and the Israelites in the reign of Amaziah. For as, a little before, in the reign of the same Amaziah, the Jews had treated harshly the Edomites after conquering them in battle (2Ch 25:11-23), it is probable that the Edomites, in revenge, joined the Israelites in the attack on Jerusalem [Jaeger].

This book may be divided into two parts: (1) Ob 1-6 set forth Edom's violence toward his brother Israel in the day of the latter's distress, and his coming destruction with the rest of the foes of Judah; (2) Ob 17-21, the coming re-establishment of the Jews in their own possessions, to which shall be added those of the neighboring peoples, and especially those of Edom.

CHAPTER 1

Ob 1-21. Doom of Edom for Cruelty to Judah, Edom's Brother; Restoration of the Jews.

1. Obadiah--that is, servant of Jehovah; same as Abdeel and Arabic Abd-allah.

We--I and my people.

heard--(Is 21:10).

and an ambassador is sent--Yea, an ambassador is already sent, namely, an angel, to stir up the Assyrians (and afterwards the Chaldeans) against Edom. The result of the ambassador's message on the heathen is, they simultaneously exclaim, "Arise ye, and let us (with united strength) rise," &c. Jr 49:14 quotes this.

2. I have made thee small--Thy reduction to insignificance is as sure as if it were already accomplished; therefore the past tense is used [Maurer]. Edom then extended from Dedan of Arabia to Bozrah in the north (Jr 49:8, 13). Calvin explains it, "Whereas thou wast made by Me an insignificant people, why art thou so proud" (Ob 3)? But if so, why should the heathen peoples be needed to subdue one so insignificant? Jr 49:15, confirms Maurer's view.

3. clefts of ... rock--(So 2:14; Jr 48:28). The cities of Edom, and among them Petra (Hebrew, sela, meaning "rock," 2Ki 14:7, Margin), the capital, in the Wady Musa, consisted of houses mostly cut in the rocks.

4. exalt thyself--or supply from the second clause, "thy nest" [Maurer] (Compare Job 20:6; Jr 49:16; Am 9:2).

set ... nest among ... stars--namely, on the loftiest hills which seem to reach the very stars. Edom is a type of Antichrist (Is 14:13; Da 8:10; 11:37).

thence will I bring thee down--in spite of thy boast (Ob 3), "Who shall bring me down?"

5. The spoliation which thou shalt suffer shall not be such as that which thieves cause, bad as that is, for these when they have seized enough, or all they can get in a hurry, leave the rest--nor such as grape-gatherers cause in a vineyard, for they, when they have gathered most of the grapes, leave gleanings behind--but it shall be utter, so as to leave thee nothing. The exclamation, "How art thou cut off!" bursting in amidst the words of the image, marks strongly excited feeling. The contrast between Edom where no gleanings shall be left, and Israel where at the worst a gleaning is left (Is 17:6; 24:13), is striking.

6. How are the things of Esau searched out!--by hostile soldiers seeking booty. Compare with Ob 5, 6 here, Jr 49:9, 10.

hidden things--or "places." Edom abounded in such hiding-places, as caves, clefts in the rock, &c. None of these would be left unexplored by the foe.

7. Men of thy confederacy--that is, thy confederates.

brought thee ... to the border--that is, when Idumean ambassadors shall go to confederate states seeking aid, these latter shall conduct them with due ceremony to their border, giving them empty compliments, but not the aid required [Drusius]. This view agrees with the context, which speaks of false friends deceiving Edom: that is, failing to give help in need (compare Job 6:14, 15). Calvin translates, "have driven," that is, shall drive thee; shall help to drive thee to thy border on thy way into captivity in foreign lands.

the men that were at peace with thee--literally, "the men of thy peace." Compare Psa 41:9; Jr 38:22, Margin, where also the same formula occurs, "prevailed against thee."

they that eat thy bread--the poorer tribes of the desert who subsisted on the bounty of Edom. Compare again Psa 41:9, which seems to have been before Obadiah's mind, as his words were before Jeremiah's.

have laid a wound under thee--"laid" implies that their intimacy was used as a SNARE laid with a view to wound; also, these guest friends of Edom, instead of the cushions ordinarily laid under guests at table, laid snares to wound, that is, had a secret understanding with Edom's foe for that purpose. Maurer translates, "a snare." But English Version agrees with the Hebrew, which means, literally, "a bandage for a wound."

none understanding--none of the wisdom for which Edom was famed (see Ob 8) to extricate him from his perilous position.

in him--instead of "in thee." The change implies the alienation of God from Edom: Edom has so estranged himself from God, that He speaks now of him, not to him.

8. (Is 49:7; compare Job 5:12, 13; Is 19:3; Jr 19:7).

in that day ... even destroy--Heretofore Edom, through its intercourse with Babylon and Egypt, and from its means of information through the many caravans passing to and fro between Europe and India, has been famed for knowledge; but in that day at last ("even") I will destroy its wise men.

mount of Esau--that is, Idumea, which was a mountainous region.

9. cut off by slaughter--Maurer translates, "on account of the slaughter," namely, that inflicted on Judea by Edom (compare Ob 14). The Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate connect these words with Ob 10, "for the slaughter, for the violence (of which thou art guilty) against thy brother Jacob." English Version, "cut off by slaughter" (that is, an utter cutting off), answers well to "cut off for ever" (Ob 10). However, the arrangement of the Septuagint gives a better parallelism in Ob 10. "For the slaughter" (1) being balanced in just retribution by "thou shalt be cut off for ever" (4); as "For thy violence (not so bad as slaughter) against thy brother Jacob" (2) is balanced by "shame (not so bad as being cut off) shall cover thee" (3). Shame and extinction shall repay violence and slaughter (Mt 26:52; Re 13:10). Compare as to Edom's violence, Psa 137:7; Eze 25:12; Am 1:11.

10. against thy brother--This aggravates the sin of Esau, that it was against him who was his brother by birth and by circumcision. The posterity of Esau followed in the steps of their father's hatred to Jacob by violence against Jacob's seed (Ge 27:41).

Jacob--not merely his own brother, but his twin brother; hence the name Jacob, not Israel, is here put emphatically. Compare De 23:7 for the opposite feeling which Jacob's seed was commanded to entertain towards Edom's.

shame ... cover thee--(Psa 35:26; 69:7).

for ever--(Is 34:10; Eze 35:9; Mal 1:4). Idumea, as a nation, should be "cut off for ever," though the land should be again inhabited.

11. thou stoodest on the other side--in an attitude of hostility, rather than the sympathy which became a brother, feasting thine eyes (see Ob 12) with the misery of Jacob, and eagerly watching for his destruction. So Messiah, the antitype to Jerusalem, abandoned by His kinsmen (Psa 38:11).

strangers--the Philistines, Arabians in the reign of Jehoram, &c. (2Ch 21:16); the Syrians in the reign of Joash of Judah (2Ch 24:24); the Chaldeans (2Ch 36:1-23).

carried ... captive his forces--his "host" (Ob 20): the multitude of Jerusalem's inhabitants.

cast lots upon Jerusalem--(Joe 3:3). So Messiah, Jerusalem's antitype, had lots cast for His only earthly possessions (Psa 22:18).

12. looked on--with malignant pleasure, and a brutal stare. So the antitypes, Messiah's foes (Psa 22:17). Maurer translates, as the Margin, "thou shouldest not look" any more. English Version agrees with the context better.

the day of thy brother--his day of calamity.

became a stranger--that is, was banished as an alien from his own land. God sends heavy calamities on those who rejoice in the calamities of their enemies (Pr 17:5; 24:17, 18). Contrast the opposite conduct of David and of the divine Son of David in a like case (Psa 35:13-15).

spoken proudly--literally, "made great the mouth"; proudly insulting the fallen (Eze 35:13, Margin; compare 1Sa 2:8; Re 13:6).

13. substance--translated "forces" in Ob 11.

14. stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his--Judah's.

that did escape--The Jews naturally fled by the crossways. (Maurer translates, "narrow mountain passes") well known to them, to escape to the desert, and through Edom to Egypt; but the Edomites stood ready to intercept the fugitives and either kill or "deliver them up" to the foe.

15. For--resumptive in connection with Ob 10, wherein Edom was threatened with cutting off for ever.

the day of the Lord--the day in which He will manifest Himself as the Righteous Punisher of the ungodly peoples (Joe 3:14). The "all" shows that the fulfilment is not exhausted in the punishment inflicted on the surrounding nations by the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar; but, as in Joe 3:14, and Zec 12:3, that the last judgment to come on the nations confederate against Jerusalem is referred to.

as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee--the righteous principle of retribution in kind (Le 24:17; Mt 7:2; compare Jud 1:6, 7; 8:19; Es 7:10).

thy reward--the reward of thy deed (compare Is 3:9-11).

16. ye ... upon my holy mountain--a periphrasis for, "ye Jews" [Maurer], whom Obadiah now by a sudden apostrophe addresses. The clause, "upon My holy mountain," expresses the reason of the vengeance to be taken on Judah's foes; namely, that Jerusalem is God's holy mountain, the seat of His temple, and Judah His covenant-people. Jr 49:12, which is copied from Obadiah, establishes this view (compare 1Pe 4:17).

as ye have drunk, &c.--namely, the cup of wrath, being dispossessed of your goods and places as a nation, by Edom and all the heathen; so shall all the heathen (Edom included) drink the same cup (Psa 60:3; Is 51:17, 22; Jr 13:12, 13; 25:15-33; 49:12; 51:7; La 4:21, 22 Na 3:11; Ha 2:16).

continually--whereas Judah's calamity shall be temporary (Ob 17). The foes of Judah shall never regain their former position (Ob 18, 19).

swallow down--so as not to leave anything in the cup of calamity; not merely "drink" (Psa 75:8).

be as though they had not been--not a trace left of their national existence (Job 10:19; Psa 37:36; Eze 26:21).

17. upon ... Zion ... deliverance--both in the literal sense and spiritual sense (Joe 2:32; Is 46:13; 59:20; Ro 11:26). Maurer as the Margin explains it, "there shall be a remnant that shall escape." Compare Is 37:32; to the deliverance from Sennacherib there described Grotius thinks Obadiah here refers. "Jerusalem shall not be taken, and many of the neighboring peoples also shall find deliverance there." Unlike Judah's heathen foes of whom no remnant shall escape (Ob 9, 16), a remnant of Jews shall escape when the rest of the nation has perished, and shall regain their ancient "possessions."

there shall be holiness--that is, Zion shall be sacrosanct or inviolable: no more violated by foreign invaders (Is 42:1; Joe 3:17).

18. fire--See the same figure, Nu 21:28; Is 5:24; 10:17.

house of Jacob ... Joseph--that is, the two kingdoms, Judah and Ephraim or Israel [Jerome]. The two shall form one kingdom, their former feuds being laid aside (Is 11:12, 13; 37:22-28; Jr 3:18; Ho 1:11). The Jews returned with some of the Israelites from Babylon; and, under John Hyrcanus, so subdued and, compelling them to be circumcised, incorporated the Idumeans with themselves that they formed part of the nation [Josephus, Antiquities, 13.17; 12.11]. This was but an earnest of the future union of Israel and Judah in the possession of the enlarged land as one kingdom (Eze 37:16, &c.).

stubble--(Mal 4:1).

19. they of the south--The Jews who in the coming time are to occupy the south of Judea shall possess, in addition to their own territory, the adjoining mountainous region of Edom.

they of the plain--The Jews who shall occupy the low country along the Mediterranean, south and southwest of Palestine, shall possess, in addition to their own territory, the land of "the Philistines," which runs as a long strip between the hills and the sea.

and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim--that is, the rightful owners shall be restored, the Ephraimites to the fields of Ephraim.

Benjamin shall possess Gilead--that is, the region east of Jordan, occupied formerly by Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh. Benjamin shall possess besides its own territory the adjoining territory eastward, while the two and a half tribes shall in the redistribution occupy the adjoining territory of Moab and Ammon.

20. the captivity of this host--that is, the captives of this multitude of Israelites.

shall possess that of the Canaanites--Maurer translates, "the captives ... whom the Canaanites (carried away captive into Phoenicia) even unto Zarephath, shall possess the south," namely, Idumea as well as the south (Ob 19). Henderson, similarly, "the captives that are among the Canaanites," &c. But the corresponding clauses of the parallelism are better balanced in English Version, "the ten tribes of Israel shall possess the territory of the Canaanites," namely, Western Palestine and Phoenicia (Jud 3:3). "And the captives of Jerusalem (and Judah) shall possess the southern cities," namely, Edom, &c. Each has the region respectively adjoining assigned to it; Israel has the western Canaanite region; Judah, the southern.

even unto Zarephath--near Zidon; called Sarepta in Lu 4:26. The name implies it was a place for smelting metals. From this quarter came the "woman of Canaan" (Mt 15:21, 22). Captives of the Jews had been carried into the coasts of Palestine or Canaan, about Tyre and Zidon (Joe 3:3, 4; Am 1:9). The Jews when restored shall possess the territory of their ancient oppressors.

in Sepharad--that is, the Bosphorus [Jerome, from his Hebrew Instructor]. Sephar, according to others (Ge 10:30). Palæography confirms Jerome. In the cuneiform inscription containing a list of the tribes of Persia [Niebuhr, Tab. 31.1], before Ionia and Greece, and after Cappadocia, comes the name CPaRaD. It was therefore a district of Western Asia Minor, about Lydia, and near the Bosphorus. It is made an appellative by Maurer. "The Jerusalem captives of the dispersion" (compare Jas 1:1), wherever they be dispersed, shall return and possess the southern cities. Sepharad, though literally the district near the Bosphorus, represents the Jews' far and wide dispersion. Jerome says the name in Assyrian means a boundary, that is, "the Jews scattered in all boundaries and regions."

21. saviours--There will be in the kingdom yet to come no king, but a prince; the sabbatic period of the judges will return (compare the phrase so frequent in Judges, only once found in the times of the kings, 2Ch 14:1, "the land had rest"), when there was no visible king, but God reigned in the theocracy. Israelites, not strangers, shall dispense justice to a God-fearing people (Is 1:26; Eze 45:1-25). The judges were not such a burden to the people as the kings proved afterwards (1Sa 8:11-20). In their time the people more readily repented than under the kings (compare 2Ch 15:17), [Roos]. Judges were from time to time raised up as saviours or deliverers of Israel from the enemy. These, and the similar deliverers in the long subsequent age of Antiochus, the Maccabees, who conquered the Idumeans (as here foretold, compare 2 Maccabees 10:15,23), were types of the peaceful period yet to come to Israel.

to judge ... Esau--to punish (so "judge," 1Sa 3:13) ... Edom (compare Ob 1-9, 15-19). Edom is the type of Israel's and God's last foes (Is 63:1-4).

kingdom shall be the Lord's--under Messiah (Da 2:44; 7:14, 27; Zec 14:9; Lu 1:33; Re 11:15; 19:6).

We have heard a rumor - See Jer 49:14, where the same expressions are found. The prophet shows that the enemies of Idumea had confederated against it, and that Jehovah is now summoning them to march directly against it.

I have made thee small among the heathen - God ever attributes to himself the rise and fall of nations. If they be great and prosperous, it is by God's providence; if they be tow and depressed, it is by his justice. Compared with the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Syrians, Arabs, and other neighboring nations, the Idumeans were a small people.

The pride of thine heart - St. Jerome observes that all the southern part of Palestine, from Eleutheropolis to Petra and Aialath, was full of caverns hewn out of the rocks, and that the people had subterranean dwellings similar to ovens. Here they are said to dwell in the clefts of the rock, in reference to the caverns above mentioned. In these they conceived themselves to be safe, and thought that no power brought against them could dislodge them from those fastnesses. Some think that by סלע sela, rock, Petra, the capital of Idumea, is intended.

Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle - Though like this bird thou get into the highest cliff of the highest rock, it will not avail thee. To defend thee, when Jehovah has determined thy destruction, thy deepest caves and highest rocks will be equally useless. See Jer 49:16.

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, Oba 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.

All the men of thy confederacy - The Chaldeans are here intended, to whom the Idumeans were attached, and whose agents they became in exercising cruelties upon the Jews.

Have brought thee even to the border - Have hemmed thee in on every side, and reduced thee to distress. Or, they have driven thee to thy border; cast thee out of thy own land into the hands of thine enemies.

The men that were at peace with thee - The men of thy covenant, with whom thou hadst made a league.

That eat thy bread - That professed to be thy firmest friends, have all joined together to destroy thee.

Have laid a wound - Placed a snare or trap under thee. See Newcome.

There is none understanding in him - Private counsels and public plans are all in operation against thee; and yet thou art so foolish and infatuated as not to discern thy own danger.

Shall I not - destroy the wise men - It appears, from Jer 49:7, that the Edomites were remarkable for wisdom, counsel, and prudence. See on the above place.

Thy mighty men, O Teman - This was one of the strongest places in Idumea; and is put here, as in Amo 1:2, and elsewhere, for Idumea itself.

Mount of Esau - Mount Seir.

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob - By this term the Israelites in general are understood; for the two brothers, - Jacob, from whom sprang the Jews, and Esau, from whom sprang the Idumeans or Edomites, - are here put for the whole people or descendants of both. We need not look for particular cases of the violence of the Edomites against the Jews. Esau, their founder, was not more inimical to his brother Jacob, who deprived him of his birthright, than the Edomites uniformly were to the Jews. See 2Chr 28:17, 2Chr 28:18. They had even stimulated the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, to destroy the temple, and level it with the ground. See Psa 137:7.

Thou stoodest on the other side - Thou not only didst not help thy brother when thou mightest, but thou didst assist his foes against him.

And cast lots - When the Chaldeans cast lots on the spoils of Jerusalem, thou didst come in for a share of the booty; "thou wast as one of them."

Thou shouldest not have looked - It shows a malevolent heart to rejoice in the miseries of those who have acted unkindly or wickedly towards us. The Edomites triumphed when they saw the judgments of God fall upon the Jews. This the Lord severely reprehends in Oba 1:12-15. If a man have acted cruelly towards us, and God punish him for this cruelty, and we rejoice in it, we make his crime our own; and then, as we have done, so shall it be done unto us; see Oba 1:15. All these verses point out the part the Edomites took against the Jews when the Chaldeans besieged and took Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and divided the spoils.

Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway - They are represented here as having stood in the passes and defiles to prevent the poor Jews from escaping from the Chaldeans. By stopping these passes, they threw the poor fugitives back into the teeth of their enemies. They had gone so far in this systematic cruelty as to deliver up the few that had taken refuge among them.

The day of the Lord is near - God will not associate thee with him in the judgments which he inflicts. Thou also art guilty and shalt have thy punishment in due course with the other sinful nations.

For as ye have drunk - This address is to the Jews. As ye have been visited and punished upon my holy mountain in Jerusalem, so shall other nations be punished in their respective countries. See Jer 49:12.

But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance - Here is a promise of the return from the Babylonish captivity. They shall come to Zion, and there they shall find safety; and it is remarkable that after their return they were greatly befriended by the Persian kings, and by Alexander the Great and his successors; so that, whilst they ravaged the neighboring nations, the Jews were unmolested. See Calmet.

And there shall be holiness - They shall return to God, separate themselves from their idols, and become a better people than they were when God permitted them to be carried into captivity.

The house of Jacob shall possess - They were restored to their former possessions. But this may refer also to their future restoration under the Gospel, when they shall be truly converted, and become holiness to the Lord; for salvation and holiness shall be the characteristics of Zion - the Christian Church, for ever.

The house of Jacob shall be a fire - After their return from captivity, the Jews, called here the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph, did break out as a flame upon the Idumeans; they reduced them into slavery; and obliged them to receive circumcision, and practise the rites of the Jewish religion. See 1 Maccabees 5:3, etc.; 2 Maccabees 10:15-23; and Josephus Antiq., lib. 13 c. 17.

There shall not be any remaining - As a people and a nation they shall be totally destroyed. This is the meaning; it does not signify that every individual shall be destroyed.

They of the south - The Jews who possessed the southern part of Palestine, should render themselves masters of the mountains of Idumea which were contiguous to them.

They of the plain - From Eleutheropolis to the Mediterranean Sea. In this and the following verse the prophet shows the different districts which should be occupied by the Israelites after their return from Babylon.

The fields of Samaria - Alexander the Great gave Samaria to the Jews; and John Hyrcanus subdued the same country after his wars with the Syrians. See Josephus, contra. App. lib, ii., and Antiq. lib. xiii., c. 18.

Benjamin shall possess Gilead - Edom lay to the south; the Philistines to the west, Ephraim to the north; and Gilead to the east. Those who returned from Babylon were to extend themselves everywhere. See Newcome; and see, for the fulfillment, 1 Maccabees 5:9, 35, 45; 9:35, 36.

Zarephath - Sarepta, a city of the Sidonians, 1Kgs 17:9. That is, they should possess the whole city of Phoenicia, called here that of the Canaanites.

Which is in Sepharad - This is a difficult word. Some think the Bosphorus is meant; others, Spain; others, France; others, the Euphrates; others, some district in Chaldea; for there was a city called Siphora, in Mesopotamia, above the division of the Euphrates. Dr. Lightfoot says it was a part of Edom. Those who were captives among the Canaanites should possess the country of the Canaanites; and those whom the Edomites had enslaved should possess the cities of their masters. See Newcome and Lowth.

And saviours shall come up - Certain persons whom God may choose to be deliverers of his people; such as Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Maccabees.

Some think these saviours, מושיעים moshiim, mean the apostles of our Lord. Several MSS. have מושעים mushaim, the preserved; those that are saved, i.e., they who were delivered from the captivity; and those of Mount Zion shall judge, that is, shall execute judgment on the Edomites. And as the Asmonean princes joined the priesthood to the state, it might be what the prophet means when he says, "the kingdom shall be the Lord's," the high priest having both the civil and ecclesiastical power in his own hands. And these actually were masters of Edom, and judged and governed the mountain of Esau. And thus this prophecy appears to have had a very literal fulfillment.

But if we take the whole as referring to the times of the Gospel, which I believe is not its primary sense, it may signify the conversion and restoration of the Jews, and that under Jesus Christ the original theocracy shall be restored; and thus, once more, in the promised land, it may be said: - המלוכה ליהוה והיתה hammeluchah laihovah vehayethah "And the kingdom shall belong to Jehovah"

Obadiah - His name speaks a servant or a worshipper of the Lord, but who he was we know not. We - The prophets, have heard. A rumour - Not an uncertain report, but it comes from God. Is sent - By the Lord first, and next by Nebuchadnezzar who executed on Edom what is here foretold. The nations - Those that were with, or subject to Nebuchadnezzar.

Small - Thou art a small people. In comparison with other nations. Despised - What ever these Edomites had been, now they were despised.

The pride - The Edomites were, as most mountaineers are, a rough hardy, and daring people. And proud above measure. Deceived thee - Magnifying thy strength above what really it is.

Bring thee down - God who is in the heavens would throw thee down. When men could not marshal armies against thee, stars should fight in their courses against thee. Nothing can stand which God will cast down, Jer 49:16,17.

If thieves - If thieves by day had spoiled thee, they would not have thus stripped thee. Robbers - If robbers in the night had been with thee, they would have left somewhat behind them. 'Till they had enough - But here is nothing left. Some grapes - But here have been those that have cut up the vine.

Esau - The father of this people, put for his posterity. Sought up - All that the Edomites had laid up in the most secret places, are seized and brought forth by soldiers.

Thy confederacy - Thy confederates have marched with thee until thou wert come to the borders of thy country. Deceived thee - Proved treacherous. Prevailed - Treacherously. A wound - A snare armed with sharp points. No understanding - Thou wast not aware of it.

Teman - A principal city of Idumea.

In the day - During the war which the Babylonians made upon Judea. Stoodest - Didst set thyself in battle array against thy brother. Jerusalem - Upon the citizens and their goods. As one of them - As merciless and insolent as any of them.

Looked - With joy on the affliction. A stranger - As a stranger, one who had no more right to any thing in the land. Proudly - Vaunting over the Jews, when Jerusalem was taken.

Entered - As an enemy.

The breaches - Of the walls, by which when the city was taken, some might have made their escape. Delivered - To the Chaldeans. Remain - Survived the taking of the city.

The day - The time which the Lord hath appointed for the punishing of this, and other nations. As thou hast done - Perfidiously, cruelly, and ravenously, against Jacob.

As ye - As ye, my own people, have drunk deep of the cup of affliction, so shall other nations much more, yea, they shall drink of it, 'till they utterly perish.

Zion - Literally this refers to the Jews: typically to the gospel - church. Deliverance - A remnant that shall be delivered by Cyrus, a type of Israel's redemption by Christ. Holiness - The temple, the city, the people returned from captivity shall be holy to the Lord. Their possessions - Their own ancient possessions.

Shall kindle - This was fulfilled in part by Hyrcanus and the Maccabees, 1Macc 5:3, but will be more fully accomplished, when the Lord shall make his church as a fire to all its enemies.

They - The Jews who live in the south parts of Canaan, next Idumea, shall after their return and victories over Edom, possess his country. Of the plain - The Jews who dwell in the plain country, shall enlarge their borders, possess the Philistines country, together with their ancient inheritance. The former was fully accomplished by Hyrcanus. And if this were the time of fulfilling the one, doubtless it was the time of fulfilling the other also. And all the land which the ten tribes possessed, shall again be possessed by the Jews. Gilead - Here is promised a larger possession than ever they had before the captivity; and it does, no doubt, point out the enlargement of the church of Christ in the times of the gospel.

The captivity - Those of the ten tribes that were carried away captive by Salmanesar. Of the Canaanites - All the country they anciently possessed with this addition, that what the Canaanites held by force, and the Israelites could not take from them, shall now be possessed by these returned captives. Zarephath - Near Sidon. Of Jerusalem - The two tribes carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar. Sepharad - Probably a region of Chaldea. The cities - All the cities which were once their own.

Saviours - Deliverers, literally the leaders of those captive troops, who shall come up from Babylon, such as Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Mystically, Christ and his apostles, and other preachers of the gospel. To judge - To avenge Israel upon Edom. The Lord's - The God of Israel, Jehovah, shall be honoured, obeyed, and worshipped by all.

1 THE vision of Obadiah . Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom , We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen , Arise ye , and let us rise up against her in battle .

Which the Prophet received immediately from the Lord; so Prophets are called Seers, 1 Sam. 9.9. and Amos 7.12. and their Prophesie is Vision, Isa. 1.1. and Ioel 2.28.

Who this was, appears not on any certainty, or when he Prophesied. That 'twas not Obadiah who hid and fed the Prophets of the Lord in Ahabs time, is evident, for that the Prophet doth threaten Edom for their Cruelty against Ierusalem in the day [illegible: 1 letter]twas taken and sack'd, which was three hundred and thirty or forty years, after Ahab's time; he began to Reign about 3025, and Ierusalem was sack'd about 3363, year of the World; his Name speaks a Servant or a Worshipper of the Lord.

This includes his Authority, the certainty of the things he speaks of

or against Edom, both People and Countrey are so called from their Progenitour or Founder, Esau called Edom, Gen. 25.30. This Countrey is called Idumea, Isa. 34.5, 6. Ezek. 25.15. which see; 'twas a part of Arabia Petraea.

Other prophets, as I, have heard this News to tell to Edom, or to send to them, Isa. 11.14. Ier. 27.3. Ioel 3.19. and Amos 1.12.

Not an uncertain, and va[illegible: 2 letters] report but it comes from God by his Prophets.

By the Lord first, and next by Nebuchadnezzar who executed on Edom what is here foretold. God stir'd up the Spirit of Nebuchadnezzar to make War on Edom, which was (as well as other Nations) given up to Nebuchadnezzar, Ier. 27.3.

Or Nations, both those that were Confederate with, or subject to Nebuchadnezzar, whom all Nations served, Ier. 27.5, 6.

This is a Summons to them from Nebuchadnezzar that they send in their proportions of Souldiers.

This seems the voice of Souldiers willing to and desirous of the War.

An Herald, or Muster-master, who should gather forces together for this Expedition.

Marginal references: Mal. 1.3.; Jer. 49.14.

2 Behold , I have made thee small among the heathen : thou art greatly despised .

Ye Edomites lay it to heart, and consider it well; be not secure amidst such dangers.

Thou art a small people for number, thy Land Mountainous, Rocky, and Barren, and 'tis little that which is of it, situate very incommodiously for any Trade, which makes people great and famous; a Countrey fitted for Moss-Troopers, or Banditi; and as such Out-laws and Robbers thou art proud, and promisest great things to thy self.

In comparison with other Nations.

By those that do hear of thee, who know thy Situation, Government manner of Life, and what thy Forces are, and how usually employed. Whatever these Edomites had been, now they are despised, and ere long should be more despicable, when as Ier. 49.20. the least of Nebuchadnezzar's Army shou[illegible: 1 letter]d pull them out of their Caves, Houses, and Strongholds.

3 ¶ The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee : thou that dwe[illegible: 2 letters]est in the clefts of the rock , whose habitatio[illegible: 1 letter] is high, that saith in his heart , Who shall bring me down to the ground ?

The Edomites were, as most Mountainers are, a rough hardy, and daring People▪ necessitated sometimes to extraordinary Adventures, and many times succeeded in attempts which others would not venture upon, hence they did swell in Pride and Confidence, and their hearts were bigger than their Atchievements, and they proud above measure.

Magnifying thy strength above what really it is.

People of Edom.

Houses, Fortresses, Towns and Cities, built upon inaccessible Rocks, which neither could be undermined or scaled. Or dwellest in dark, deep, and unsearchable Caves amidst the Rockes.

Who think with themselves, and are upon Report of an Invasion ready to say,

It is not possible for Armies to approach to us, nor bring their Engines to shake or batter our Walls. Who shall, i. e. none can.

4 Though thou exalt thy self as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars , thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD .

Edom boasted of his strength from the height of the Rocks he dwelt on, v. 3. but here he is answered if he could build his nest as the Eagles, which build and fly much higher than any other Bird, neither the height of the nest should save the young ones, nor the height of his flight save the old one.

Nay yet in a more lofty strein, suppose you could lodge your brood among the stars for safety, and there fly above the reach of man, yet should you not be out of the reach of danger.

God who is in the Heavens would throw thee down, when men could not Marshal Armies against thee, Stars should fight in their Courses against thee. Nothing can stand which God will cast down, vid. Ier. 49.16, 17.

Marginal references: Amos 9.2.

5 If theeves came to thee, if robbers by night , (how art thou cut off !) would they not have stollen till they had enough ? if the grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes ?

If Theeves by day had spoil'd thee they would not have thus strip'd thee.

If Robbers which practice their violences in the night had been with thee, they would have left somewhat behind them.

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.

Theeves and Robbers take till they have what is sufficient for them at present and leave the rest, but here is nothing left.

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?

In the fifth verse the Prophet doth in an abrupt manner of speech, mixt of wonder and doubt, express the strange havock and desolation made in Edom, as if he had said who have been here? or in what posture wast thou found, O Edom! that such strange desolation is found in thee?

Marginal references: Jer. [illegible: 1 span]; De[illegible: 1 letter]. [illegible: 1 span] Isa. [illegible: 1 span] 24.13.; Or, [illegible: 1 span]

6 How are the things of Esau searched out? how are his hid things fought up ?

The Father of this people, and here put for his Posterity.

All that the Edomites had laid up in the most secret places, in unsearchable Caves, and deep Abysses of hollow Rocks, how are all his Treasures found out, seised and brought forth a prey to greedy Souldiers! how durst they adventure here!

7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border : the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee , and prevailed against thee : they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee : there is none understanding in him .

They who by league had bound themselves to assist with Men and Arms, who had made an offensive and defensive League.

Either have conducted in honourable manner through their Countrey the Embassadors thou didst send, concluded first a confederacy, and next convey'd home the Embassadours who made it. Or else have counselled thee to meet the War before it entreth thy Countrey; and have marched as confederates with thee until thou wert come to the Borders of thy countrey, as if they would there fight for thee against the Enemy.

This is Ingemination, or repeating of the same thing before mentioned, unless men of thy peace be men that did make peace and accept the Terms thou didst propose for thy advantage.

Proved treacherous, nay designed to betray thee.

Either thus their Plot took, or else they turned to the Enemy, and under his colours destroy'd thee.

Thy friends, those thou hast maintain'd, the Souldiers thou kept'st in pay.

Have laid a snare armed with some sharp and piercing instrument that wounds so soon as thou [illegible: 1 letter]allest on the snare.

Either no prudence to foresee and preven[illegible: 1 letter] this, or to manage, and lessen it.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 span]; Heb. [illegible: 1 span]; Or, [illegible: 1 span]

8 Shall I not in that day , saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau ?

This Interrogation is a strong Assertion, I certainly will.

Of War and desolation of Edom, when Nebuchadnezzar with his Armies shall invade Idumaea.

Either by War or Sicknesses take the Wisemen out of Edom, they shall die, or deprive them of places of trust where they might help to save Edom. Or else turn their Wisdom into Foolishness, as Achitophels was.

Men of sound Counsel and good Conduct in the Affairs of Peace and War.

An elegant Ingemination for illustrating and confirming the Prediction. All Edom shall miserably perish, not a wise man left to foresee and prevent it.

Marginal references: Isa. [illegible: 1 span] Jer. [illegible: 1 span]

9 And thy mighty men , O Teman , shall be dismayed , to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter .

Valiant Commanders and Souldiers, who were never blemish'd with Cowardice, who formerly durst adventure on greatest dangers and Encounter most formidable Enemies, and were never daunted with a slow approaching Enemy how much soever over number to them, nor with any sudden surprizing accidents. Men of invincible Courage, and most ready minds.

A principal City and Munition of Idum[illegible: 1 letter]ea. Vid. Ezek. 25.13, and Hab. 3.3. and Amos 1.12. †.

Astonish'd and surprised with such fear as disableth from action and counsel, shall neither dare to resist, or hope to escape but tamely give up all to the Enemy.

Thus all shall be expos'd to slaughter when they dare not fight, who should have saved themselves and defended others. Deplorable is their condition, who surrounded every way with Enemies have neither strength nor Counsel to resist their power or defeat their Malice.

10 ¶ For thy violence against thy brother Jacob , shame shall cover thee , and thou shalt be cut off for ever .

Though Idumaeans were guilty of many other and great sins they are here charged with this as the great crying sin, inhuman Cruelty and Perfidiousness, they did mercilesly spoil and basely betray the Iews which will be particularly mention'd in following verses.

Edomites the posterity of Esau, and the Iews posterity of Iacob are here called Brothers for that the Fathers of both people were Brothers, Twins, and this nearness of Blood should have been remembred, and kindness, should have still run through the blood and kindred. It is a great sin to be cruel and false to any, but greatest sin to be so to a Brother.

Put for his Children.

Contempt, and Reproaches shall by all men be cast upon thee, and cover thee as a garment, or swallow thee up. God and man shall pour shame upon thee, thy memory shall be retain'd with condemnation to shame, and thy end shall be in shame too.

Never more be a Nation or Kingdom, which was in a very great degree fulfilled in the cutting them off by the Sword of Nebuchadnezzar. Vid. Isa. 34.5.10. Ezek. 35.9, threatens the like desolation.

Marginal references: Gen. 27.41. [illegible: 1 word]. 137.7. [illegible: 1 word]. 25.12. [illegible: 2 letters]os 1.11. Mal. 1.4.; Gen. 27.41. [illegible: 1 word]. 137.7. [illegible: 2 letters]ek. 25.12. [illegible: 1 letter]mos 1.11. Mal. 1.4.

11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side , in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces , and forreiners entred into his gates , and cast lots upon Jerusalem , even thou wast as one of them .

During the war which the Babylonians made upon Iudea, or in the day of Battel when Iews fought with Chaldeans.

Tookest up thy stand over-right them observing with delight how they were worsted, slaughter'd, and roured; or didst set thy self in Battel Array against thy brother Iacob.

The Babylonians and the mixed Nations which joyned with them.

First master'd the Iews and then made them Captives and sent them away out of their own land, a sight which should have moved compassions in thee.

His strength, his Troops, or multitudes that survived and were taken, and their Wealth and Riches too.

That invaded, slew the Inhabitants, and forced the besieged places to open their Gates. Or took the Fortresses by assault.

So Robbers divided their prey, and Conquerors, Prov. 1.14. Ioel 3.3. which see.

Upon the Citizens and their Goods which were found in Ierusalem when 'twas taken by the Chaldeans.

A Neighbour, who wast not molested by Israel when they marched through other Nations from Egypt to Canaan, who wast a Brother by descent, ver. 10. let. b.

As merciless and insolent as any of those barbarous Forreigners.

Marginal references: Or, his [illegible: 1 word].

12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother, in the day that he became a stranger : neither shouldest thou have rejoyced over the children of Judah , in the day of their destruction : neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress .

With secret joy and satisfaction to thy eyes and mind, if thou wouldst have looked, it should have been with tears and grief, not with joy and gladness at the sight; so the word, Psalm 37.3[illegible: 1 letter]. and 54.7. and Prov. 29.16.

On the affliction and sad misery which fell upon thy Brother Iacob; so day in Scripture, thus absolutely put, doth often signifie, Psal. 37.13. Micah 7.4.

Having by the misery of War been made a Captive, and lost his former right and liberty in his own Country, was now lookt upon as a stranger, i. e. one who had no more right to any thing in the land.

This explains the former.

This expounds Brother.

This tells us what day meant.

Vaunting over the Iewes, insolently upbraiding and [illegible: 1 letter]eproaching them with virulent words, and exulcerated malice,

when Ierusalem was taken.

Marginal references: Or, do not [illegible: 1 word].; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] mouth.

13 Thou shouldest not have entred into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity ; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.

As an Enemy, a Conquerour.

By Synecdoche▪ City is meant by Gate; The Edomites warring among the Babylonians, did with them enter the Gates of conquered Ierusalem, appear'd a proud insulting enemy over Iudah.

Thou shouldest have remembred that the Iewes thy brethren were my people, my peculiar people.

When their City was broken up, their King imprisoned, and captive with his Nobles, and other Subjects.

As before verse 12. let. p.

Or strength, the word notes both, Edom siezed the persons of the Iewes, and made them Prisoners, and they plundered the City, siezed the Goods of the Citizens; this they did with delight, but God will punish for it.

Marginal references: Or, forces.

14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the cross-way , to cut off those of his that did escape ; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his which did remain in the day of distress ,

Or in the breaches viz. of the Walls, by which when the City was taken, some might have made their escape from the enemy, thou didst, though thou shouldest not, spitefully and cruelly watch at such breaches, and preventedst their flight; or else thou didst post thy self at the head of the wa[illegible: 1 letter]es, where thou mightest sieze flying Iewes.

Either kill if they would not yield, or cut off their hopes of escape, by making them Prisoners.

Out of the City, and were flying farther for safety.

Reserved them Prisoners, and brought them back into the hands of the Chaldeans.

Of thy Brother Iacobs Posterity.

Survived the taking of the City, and were fairly like to escape, but thou foundst them, and betrayedst them.

When they could no longer defend their City, nor had any hope but in a flight through all the secret wayes they knew; but thou didst watch these wayes, and didst cut off many who sought to fly through them.

Marginal references: Or, shut up.

15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen ; as thou hast done , it shall be done unto thee, thy reward shall return upon thine own head .

Of just revenge from the Lord upon this cruelty of Edom; the time which the Lord hath appointed for the punishing of this, and other Nations.

Which God had given to Nebuchadnezzar, and which by this mans armes God would punish, as Ier. 27.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. and that day may justly be accounted near, which shall come within the compass of one mans life, and that well advanced in years, as Nebuchadnezzar now was.

Perfidiously, cruelly and ravenously against Iacob, with an hostile revengeful mind.

It shall be done by thine enemies to thee. as verse 7. and this came to pass on Edom, within five years after Ierusalem was sackt and ruined, within which space of time Obadiah Prophesied, reproving Edom, and threatening him for what he had done against Ierusalem, and its Inhabitants.

The punishment or retribution of evil, for the evil thou hast done to Iacob.

By Gods just hand, and by thy enemies cruel hand shall be poured out upon thee.

Thy chief men, chief in the cruelty shall be chief in suffering, for the measure thou hast measured shall be measured to thee, as Psal. 137.8. Ezek. 35.15. Ioel 3.7, 8.

16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain e, so shall all the heathen drink continually , yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been .

This, with some, is a confirmation of what is threatned against Edom ▪ ye[illegible: 1 letter] others make this verse the beginning of the Consolato[illegible: 1 letter]y Sermon to Iudah, and either suits well with the Context.

O Edomites, or ye O Iewes.

If you interpret this drinking as feasting, revelling and carousing, 'tis to be applyed to the Edomites, and others, who triumpht first by their armes, next in their cups over conquer'd Judah.

The Nations, enemies to Edom ▪ shall on Mount Esau conquer first, and then triumph in their revelling Feasts, and drink continually, till they have swallowed u[illegible: 1 letter] Edom.

Edomites

shall by this means perish utterly, and their memory cease with them, so it suits with Ezek. 35.14, 15. whic[illegible: 1 letter] see. Others refer the words to the Jewes, thus, ye have dru[illegible: 2 letters] the cup of astonishment in your land, and in Jerusalem, my [illegible: 1 letter]oly Mountain; So now ere long the Nations which afflicted you shall drink of the cup of astonishment, long, yea drink the dregs of it, so that they shall perish, and be no more, when your day of dark affliction shall end in a day of light and salvation, and when other Nations do this, Edom shall much more, because most deeply guilty above others, Vid. Jer. 49.17, 18.21, 22.

Either the whole land, or Jerusalem, or the Temple, for all these are called by this name, and here these proud and insolent conquerours did drink confusion to the Jewes.

Marginal references: Or, s[illegible: 1 letter]p up.

17 ¶ But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance , and there shall be holiness , and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions .

Or and Heb.

Historically, and in the letter this refers to the people of the Iewes, to the inhabitants of Ierusalem, and those who worshipt God in the Temple. In the Mystical sence or Typical, it refers to the Gospel Church, and the setting up the Kingdom of Christ, and the Salvation and Redemption of Gods Israel.

A remnant that shall escape the enemies sword, and which after 70 years Captivity shall be delivered and restored by Cyrus: An Hieroglyphick of Israels Redemption by Christ.

Or it shall be Holy, the Temple, the City rebuilt, the people returned from Captivity shall be Holy to the Lord; They shall obey his Law, attend his Temple Service, and offe[illegible: 1 letter] a pure Offering to the Lord, &c. All this Typical and accomplisht in the Christian Church, though not fully and perfectly till the Church is glorified in Heavenly Sion.

Literally the Survivers of the two Tribes in the Babylonish Kingdom, and some others of the ten Tribes, but including the elect of God, the house of Iacob in the extent of it, as taken in Isa. 59.20. and Rom. 11.26.

Either the possessions of the Heathen, their enemies, or rather their own antient possessions, out of which the violence of their Enemies did cast them when they were led captive, and dispossessed of all.

Marginal references: Amos 9.8.; Or, they that e[illegible: 1 letter]cape.; Or, it shall be holy.

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble , and they shall kindle in them , and devour them , and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it .

Besides what Nebuchadnezzar shall do upon his particular quarrel against Edom, bringing them to a very desolate condition, there shall (though it be not owned) intermixed be the quarrel of God for Israels sake, which the Chaldeans shall avenge, or else, after the return out of Captivity, and some setled state in their own land, Israel himself shall destroy the remnant of Edom, Ioel 3.16. with 19. and Ezek. 25.14.

Either the Kingdom of the two Tribes, or else the whole twelve Tribes, the residue of the ten Tribes joined with the two in their return from Babylon.

The ten Tribes particularly here mentioned to comfort them, and assure them, that they should not be cast off▪ though they were more notoriously guilty of Idolatry, and along Apostacy.

As unable to resist or secure themselves, as stubble is to resist the flame.

This was fulfilled in part by Hi[illegible: 1 letter]canus and the Maccabees, 1 Mac. 5.3. but more fully to be accomplisht in the mystical sense, when the Lord shall make his Church as a fire to all its enemies, and Ierusalem a burthensome stone to all Nations.

As flame eats up the stubble.

No considerable number or body of them, or none shall continue Edomites, but turn Iewes, and be Circumcised, be added to the Church.

However or when ever this is done, it shall be done, because the Lord hath spoken it; this assures us of the thing.

Marginal references: Zech. 12.6.

19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the plain , the Philistines ; and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim , and the fields of Samaria , and Benjamin shall possess Gilead .

The Iewes who lived in the South parts of Canaan, which was next to Idumea, shall after their return and victories over Edom possess his Country, called here the Mount of Esau.

The Iewes who dwelt in the plain Country, which was next to Palestina, Iosh. 15.33.

Shall enlarge their borders, and possess the Philistines Country, together with their antient inheritance, now of the possession of Mount Esau by the Iewes, saith Grotius, it was most fully accomplisht by Hircanus. Iosesephus Lib. 13. chap. 17. reports the matter thus, that the Idumeans were commanded either to depart their Country, or be Circumcised. If this were the time of fulfilling the one, 'twas also the time of fulfilling the other also.

And all the land which the ten Tribes once did possess, shall again be possessed by the Jewes.

The fields also about Samaria, how greatly soever wasted, shall be replanted, and that by the Jewes too.

Either apart, or jointly with Judah.

A Country beyond Jordan, assigned to the Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, wasted by Hazael and Tiglath Pileser, some time before Samaria was taken, but should be inhabited by the Benjamites; And probably Gad, Manasseh and Reuben did enlarge upon the Moabites and Ammonites. Here is promised a larger possession then ever they had before the captivity, and it doth no doubt point out the enlargement of the Church of Christ in the times of the Gospel, and particularly when Antichrist Typified in this Prophesie by Edom shall be destroyed; but we are to give the literal meaning, and think we do not miss of it.

Marginal references: Amos 9.12.

20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites , even unto Zarephath ; and the captivity of Jerusalem , which is in Sepharad , shall possess the cities of the south.

Those of the ten Tribes that were carried away captive by Salmaneser, One Hundred and Thirty years before that Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar.

All the Countrey they antiently possessed with this addition also, that what the Canaanites held by force, and the Israelites could not take from them, shall now be possessed by these returned Captives.

Called Sareptah Luke 4.26. near Sidon.

The two Tribes, carried captive when Ierusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar.

The Modern Jewes call Spain Sepharad, but without any good ground, nor was it so called antiently, nor doth the Chaldee Paraphr. so interpret it; nor do I meet with any thing better then a tacite confession, that most believe 'tis a City of Chaldea or Assyria, and toward the Northern and farthest bounds of it, but where 'twas exactly they know not.

All the Cities which were once their own.

In Judea, which lay Southward from this Sepharad, where the captives dwelt, and whence they return.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 span] is in [illegible: 1 word].

21 And saviours shall come upon mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau , and the kingdom shall be the LORDS .

Or for, so the Gallick Version, Printed at Roc[illegible: 1 letter]el, 1616.

Deliverers, literally the Governours or Leaders of those captive Troops, who shall come up from Babylon to their own Country, such as Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, of whom 'twas said he came to seek the good of the Iewes, Neh. 2.10. and successively after these many others, to the times of Hircanus, and the Maccabees; Mystically Christ and his Apostles, and other Preachers of the Gospel.

Literally, with leave and commission from the Kings of Persia, such as Cyrus, and Darius H[illegible: 1 letter]staspis, to manage the affairs of the returned Captives.

In Judea, at Jerusalem and the Temple, and whatever might concern them, with their Neighbours round about.

To avenge Israel upon Edom, to fight, subdue, and give lawes to them, as Hircanus did when the Edomites were glad to be circumcised to keep their Country.

The whole Country, so called from the Father of that Nation, who chose those Mountainous countryes for his habitation, as most suitable to his wild and rambling humour, which delighted in hunting.

The Government, called here the Kingdom, shall manifestly appear to be set up, maintained and prospered by a power, wisdom and goodness greater then humane.

The God of Israel, who is Jehovah, shall be honour'd, obey'd and worshipt by them, and they shall not as formerly rely on Idols, or Forreign Aids. All which most fully is accomplisht by Christ the Saviour, and now known in the Christian Church, who do believe he will, and pray that he would save his Sion, and destroy Edom, i. e. Antichrist and his Kingdom.

Marginal references: 1 T[illegible: 2 letters] Ja[illegible: 1 letter]. [illegible: 1 letter]2; L[illegible: 1 letter]ke [illegible: 2 letters]

Obadiah

Introduction

As to the person and circumstances of Obadiah, nothing certain is known, since the heading to his prophecy simply contains the name עבדיה, i.e., servant, worshipper of Jehovah (Ὀβδιού al. Ἀβδιού, sc. ὅρασις, lxx), and does not even mention his father’s name. The name Obadiah frequently occurs in its earlier form ‛Obadyâhū. This was the name of a pious governor of the palace under king Ahab (1Ki 18:3.), of a prince of Judah under Jehoshaphat (2Ch 17:7), of a grave Gadite under David (1Ch 12:9), of a Benjamite (1Ch 8:38), of an Issacharite (1Ch 7:3), of a Zebulunite (1Ch 27:19), of several Levites (1Ch 9:16, 1Ch 9:44; 2Ch 34:12), and of different men after the captivity (1Ch 3:21; Ezr 8:9; Neh 10:6). The traditional accounts of our prophet in the rabbins and fathers, some of whom identify him with Ahab’s pious commander of the castle, others with the third captain sent by Ahaziah against Elisha (2Ki 1:13), whilst others again make him an Edomitish proselyte (see Carpzov, Introd. p. 332ff., and Delitzsch, de Habacuci vita atque aetate, pp. 60, 61), are quite worthless, and evidently false, and have merely originated in the desire to know something more about him than the simple name (see C. P. Caspari, Der Proph. Ob. pp. 2, 3).

The writing of Obadiah contains but one single prophecy concerning the relation in which Edom stood to the people of God. It commences with the proclamation of the destruction with which the Lord has determined to visit the Edomites, who rely upon the impregnability of their rocky seat (Oba 1:1-9); and then depicts, as the cause of the divine judgment which will thus suddenly burst upon the haughty people, the evil which it did to Jacob, the covenant nation, when Judah and Jerusalem had been taken by heathen nations, who not only plundered them, but shamefully desecrated the mountain of Zion (Oba 1:10-14). For this the Edomites and all nations will receive retribution, even to their utter destruction in the approaching day of the Lord (Oba 1:15, Oba 1:16). But upon Mount Zion there will be delivered ones, and the mountain will be holy. The house of Jacob will take possession of the settlement of the Gentiles, and, in common with Israel, will destroy the Edomites, and extend its territory on all sides (Oba 1:17-19). That portion of the nation which has been scattered about in heathen lands will return to their enlarged fatherland (Oba 1:20). Upon Mount Zion will saviours arise to judge Edom, and the kingdom will then be the Lord’s (Oba 1:21). This brief statement of the contents is sufficient to show that Obadiah’s prophecy does not consist of a mere word of threatening directed against Edom, or treat of so special a theme as that his châzōn could be compared to Ahijah’s nebhū'âh, and Yehdi’s (Iddo’s) châzōth against Jeroboam I (2Ch 9:29); but that Obadiah takes the general attitude of Edom towards the people of Jehovah as the groundwork of his prophecy, regards the judgment upon Edom as one feature in the universal judgment upon all nations (cf. Oba 1:15, Oba 1:16), proclaims in the destruction of the power of Edom the overthrow of the power of all nations hostile to God, and in the final elevation and re-establishment of Israel in the holy land foretels the completion of the sovereignty of Jehovah, i.e., of the kingdom of God, as dominion over all nations; so that we may say with Hengstenberg, that “Obadiah makes the judgment upon the Gentiles and the restoration of Israel the leading object of his prophetic painting.” Through this universal standpoint, from which Edom is taken as a representative of the ungodly power of the world, Obadiah rises far above the utterances of the earlier prophets contained in the historical books of the Old Testament, and stands on a level with the prophets, who composed prophetic writings of their own for posterity, as well as for their own age; so that, notwithstanding the small space occupied by his prophecy, it has very properly had a place assigned it in the prophetic literature. At the same time, we cannot agree with Hengstenberg, who gives the following interpretation to this view of the attitude of Edom towards the people of God, namely, that Obadiah simply adduces Edom as an example of what he has to say with regard to the heathen world, with its enmity against God, and as to the form which the relation between Israel and the heathen world would eventually assume, and therefore that his prophecy simply individualizes the thought of the universal dominion of the kingdom of God which would follow the deepest degradation of the people of God, the fullest and truest realization of which dominion is to be sought for in Christ, and that the germ of his prophecy is contained in Joe 3:19, where Edom is introduced as an individualized example and type of the heathen world with its hostility to God, which is to be judged by the Lord after the judgment upon Judah. For, apart from the fact that Obadiah does not presuppose Joel, but vice versa, as we shall presently see, this mode of idealizing our prophecy cannot be reconciled with its concrete character and expression, or raised into a truth by any analogies in prophetic literature. All the prophecies are occasioned by distinct concrete relations and circumstances belonging to the age from which they spring. And even those which are occupied with the remote and remotest future, like Isaiah for example, form no real exception to this rule. Joel would not have mentioned Edom as the representation of the heathen world with its hostility to God (Joe 3:19), and Obadiah would not have predicted the destruction of Edom, if the Edomites had not displayed their implacable hatred of the people of God on one particular occasion in the most conspicuous manner. It is only in this way that we can understand the contents of the whole of Obadiah’s prophecy, more especially the relation in which the third section (Oba 1:17-21) stands to the first two, and explain them without force.

The time of the prophet is so much a matter of dispute, that some regard him as the oldest of the twelve minor prophets, whilst others place him in the time of the captivity, and Hitzig even assigns him to the year 312 b.c., when prophecy had long been extinct. (For the different views, see my Lehrbuch der Einleitung, 88). That Obadiah does not belong to the prophets of the captivity, or to those after the captivity, but to the earlier prophets, may be generally inferred from the position of his book in the collection of the twelve minor prophets; for although the collection is not strictly chronological, yet it is so arranged as a whole, that the writings of the captivity and the times after the captivity occupy the last places, whereas Obadiah stands among older prophets. More precise information may be obtained from the contents of his prophecy, more especially from the relation in which it stands on the one hand to the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 49:7-22) concerning Edom, and on the other hand to the prophecy of Joel. Obadiah so thoroughly coincides with these in a number of characteristic thoughts and expressions, that the one must have known the other. If we examine, first of all, the relation which exists between Obadiah and Jeremiah (l.c.), there can be no doubt, (and since the thorough investigations of Caspari p. 5ff. it has been admitted by every one with the exception of Hitzig,) that Obadiah did not use Jeremiah, but that Jeremiah read and made use of Obadiah. This might indeed be conjectured from the peculiar characteristic of Jeremiah, namely, that he leans throughout upon the utterances of the earlier prophets, and reproduces their thoughts, figures, and words (see A. Kueper, Jeremias librorum ss. interpres atque vindex, 1837). Thus, for example, nearly all his prophecies against foreign nations are founded upon utterances of the earlier prophets: that against the Philistines (Jer 47:1-7) upon Isaiah’s prophecy against that people (Isa 14:28-32); that against the Moabites (Jeremiah 48) upon that of Isaiah in Isa 15:1-9, Isa 16:1-14; that against the Ammonites (Jer 49:1-6) upon the prophecy of Amos against the same (Amo 1:13-15); that against Damascus (Jer 49:23-27) upon that of Amos against this kingdom (Amo 1:3-5); and lastly, that against Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51) upon the prophecy of Isaiah against Babylonian Isaiah 13:1-14:23. To this we may add, (1) that the prophecy of Jeremiah against Edom contains a number of expressions peculiar to himself and characteristic of his style, not a single one of which is to be found in Obadiah, whilst nothing is met with elsewhere in Jeremiah of that which is common to Obadiah and him (for the proofs of this, see Caspari, pp. 7, 8); and (2) that what is common to the two prophets not only forms an outwardly connected passage in Obadiah, whereas in Jeremiah it occurs in several unconnected passages of his prophecy (compare Oba 1:1-8 with Jer 49:7, Jer 49:9-10, Jer 49:14-16), but, as the exposition will show, that in Obadiah it is more closely connected and apparently more original than in Jeremiah. But if it be a fact, as this unquestionably proves, that Obadiah’s prophecy is more original, and therefore older, than that of Jeremiah, Obadiah cannot have prophesied after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, but must have prophesied before it, since Jeremiah’s prophecy against Edom belongs to the fourth year of Jehoiakim (see Caspari, p. 14ff., and Graf’s Jeremias, pp. 558-9, compared with p. 506).

The central section of Obadiah’s prophecy (Oba 1:10-16) does not appear to harmonize with this result, inasmuch as the cause of the judgment with which the Edomites are threatened in Oba 1:1-9 is said to be their rejoicing over Judah and Jerusalem at the time of their calamity, when foreigners entered into his gates, and cast the lot upon Jerusalem; and they are charged not only with looking upon the destruction of the brother nation with contemptuous pleasure, but with taking part themselves in the plundering of Judah, and murdering the fugitives, or giving them up to their enemies. These reproaches unquestionably presuppose a conquest of Jerusalem by foreign nations; but whether it is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, is by no means so certain as many commentators imagine. It is true that Caspari observes (p. 18), that “every one who reads these verses would naturally suppose that they refer to that catastrophe, and to the hostilities shown by the Edomites to the Judaeans on that occasion, to which those prophets who lived after the destruction of Jerusalem, viz., Jeremiah (Lam 4:21-22), Ezekiel (Eze 35:1-15), and the author of Psa 137:1-9, refer to some extent in almost the same words in which Obadiah speaks of them.” But of the passages cited, Lam 4:21-22 cannot be taken into account at all, since it simply contains the thought that the cup (of affliction) will also reach to the daughter of Edom; and that she will be intoxicated and stripped, and that Jehovah will punish her guilt. The other two are no doubt similar. The Psalmist in Psa 137:1-9 utters this prayer in Psa 137:7 : “Remember, Jehovah, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who say, Strip, strip (i.e., demolish) even to the foundation thereof;” and Ezekiel threatens Edom with everlasting desolation, because it has cherished everlasting enmity, and given up the sons of Israel to the sword, בּעת אידם בּעת עון קץ (Oba 1:5), because it has said, The two nations (Judah and Israel) shall be mine, we will take possession of them (Oba 1:10); because it has cherished hatred toward the sons of Israel, and spoken blasphemy against the mountains of Israel, and said they are laid waste, they are given to us for food (Oba 1:12); because it has taken pleasure in the desolation of the inheritance of the house of Israel (Oba 1:15). There is a most unambiguous allusion here to the desolating of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem, and to the hostilities which the Edomites displayed when this calamity fell upon Judah. On the other hand, Obadiah does not hint at the destruction of Jerusalem in a single word. He neither speaks of the everlasting enmity of Edom, nor of the fact that it wanted to get possession of Judah and Israel for itself, but simply of the hostile behaviour of the Edomites towards the brother nation Judah, when enemies forced their way into Jerusalem and plundered its treasures, and the sons of Judah perished. Consequently Obadiah has before his eyes simply the conquest and plundering of Jerusalem by foreign, i.e., heathen foes, but not the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. Even Caspari is obliged to admit, that there is no necessity to understand most (or more correctly “any”) of the separate expressions of Obadiah as referring to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; but, in his opinion, this allusion is required by “what is said in Oba 1:11-14 when taken all together, inasmuch as the prophet there describes the day of Jerusalem by the strongest possible names, following one upon another, as the day of his people’s rejection, the day of their distress (twice), and the day of their calamity (three times).” But even this we cannot regard as well established, since neither יום נכרו nor יום אידו designates the calamitous day as a day of rejection; and יום אבדם cannot possibly denote the utter destruction of all the Judaeans, but simply affirms that the sons of Judah perished en masse. The other epithets, נכר, איד, צרה, do not enable us to define more precisely the nature of the calamity which befel Judah at that time; and the crowding together of these expressions simply shows that the calamity was a very great one, and not that Jerusalem was destroyed and the kingdom of Judah dissolved.

But before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, it was several times taken and plundered by foes: viz., (1) by Shishak king of Egypt in the fifth year of Rehoboam (1Ki 14:25-26; 2Ch 12:2.); (2) by the Philistines and Arabians in the time of Jehoram (2Ch 21:16-17); (3) by the Israelitish king Joash in the reign of Amaziah (2Ki 14:13-14; 2Ch 25:23-24); (4) by the Chaldeans in the time of Jehoiakim (2Ki 24:1.; 2Ch 36:6-7); and (5) by the Chaldeans again in the reign of Jehoiachin (2Ki 24:10.; 2Ch 36:10). Of these different conquests, the first can have no bearing upon the question before us, inasmuch as in the time of Rehoboam the Edomites were subject to the kingdom of Judah, and therefore could not have attempted to do what Obadiah says they did; nor can the two Babylonian conquests under Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, inasmuch as, according to the relation in which Obadiah stood to Jeremiah, as shown above, he must have prophesied before they occurred; nor can the conquest in the reign of Amaziah, because Obadiah describes the enemies as zârı̄m and nokhrı̄m (strangers and foreigners), which clearly points to Gentile nations (compare Joe 3:17; Lam 5:2; Deu 17:15), and does not apply to the citizens of the kingdom of the ten tribes. Consequently there only remains the taking of Jerusalem by the Philistines and Arabians in the time of Jehoram; and the relation in which Obadiah stood to Joel clearly points to this.

There is so remarkable a coincidence between Oba 1:10-18 of Obadiah and Joe 2:32 and ch. 3, in a very large number of words, expressions, and thoughts, considering the smallness of the two passages, and especially of that of Obadiah, that the dependence of one upon the other must be universally acknowledged.Compare מחמס אחיך יעקב in Oba 1:10 with מחמס בּני יהוּדה in Joe 3:19; ועל ירוּשׁלם ידּוּ גורל in Oba 1:11 with ואל־עמּי ידּוּ גורל in Joe 3:3; כּי־קרוב יום־יהוה על כּל־הגּוים in Oba 1:15 and גּמלך ישׁוּב בּראשׁך ibid. with כּי קרוב יום יהו בּעמק החרוּץ (Joe 3:14, compare Joe 1:15; Joe 2:1, and Joe 3:12, לשׁפּט את־כּל־הגּוים) and אשׁיב גּמלכם בּראשׁכם in Joe 3:4, Joe 3:7; בּהר ציּון תּהיה פליטה and והיה קדשׁ in Oba 1:17 with כּי בּהר־ציּון וּבירוּשׁלם תּהיה פליטה in Joe 2:32, and והיתה ירוּשׁלם קדשׁ in Joe 3:17; and lastly, כּי יהוה דּבּר in Oba 1:18 and Joe 3:8.

But this dependence is not to be sought for on the side of Obadiah, as Caspari and others suppose; for the fact that Joel bears the stamp of originality in a greater degree than any other prophet, and the circumstance that we meet with references to him in not a few of the later prophets from Amos onwards, furnish no evidence that will bear a moment’s test. “The originality of Joel,” as Delitzsch observes, “is no disproof of this dependence; for, on the one hand, the reproduction of certain elements from Obadiah’s prophecy does not in the least invalidate his originality, inasmuch as the reproduction is itself original; and, on the other hand, not one of the prophets with whom we are acquainted (not even Isaiah) is so original as that the prophecies of his predecessors are not echoed by him, just as Obadiah, even if he were original in relation to Joel, had the prophecies of Balaam as his original, and imitates them in several passages (compare Num 24:21, Num 24:18-19 with Oba 1:4, Oba 1:18-19).” But the fact that Joel rests upon Obadiah is proved in the most decisive manner by the expression in Joe 2:32, “as the Lord hath said,” where the foregoing thought, which is common both to Joel and Obadiah, viz., “in Mount Zion ... shall be phelētâh” (see Oba 1:17), is described as a well-known word of the Lord. Now Joel can only have taken this from Obadiah, for it occurs nowhere else; and the idea suggested by Ewald, that it is derived from an older oracle that has been lost, would only be feasible if the later date of Obadiah, or his dependence upon Joel, could not be demonstrated by conclusive arguments, which is not the case.

A correct determination of the relation in which Obadiah stood to Joel, especially if we compare the prophecies of Amos, who also alludes to Joel (compare Joe 3:16 with Amo 1:2, and Joe 3:18 with Amo 9:13), leads with the greatest probability to the conclusion that Obadiah reproaches the Edomites with the hostility which they displayed when Judah and Jerusalem were plundered by the Philistines and Arabians in the time of Jehoram. In the reign of Jehoram the Edomites threw off the Judaean supremacy (compare 2Ki 8:20-22, and 2Ch 21:8-10); and in connection with this rebellion, they appear to have planned a great massacre upon the Judaeans, who were in their land at the time (compare Joe 3:19 with Amo 1:11). Libnah also fell away from Judah at the same time (2Ki 8:22; 2Ch 21:10), and Philistines and Arabians penetrated victoriously into Judah. This expedition of the Philistines and (Petraean) Arabians against Jerusalem was not merely “a passing raid on the part of certain of the neighbouring nations who had been made tributary by Jehoshaphat (2Ch 17:11), and had rebelled in the time of Jehoram,” as Caspari says; but these hordes continued their ravages in the most cruel manner in Judah and Jerusalem. According to 2Ch 21:17, they burst into the land, forced their way into Jerusalem, plundered the royal palace, and carried away the children and wives of the king, so that only the youngest son, Jehoahaz or Ahaziah, was left behind. We also learn from Joe 3:5 that they took away gold, silver, and jewels from the temple; and from Joe 3:3, Joe 3:6, that they carried on the vilest trade with the men and women of Judah, and sold the captives to the Greeks, and that, as we see from Amo 1:6, Amo 1:9, through the medium of the Phoenicians and Edomites. This agrees perfectly with Oba 1:10-14. For, according to this passage also, the Edomites themselves were not the enemies who conquered Jerusalem and plundered its treasures, but simply accomplices, who rejoiced in the doings of the enemy (Oba 1:11.), held carousals with them upon the holy mountain Zion (Oba 1:16), and sought, partly by rapine and partly by slaying or capturing the fugitive Judaeans (Oba 1:14), to get as much gain as possible out of Judah’s misfortune. We must therefore regard this event, as Hofmann and Delitzsch have done, as the occasion of Obadiah’s prophecy, and that all the more, because the historical allusions which it contains can thereby be satisfactorily explained; whereas the other attempts at solving the difficulties, when we look at the thing more closely, prove to be either altogether untenable, or such as will not apply throughout.

Thus, for example, Ewald and Graf (on Jer 49:7.) have endeavoured to reconcile the fact that Jeremiah had read the first part of Obadiah as early as the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and had made use of it in his prophecy, with the opinion that Oba 1:10-16 (Ob.) refer to the Chaldean conquest and destruction of Jerusalem, by the hypothesis that the first part of Obadiah, as we possess it, was founded upon an earlier prophecy, which was adopted by the later editor of our book, and incorporated in his writings, and which had also been made use of by Jeremiah. In support of this hypothesis, the circumstance has been adduced, that Jeremiah’s references to Obadiah only extend to Oba 1:9, that the introductory words in Obadiah, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom,” do not stand in a close connection with what follows immediately after and thus appear to have been added at a later period, and that the rare word tiphlatstekhâ (Jer 49:16), which is not met with anywhere else in Jeremiah, is wanting in Obadiah. But the first phenomenon may be explained very simply, from the fact that the remaining portion of Obadiah (Oba 1:10-21) furnished nothing which Jeremiah could make use of for his object, and that we have an analogy in the relation between Jeremiah 48 and Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Moab (Isaiah 15-16), where in just the same manner certain portions, viz., Isa 16:1-5, have not been made use of at all. Again, the want of any closer logical connection between the introduction, “Thus hath the Lord said with regard to Edom,” and what follows, “We have heard a rumour from Jehovah,” arises from the circumstance that these introductory words do not apply exclusively to what follows immediately after, but belong to the whole of Obadiah’s prophecy (see at Oba 1:1). Moreover, these words could not have been wanting even in the supposed earlier or original prophecy, inasmuch as what follows would be unintelligible without them, since the name Edom, to which the suffixes and addresses in Oba 1:1-5 apply, would be altogether wanting. and lastly, the word tiphlatstekhâ, which is otherwise strange to Jeremiah, proves nothing in favour of an earlier source, which both Obadiah and Jeremiah employed; nor can we see any sufficient reason for its omission when the earlier oracle was adopted. The other arguments adduced in support of this hypothesis are entirely without significance, if not absolutely erroneous. The fact that from Oba 1:10 onwards, where Jeremiah ceases to make use of our prophecy, the connection between Obadiah and Joel commences, of which there is not the slightest trace in Oba 1:1-9, has its natural foundation in the contents of the two parts of Obadiah. The announcement of the judgment upon the Edomites in Oba 1:1-9 could not be made use of by Joel, because, with the exception of the casual allusion in Joe 3:19, he does not treat of the judgment upon Edom at all. The contents of Oba 1:1-9 also show the reason why no allusion whatever is made in these verses to Israel and Jerusalem. The judgment predicted here was not to be executed by either Israel or Judah, but by the nations. Graf’s assertion, that Oba 1:7 contains an allusion to totally different circumstances from those referred to in Oba 1:10., as the verses mentioned relate to altogether disproportionate things, is decidedly incorrect. So also is Ewald’s opinion, that half our present Obadiah, viz., Oba 1:1-10, and Oba 1:17 and Oba 1:18, “clearly points to an earlier prophet in contents, language, and colour.” Caspari has already replied to this as follows: “We confess, on the contrary, that we can discover no difference in colour and language between Oba 1:1-9 and Oba 1:10-21. The latter has its ἅπαξ λεγόμενα and its rare words just like the former (compare חגוי סלע Oba 1:3, נבעוּ Oba 1:6, מצפּניו Oba 1:6, מזור Oba 1:7, קטל Oba 1:9, in the first paragraph; and נכרו Oba 1:12, תּשׁלחנה Oba 1:13, פּרק Oba 1:14, לעוּ Oba 1:16, in the second); and precisely the same liveliness and boldness which distinguished the first part of the prophecy, prevail in the second also. Not a single later word, nor a single form of more recent date, is met with to indicate the later origin of the second part.” Moreover, it is impossible to discover any well-established analogy in the prophetical writings of the Old Testament to support this hypothesis.

The attempt made by Caspari, Hengstenberg, and others, to reconcile the opinion, that Obadiah alludes in Oba 1:11. to the Chaldean destruction of Jerusalem, with the fact that Jeremiah has made use of our book of Obadiah in his prophecy against Edom, which was uttered in the reign of Jehoiakim, by the assumption that Obadiah is not describing something that has already happened, but giving a prophetic picture of the future, is wrecked on the wording of the verses in question. When Obadiah threatens Edom with shame and destruction on account of its wickedness towards its brother Jacob (Oba 1:10), and then describes this wickedness in preterites - “On the day of thy standing opposite when strangers had come into his gates and cast the lot upon Jerusalem” (Oba 1:11); and, “As ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so will all the heathen drink,” etc. (Oba 1:16) - no one would understand these preterites as used prophetically, i.e., as referring to what was not to take place till a far distant future, except on the most conclusive grounds. Such grounds, however, some imagine that they can find in Oba 1:12-14, where the prophet warns the Edomites not to rejoice over their brother nation’s day of calamity, or take part in the destruction of Judah. Hengstenberg and Caspari follow Theodoret, Michaelis, and others, in the opinion that Obadiah is predicting the destruction of Jerusalem, and that Oba 1:11 can only be interpreted prophetically, and cannot be taken as referring to an ideal past. For, as Caspari adds (p. 29), “I might very well be able to warn a person against an act, even though he were just about to perform it, and I were perfectly certain that he would perform it notwithstanding, and my warning would be fruitless, and though I merely warned him, that he might not perform it without warning; but to warn a person against an act which he has already performed would be a most marvellous thing, even though the warning were only given in the spirit and with the deed standing out as a present thing.” No doubt it is perfectly true that “such a warning after the deed was done would be quite out of place,” if it had reference merely to one isolated act, a repetition of which was not to be expected. But if the act already performed was but one single outbreak of a prevailing disposition, and might be repeated on every fresh occasion, and possibly had already shown itself more than once, a warning against such an act could neither be regarded as out of place, nor as particularly striking, even after the thing had been done. The warnings in Oba 1:12-14, therefore, do not compel us to interpret the preterites in Oba 1:11 and Oba 1:16 prophetically, as relating to some future deed. Moreover, “the repeated warnings against so wicked a deed were simply the drapery in which the prophet clothed the prediction of the certain coming of the day of Jehovah, which would put an end to the manifestation of such a disposition on the part of Edom” (Delitzsch). There is still less ground for the further remark of Caspari, that the allusions to Joel in Obadiah’s description of the day of calamity (not “of the destruction”) of Jerusalem, unquestionably preclude the supposition that he was an eye-witness of that event, and require the hypothesis that he wrote either before or a long time afterwards. For these allusions are not of such a nature that Obadiah simply repeats and still further develops what Joel had already prophesied before him, but, on the contrary, of such a nature that Joel had Obadiah before his mind, and has expanded certain features of his prophecy still further in Joe 3:3-6. The description of the hostilities of the Edomites towards Israel, Obadiah could not possibly take from either Joel, or Amo 9:12, or the sayings of Balaam in Num 24:18-19, as Caspari supposes; because neither of these prophets has depicted them any more fully, but can only have drawn it from his own experience, and from what he himself had seen, so that his prophecy is thereby proved to be the original, as compared with that of Joel and Amos.

All this leads to the conclusion, that we must regard Obadiah as older than Joel, and fix upon the reign of Joram as the date of his ministry, but without thereby giving him “an isolated position;” for, according to the most correct chronological arrangement of their respective dates, Joel prophesied at the most twenty years after him, and Hosea and Amos commenced their labours only about seventy-five years later. The calamitous event which burst upon Judah and Jerusalem, and gave occasion for Obadiah’s prophecy, took place in the latter part of Joram’s eight years’ reign. Consequently Obadiah cannot have uttered his prophecy, and committed it to writing, very long before Jehoram’s death. At the same time, it cannot have been at a later period; because, on the one hand, it produces the unquestionable impression, that the hostilities practised by the Edomites were still kept in the most lively remembrance; and on the other hand, it contains no hint of that idolatrous worship to which the ruthless Athaliah endeavoured to give the pre-eminence in Judah, after the one year’s reign of Ahaziah, who succeeded Joram. For the commentaries on Obadiah, see my Lehrbuch der Einleitung, §88.

Oba 1:1

Edom’s Ruin, setting forth, in the first place, the purpose of God to make Edom small through the medium of hostile nations, and to hurl it down from the impregnable heights of its rocky castles (Oba 1:1-4); and then depicting, in lively colours, how it will be plundered by enemies, forsaken and deceived by allies and friends, and perish in helplessness and impotence (Oba 1:5-9). Oba 1:1 contains, in addition to the brief heading, the introduction to the prophecy, which gives in a brief form the substance of the first section: “Thus hath the Lord Jehovah spoken of Edom, A report have we heard from Jehovah, and a messenger is sent among the nations: Up, and let us arise against it in battle.” The first clause, לאדום ... כּה אמר, does not harmonize with what follows, inasmuch as we should expect it to be followed with a declaration made by Jehovah Himself, instead of which there follow simply tidings heard from Jehovah. The difficulty cannot be removed by assuming that these introductory words are spurious, or were added by a later prophet (Eichhorn, Ewald, and others); for the interpolator could not fail to observe the incongruity of these words just as well as Obadiah. Moreover, לאדום could not be omitted from the opening, because it is required not only by the suffix in עליה (against her), but also by the direct addresses in Oba 1:2. Nor is the assumption that the prophet suddenly altered the construction any more satisfactory, or that the declaration of Jehovah announced in כּה אמר וגו (“thus saith the Lord”) commences in Oba 1:2, and that the words from שׁמוּעה to the end of the verse form an explanatory parenthesis to כּה אמר וגו ot sisehtnera. For such an alteration of the construction at the very beginning of the address is hardly conceivable; and the parenthetical explanation of the last three clauses of Oba 1:1 is at variance with their contents, which do not form by any means a subordinate thought, but rather the main thought of the following address. No other course remains, therefore, than to take these introductory words by themselves, as Michaelis, Maurer, and Caspari have done, in which case כה אמר does not announce the actual words of Jehovah in the stricter sense, but is simply meant to affirm that the prophet uttered what follows jussu Jehovae, or divinitus monitus, so that כה אמר is really equivalent to diber זה הדּבר אשׁר דּבּר in Isa 16:13, as Theodoret has explained it. לאדום, not “to Edom,” but with reference to, or of, Edom. On the occurrence of Yehōvâh after 'Adōnâi, see the comm. on Gen 2:4. What Obadiah saw as a word of the Lord was the tidings heard from the Lord, and the divine message sent to the nations to rise up for war against Edom. The plural שׁמענוּ (we have heard) is communicative. The prophet includes himself in the nation (Israel), which has heard the tidings in him and through him. This implies that the tidings were of the greatest interest to Israel, and would afford it consolation. Jeremiah (Jer 49:14) has removed the pregnant character of the expression, by introducing the singular שׁמעתּי (I have heard). The next clause, “and an ambassador,” etc., might be taken, as it has been by Luther, as a statement of the import of the news, namely, that a messenger had been sent; inasmuch as in Hebrew a sentence is frequently co-ordinated with the preceding one by Vav cop., when it ought really to be subordinated to it so far as the sense is concerned, from a simple preference for the parallelism of the clauses. But the address gains in force, if we take the clause as a co-ordinate one, just as it reads, viz., as a declaration of the steps already taken by the Lord for carrying out the resolution which had been heard of by report. In this case the substance of the report is not given till the last clause of the verse; the summons of the ambassador sent among the nations, “to rise up for war against Edom,” indicating at the same time the substance of the report which Israel has heard. The perfect shullâch with qâmets in the pause, which is changed by Jeremiah into the less appropriate passive participle kal, corresponds to שׁמענוּ, and expresses in prophetic form the certainty of the accomplishment of the purpose of God. The sending of the messenger (tsı̄r as in Isa 18:2) among the nations (ב as in Jdg 6:35) is an assurance that the nations will rise up at the instigation of Jehovah to war against Edom (compare Isa 13:17; Jer 51:1, Jer 51:11). The plural nâqūmâh (let us rise up), in the words of the messenger, may be explained on the simple ground that the messenger speaks in the name of the sender. The sender is Jehovah, who will also rise up along with the nations for war against Edom, placing Himself at their head as leader and commander (compare Joe 2:11; Isa 13:4-5). עליה, against Edom, construed as a land or kingdom, gener. faem. The fact that it is the nations generally that are here summoned to make war upon Edom, and not only one nation in particular, points at once to the fact that Edom is regarded as a type of the power of the world, and its hostility to God, the destruction of which is here foretold.

Oba 1:2

The Lord threatens Edom with war, because He has determined to reduce and humble the nation, which now, with its proud confidence in its lofty rocky towers, regards itself as invincible. Oba 1:2. “Behold, I have made thee small among the nations; thou art greatly despised. Oba 1:3. The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee; thou that dwellest in rocky castles, upon its lofty seat; that saith in its heart, Who will cast me down to the ground?: Oba 1:4. If thou buildest high like the eagle, and if thy nest were placed among stars, thence will I cast thee down, is the saying of Jehovah.” Oba 1:2 is correctly attached in Jeremiah (Oba 1:15) by כּי, inasmuch as it contains the reason for the attack upon Edom. By hinnēh (behold), which points to the fact itself, the humiliation of Edom is vividly presented to the mind. The perfect nâthattı̄ “describes the resolution of Jehovah as one whose fulfilment is as certain as if it had already occurred” (Caspari). What Jehovah says really takes place. קטן refers to the number of the people. The participle בּזוּי is perfectly appropriate, as expressing the ideal present, i.e., the present which follows the קטן נתתּיך. When the Lord has made Edom small, it will be very much despised. It is only through an incorrect interpretation of the historical present that Hitzig would possibly be led to regard the participle as unsuitable, and to give the preference to Jeremiah’s בּזוּי בּאדם.

Oba 1:3

Oba 1:3 contains a consequence which follows from Oba 1:2. Edom will be unable to avert this fate: its lofty rocky castles will not preserve it from the overthrow which has been decreed by the Lord, and which He will carry out through the medium of the nations. Edom has therefore been deceived by its proud reliance upon these rocky towers. שׁכני, which the connecting sound י attached to the construct state (see at Gen 31:39), is a vocative. הגוי סלע are rocky towers, though the primary meaning of חגוי is open to dispute. The word is derived from the root חגה, which is not used in Hebrew (like קצוי from קצה), and is found not only here and in the parallel passage of Jeremiah, but also in the Sol 2:14, where it occurs in parallelism with סתר, which points to the meaning refugium, i.e., asylum. This meaning has also been confirmed by A. Schultens (Anim-adv. ad Jes. xix. 17) and by Michaelis (Thes. s.v. Jes.), from the Arabic ḥj'a, confugit, and maḥjâ'u, refugium.The renderings adopted on the authority of the ancient versions, such as clefts of the rock, scissurae, jagged rocks, fissures (ὀπαί, lxx), caves, which are derived either from the supposed connection between חגה and חקה, and the Arabic chjj, fidit, laceravit, or from the Arabic wajaḥ, antrum (with the letters transposed), have far less to sustain them. For the meanings assigned to these Arabic words are not the primary meanings, but derivative ones. The former signifies literally propulit, the latter confugit, iv. effecit ut ad rem confugeret; and Arabic mawjaḥun means refugium, asylum.

In the expression מרום שׁבתּו the ב is to be considered as still retaining its force from חגוי onwards (cf. Isa 28:7; Job 15:3, etc.). The emphasis rests upon high; and hence the abstract noun mârōm, height, instead of the adjective. The Edomites inhabited the mountains of Seir, which have not yet been carefully explored in detail. They are on the eastern side of the Ghor (or Arabah), stretching from the deep rocky valley of the Ahsy, which opens into the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, and extending as far as Aela on the Red Sea, and consist of mighty rocks of granite and porphyry, covered with fresh vegetation, which terminate in the west, towards the deeply intersected sand-sea of the Ghor and Arabah, in steep and lofty walls of sandstone. The mountains are hardly accessible, therefore, on the western side; whereas on the east they are gradually lost in the broad sandy desert of Arabia, without any perceptible fall (see Burckhardt in v. Raumer’s Pal. pp. 83-4, 86; and Robinson’s Palestine, ii. p. 551ff.). They also abound in clefts, with both natural and artificial caves; and hence its earliest inhabitants were Horites, i.e., dwellers in caves; and even the Edomites dwelt in caves, at least to some extent.Jerome observes on Oba 1:6 : “And indeed ... throughout the whole of the southern region of the Idumaeans, from Eleutheropolis to Petra and Hala (for this is a possession of Esau), there are small dwellings in caves; and on account of the great heat of the sun, since it is a southern province, subterranean huts are used.”

The capital, Sela (Petra), in the Wady Musa, of whose glory at one time there are proofs still to be found in innumerable remains of tombs, temples, and other buildings, was shut in both upon the east and west by rocky walls, which present an endless variety of bright lively colours, from the deepest crimson to the softest pale red, and sometimes passing into orange and yellow; whilst on the north and south it was so encircled by hills and heights, that it could only be reached by climbing through very difficult mountain passes and defiles (see Burckhardt, Syr. p. 703; Robinson, Pal. ii. p. 573; and Ritter, Erdk. xiv. p. 1103); and Pliny calls it oppidum circumdatum montibus inaccessis. Compare Strabo, xvi. 779; and for the different roads to Petra, Ritter, p. 997ff.

Oba 1:4

Oba 1:4 shows the worthlessness of this reliance of the Edomites. The object to תּגבּיהּ, viz., קנּך, does not follow till the second clause: If thou makest thy nest high like the eagle, which builds its nest upon the loftiest jagged rocks (Job 39:27-28). This thought is hyperbolically intensified in the second clause: if thy nest had been placed among stars. שׁים is not an infinitive, but a passive participle, as in the primary passage, Num 24:21, which Obadiah had before his mind, and in 1Sa 9:24; 2Sa 13:32; but קנּך is nevertheless to be taken as an accusative of the object, after the analogy of the construction of passives c. accus. obj. (see Ges. §143, l, a.).

Oba 1:5-6

The prophet sees this overthrow of Edom from its lofty height as something that has already happened, and he now depicts the utter devastation of Edom through the medium of the enemies whom Jehovah has summoned against it. Oba 1:5. “If thieves had come to thee, if robbers by night, alas, how art thou destroyed! would they not steal their sufficiency? If vine-dressers had come to thee, would they not leave gleanings? Oba 1:6. How have the things of Esau been explored, his hidden treasures desired! Oba 1:7. Even to the border have all the men of thy covenant sent thee: the men of thy peace have deceived thee, overpowered thee. They make thy bread a wound under thee. There is no understanding in him.” In order to exhibit the more vividly the complete clearing out of Edom, Obadiah supposes two cases of plundering in which there is still something left (Oba 1:5), and then shows that the enemies in Edom will act much worse than this. אם with the perfect supposes a case to have already occurred, when, although it does not as yet exist in reality, it does so in imagination. גּנּבים are common thieves, and שׁדדי לילה robbers by night, who carry off another’s property by force. With this second expression, the verb בּאוּ לך must be repeated. “To thee,” i.e., to do thee harm; it is actually equivalent to “upon thee.” The following words איך  נדמיתה cannot form the apodosis to the two previous clauses, because nidmēthâh is too strong a term for the injury inflicted by thieves or robbers, but chiefly because the following expression הלוא יגנבוּ וגו is irreconcilable with such an explanation, the thought that thieves steal דּיּם being quite opposed to nidmâh, or being destroyed. The clause “how art thou destroyed” must rather be taken as pointing far beyond the contents of Oba 1:5 and Oba 1:6. It is more fully explained in Oba 1:9, and is thereby proved to be a thought thrown in parenthetically, with which the prophet anticipates the principal fact in his lively description, in the form of an exclamation of amazement. The apodosis to 'im gannâghı̄m (if robbers, etc.) follows in the words “do they not steal” (= they surely steal) dayyâm, i.e., their sufficiency (see Delitzsch on Isa 40:16); that is to say, as much as they need, or can use, or find lying open before them. The picture of the grape-gatherers says the same thing. They also do not take away all, even to the very last, but leave some gleanings behind, not only if they fear God, according to Lev 19:10; Deu 24:21, as Hitzig supposes, but even if they do not trouble themselves about God’s commandments at all, because many a bunch escapes their notice which is only discovered on careful gleaning. Edom, on the contrary, is completely cleared out. In Deu 24:6 the address to Edom passes over into words concerning him. עשׂו is construed as a collective with the plural. איך is a question of amazement. Châphas, to search through, to explore (cf. Zep 1:12-13). Bâ‛âh (nibh‛ū), to beg, to ask; here in the niphal to be desired. Matspōn, ἁπ. λεγ. from tsâphan, does not mean a secret place, but a hidden thing or treasure (τὰ κεκρυμμένα αὐτοῦ, lxx). Obadiah mentions the plundering first, because Petra, the capital of Edom, was a great emporium of the Syrio-Arabian trade, where many valuables were stored (vid., Diod. Sic. xix. 95), and because with the loss of these riches the prosperity and power of Edom were destroyed.Jeremiah (Jer 49:9) has greatly altered the words of Obadiah, dropping the comparison of the enemy to thieves and grape-gatherers, and representing the enemy as being themselves grape-gatherers who leave no gleaning, and thieves who waste till they have enough; and thereby considerably weakening the poetical picture.

Oba 1:7

In the midst of this calamity Edom will be forsaken and betrayed by its allies, and will also be unable to procure any deliverance for itself by its own understanding. The allies send Edom even to the border. The meaning of this is not that they will not receive the Edomitish fugitives, but drive them back to the frontier, so that they fall into the hands of the enemy (Hitzig and others); for the suffix ך cannot refer to the small number of fugitives from Edom who have escaped the massacre, but applies to Edom as a nation. The latter seeks for help and support from their allies, - namely, through the medium of ambassadors whom it sends to them. But the ambassadors, and in their persons the Edomites themselves, are sent back to the frontier by all the allies, because they will not entangle themselves in the fate of Edom. Sending to the frontier, however, is not to be understood as signifying that the allies “send their troops with them as far as the frontier, and then order them to turn back,” as Michaelis supposes; for “if the allies were unwilling to help, they would hardly call out the army to march as far as the frontier” (Hitzig). Nor is this implied either in שׁלּחוּך or השּׁיאוּך; for shillēăch means to send away, to dismiss, and both here and in Gen 12:20 to send across the frontier. This was a deception of the expectation of the Edomites, although the words “have deceived thee” belong, strictly speaking, to what follows, and not to the conduct of the allies. אנשׁי שׁלמך, an expression taken from Psa 41:10, both here and in Jer 38:22 (cf. Jer 20:10), the men or people with whom thou didst live in peace, are probably neighbouring Arabian tribes, who had made commercial treaties with the Edomites. They deceived, or rather overpowered, Edom. יכלוּ is the practical explanation and more precise definition of השּׁיאוּ.

But the answer to the question whether the overpowering was carried out by cunning and deception (Jer 20:10; Jer 38:22), or by open violence (Gen 32:26; Psa 129:2), depends upon the explanation given to the next sentence, about which there are great diversities of opinion, partly on account of the different explanations given of לחמך, and partly on account of the different renderings given to מזור. The latter occurs in Hos 5:13 and Jer 30:13 in the sense of a festering wound or abscess, and the rabbinical commentators and lexicographers have retained this meaning in the passage before us. On the other hand, the older translators have here ἔνεδρα (lxx), תקלא, offence, σκάνδαλον (Chald.), kemi'nā', insidiae (Syr.), Aq. and Symm. σύνδεσμος and ἐπίδεσις, Vulg. insidiae; and hence the modern rendering, they lay a snare, or place a trap under thee. But this rendering cannot be vindicated etymologically, since zūr (= zârar) does not mean to bind, but to press together or squeeze out. Nor can the form mâzōr be taken as a contraction of mezōrâh, as Hitzig supposes, since this is derived from zârâh, to strew or scatter. And no weight is to be attached to the opinion of Aquila with his literal translation, for the simple reason that his rendering of Hos 5:13 is decidedly false. Ewald and Hitzig prefer the rendering “net;” but this, again, cannot be sustained either from the expression mezorâh hâresheth in Pro 1:17 (Hitzig), or from the Syriac, mezar, extendit (Ges. Addid. ad thes. p. 96). The only meaning that can be sustained as abscess or wound. We must therefore adhere to the rendering, “they make thy bread a wound under thee.” For the proposal to take lachmekhâ (thy bread) as a second genitive dependent upon 'anshē (the men), is not only opposed to the accents and the parallelism of the members, according to which 'anshē shelōmekhâ (the men of thy peace) must conclude the second clause, just as 'anshē berı̄thekhâ (the men of thy covenant) closes the first; but it is altogether unexampled, and the expression 'anshē lachmekhâ is itself unheard of. For this reason we must not even supply 'anshē to lachmekhâ from the previous sentence, or make “the men of thy bread” the subject, notwithstanding the fact that the lxx, the Chald., the Syr., and Jerome have adopted this as the meaning. Still less can lachmekhâ stand in the place of אכלי לחמך (they that eat thy bread), as some suppose. Lachmekhâ can only be the first object to yâsı̄mū, and consequently the subject of the previous clause still continues in force: they who befriended thee make thy bread, i.e., the bread which they ate from thee or with thee, not “the bread which thou seekest from them” (Hitzig), into a wound under thee, i.e., an occasion for destroying thee. We have not to think of common meals of hospitality here, as Rashi, Rosenmüller, and others do; but the words are to be taken figuratively, after the analogy of Psa 41:10, which floated before the prophet’s mind, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up the heel against me,” as denoting conspiracies on the part of those who were allied to Edom, and drew their own sustenance from it, the rich trading nation, to destroy that very nation which was now oppressed by its foes. The only difficulty is in the word תּחתּיך, under thee, inasmuch as the meaning “without thy knowledge” (clam te), which Vatablus and Drusius adopt, cannot be sustained, and least of all from 2Sa 3:12. We must connect תּחתּיך closely with מזור, in this sense, that the wound is inflicted upon the lower part of the body, to express its dangerous nature, inasmuch as wounds upon which one sits or lies are hard to heal. Consequently יכוּ לך (they prevail against thee) is to be understood as denoting conquest, not by an unexpected attack or open violence, but by cunning and deceit, or by secret treachery. The last clause, אין תּבוּנה וגו, does not give the reason why the thing described was to happen to the Edomites (Chald., Theod.); nor is it to be connected with mâzōr as a relative clause (Hitzig), or as explanatory of תּחתּיך, “to thee, without thy perceiving it, or before thou perceivest it” (Luther and L. de Dieu). The very change from the second person to the third (  בּו) is a proof that it introduces an independent statement, - namely, that in consequence of the calamity which thus bursts upon the Edomites, they lose their wonted discernment, and neither know what to do nor how to help themselves (Maurer and Caspari). This thought is expanded still further in Oba 1:8, Oba 1:9.

Oba 1:8-9 “Does it not come to pass in that day, is the saying of Jehovah, that I destroy the wise men out of Edom, and discernment from the mountains of Esau? Oba 1:9. And thy heroes despair, O Teman, that every one may be cut off by murder from the mountains of Esau.” In order to give up the Edomites to destruction at that time, the Lord will take away discernment from their wise men, so that even they will not be able to help them. The destruction of the wise men is not to be understood as signifying that the wise men will all be slain, or slain before any others, but simply that they will be destroyed as wise men by the withdrawal or destruction of their wisdom. This meaning is sustained, not only by the fact that in the second clause tebhūnâh only is mentioned as that which is to be destroyed, but also by the parallel passages, Jer 49:7; Isa 19:11; Isa 29:14. Jeremiah mentions here the wisdom of the Temanites in particular. That they were celebrated for their wisdom, is evident not only from this passage, but also from the fact that Eliphaz, the chief opponent of Job in argument, was a Temanite (Job 2:1, etc.). With this withdrawal of wisdom and discernment, even the brave warriors lose their courage. The heroes are dismayed (chattū), or fall into despair. Tēmân, which the Chaldee has rendered incorrectly as an appellative, viz., inhabitants of the south (dârōmâ'), is a proper name of the southern district of Idumaea (see at Amo 1:12), so called from Teman, a son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau (Gen 36:11, Gen 36:15). Gibbōrekhâ (thy heroes), with the masculine suffix, the people inhabiting the district being addressed under the name of the district itself. God inflicts this upon Edom with the intention (lema‛an, to this end) that all the Edomites should be cut off. Miqqâtel, from the murdering, by murder (compare Gen 9:11, where min occurs after yikkârēth in this sense); not “without conflict,” as Ewald renders it, for qetel signifies slaying, and not conflict. The thought of connecting miqqâtel with what follows cannot for a moment be entertained (vid., lxx, Syr., Vulg.). It is opposed not only by the authority of the Masoretic punctuation, but still more decisively by the fact, that the stronger and more special word (qetel) cannot precede the weaker and more general one (châmâs), and that the murder of certain fugitives is placed first in the list of crimes committed by Edom upon the Israelites (Oba 1:10-14).

Oba 1:10-11

The Cause of the Ruin of the Edomites is their wickedness towards the brother nation Jacob (Oba 1:10 and Oba 1:11), which is still further exhibited in Oba 1:12-14 in the form of a warning, accompanied by an announcement of righteous retribution in the day of the Lord upon all nations (Oba 1:15, Oba 1:16). Oba 1:10. “For the wickedness towards thy brother Jacob shame will cover thee, and thou wilt be cut off for ever. Oba 1:11. In the day that thou stoodest opposite, in the day when enemies carried away his goods, and strangers came into his gates, and cast the lot upon Jerusalem, then even thou (wast) like one of them.” Chămas 'âchı̄khâ, wickedness, violent wrong towards (upon) thy brother (genit. obj. as in Joe 3:19; Gen 16:5, etc.). Drusius has already pointed out the peculiar emphasis on these words. Wrong, or violence, is all the more reprehensible, when it is committed against a brother. The fraternal relation in which Edom stood towards Judah is still more sharply defined by the name Jacob, since Esau and Jacob were twin brothers. The consciousness that the Israelites were their brethren, ought to have impelled the Edomites to render helpful support to the oppressed Judaeans. Instead of this, they not only revelled with scornful and malignant pleasure in the misfortune of the brother nation, but endeavored to increase it still further by rendering active support to the enemy. This hostile behaviour of Edom arose from envy at the election of Israel, like the hatred of Esau towards Jacob (Gen 27:41), which was transmitted to his descendants, and came out openly in the time of Moses, in the unbrotherly refusal to allow the Israelites to pass in a peaceable manner through their land (Numbers 20). On the other hand, the Israelites are always commanded in the law to preserve a friendly and brotherly attitude towards Edom (Deu 2:4-5); and in Deu 23:7 it is enjoined upon them not to abhor the Edomite, because he is their brother. תּכסּך בוּשׁה (as in Mic 7:10), shame will cover thee, i.e., come upon thee in full measure, - namely, the shame of everlasting destruction, as the following explanatory clause clearly shows. ונכרתּ with Vav consec., but with the tone upon the penultima, contrary to the rule (cf. Ges. §49, 3; Ewald, §234, b and c). In the more precise account of Edom’s sins given in Oba 1:11, the last clause does not answer exactly to the first. After the words “in the day that thou stoodest opposite,” we should expect the apodosis “thou didst this or that.” But Obadiah is led away from the sentence which he has already begun, by the enumeration of hostilities displayed towards Judah by its enemies, so that he observes with regard to Edom’s behaviour: Then even thou wast as one of them, that is to say, thou didst act just like the enemy. עמד מנּגד, to stand opposite (compare Psa 38:12), used here to denote a hostile intention, as in 2Sa 18:13. They showed this at first by looking on with pleasure at the misfortunes of the Judaeans (Oba 1:12), still more by stretching out their hand after their possessions (Oba 1:13), but most of all by taking part in the conflict with Judah (Oba 1:14). In the clauses which follow, the day when Edom acted thus is described as a day on which Judah had fallen into the power of hostile nations, who carried off its possessions, and disposed of Jerusalem as their booty. Zȧrı̄m and nokhrı̄m are synonymous epithets applied to heathen foes. שׁבה generally denotes the carrying away of captives; but it is sometimes applied to booty in cattle and goods, or treasures (1Ch 5:21; 2Ch 14:14; 2Ch 21:17). חיל is not used here either for the army, or for the strength, i.e., the kernel of the nation, but, as חילו in Oba 1:13 clearly shows, for its possessions, as in Isa 8:4; Isa 10:14; Eze 26:12, etc. שׁערו, his (Judah’s) gates, used rhetorically for his cities.

Lastly, Jerusalem is also mentioned as the capital, upon which the enemies cast lots. The three clauses form a climax: first, the carrying away of Judah’s possessions, that is to say, probably those of the open country; then the forcing of a way into the cities; and lastly, arbitrary proceedings both in and with the capital. ידּוּ גורל (perf. kal of ידד = ידה, not piel for יידּוּ, because the Yod praef. of the imperfect piel is never dropped in verbs פי), to cast the lot upon booty (things) and prisoners, to divide them among them (compare Joe 3:3 and Nah 3:10). Caspari, Hitzig, and others understand it here as in Joe 3:3, as denoting the distribution of the captive inhabitants of Jerusalem, and found upon this one of their leading arguments, that the description given here refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, which Obadiah either foresaw in the Spirit, or depicts as something already experienced. But this by no means follows from the fact that in Joel we have עמּי instead of ירוּשׁלם, since it is generally acknowledged that, when the prophets made use of their predecessors, they frequently modified their expressions, or gave them a different turn. But if we look at our passage simply as its stands, there is not the slightest indication that Jerusalem is mentioned in the place of the people. As שׁבות חילו does not express the carrying away of the inhabitants, there is not a single syllable which refers to the carrying away captive of either the whole nation or the whole of the population of Jerusalem. On the contrary, in Oba 1:13 we read of the perishing of the children of Judah, and in Oba 1:14 of fugitives of Judah, and those that have escaped. From this it is very obvious that Obadiah had simply a conquest of Jerusalem in his eye, when part of the population was slain in battle and part taken captive, and the possessions of the city were plundered; so that the casting of the lot upon Jerusalem has reference not only to the prisoners, but also to the things taken as plunder in the city, which the conquerors divided among them. גּם אתּה, even thou, the brother of Jacob, art like one of them, makest common cause with the enemy. The verb הייתה, thou wast, is omitted, to bring the event before the mind as something even then occurring. For this reason Obadiah also clothes the further description of the hostilities of the Edomites in the form of a warning against such conduct.

Oba 1:12-14 “And look not at the day of thy brother on the day of his misfortune; and rejoice not over the sons of Judah in the day of their perishing, and do not enlarge thy mouth in the day of the distress. Oba 1:13. Come not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; thou also look not at his misfortune in the day of his calamity, and stretch not out thy hand to his possession in the day of his calamity: Oba 1:14. Nor stand in the cross-road, to destroy his fugitives, nor deliver up his escaped ones in the day of distress.” This warning cannot be satisfactorily explained either “on the assumption that the prophet is here foretelling the future destruction of Judah and Jerusalem” (Caspari), or “on the supposition that he is merely depicting an event that has already past” (Hitzig). If the taking and plundering of Jerusalem were an accomplished fact, whether in idea or in reality, as it is shown to be by the perfects בּאוּ and ידּוּ in Oba 1:11, Obadiah could not in that case warn the Edomites against rejoicing over it, or even taking part therein. Hence Drusius, Rosenmüller, and others, take the verbs in Oba 1:12-14 as futures of the past: “Thou shouldest not have seen, shouldest not have rejoiced,” etc. But this is opposed to the grammar. אל followed by the so-called fut. apoc. is jussive, and cannot stand for the pluperf. conjunct. And Maurer’s suggestion is just as untenable, namely, that yōm in Oba 1:11 denotes the day of the capture of Jerusalem, and in Oba 1:12, Oba 1:13 the period after this day; since the identity of יום עמדך (the day of thy standing) in Oba 1:11 with יום אחיך in Oba 1:12 strikes the eye at once. The warning in Oba 1:12-14 is only intelligible on the supposition, that Obadiah has not any particular conquest and plundering of Jerusalem in his mind, whether a future one or one that has already occurred, but regards this as an event that not only has already taken place, but will take place again: that is to say, on the assumption that he rises from the particular historical event to the idea which it embodied, and that, starting from this, he sees in the existing case all subsequent cases of a similar kind. From this ideal standpoint he could warn Edom of what it had already done, and designate the disastrous day which had come upon Judah and Jerusalem by different expressions as a day of the greatest calamity; for what Edom had done, and what had befallen Judah, were types of the future development of the fate of Judah and of the attitude of Edom towards it, which go on fulfilling themselves more and more until the day of the Lord upon all nations, upon the near approach of which Obadiah founds his warning in Oba 1:15. The warning proceeds in Oba 1:12-14 from the general to the particular, or from the lower to the higher. Obadiah warns the Edomites, as Hitzig says, “not to rejoice in Judah’s troubles (Oba 1:12), nor to make common cause with the conquerors (Oba 1:13), nor to outdo and complete the work of the enemy (Oba 1:14).” By the cop. Vav, which stands at the head of all the three clauses in Oba 1:12, the warning addressed to the Edomites, against such conduct as this, is linked on to what they had already done.

The three clauses of Oba 1:12 contain a warning in a graduated form against malicious pleasure. ראה with ב, to look at anything with pleasure, to take delight in it, affirms less than שׂמח ב, to rejoice, to proclaim one’s joy without reserve. הגדּיל פּה, to make the mouth large, is stronger still, like הגדּיל בּפה, to boast, to do great things with the mouth, equivalent to הרחיב פּה על, to make the mouth broad, to stretch it open, over (against) a person (Psa 35:21; Isa 57:4), a gesture indicating contempt and derision. The object of their malicious pleasure mentioned in the first clause is yōm 'âchı̄khâ, the day of thy brother, i.e., the day upon which something strange happened to him, namely, what is mentioned in Oba 1:11. Yōm does not of itself signify the disastrous day, or day of ruin, either here or anywhere else; but it always receives the more precise definition from the context. If we were to adopt the rendering “disastrous day,” it would give rise to a pure tautology when taken in connection with what follows. The expression 'âchı̄khâ (of thy brother) justifies the warning. בּיום נכרו is not in apposition to בּיום אחיך, but, according to the parallelism of the clauses, it is a statement of time. נכר, ἁπ. λεγ. = נכר (Job 31:3), fortuna aliena, a strange, i.e., hostile fate, not “rejection” (Hitzig, Caspari, and others). The expression יום אבדם, the day of their (Judah’s sons) perishing, is stronger still; although the perishing ('ăbhōd) of the sons of Judah cannot denote the destruction of the whole nation, since the following word tsârâh, calamity, is much too weak to admit of this. Even the word איד, which occurs three times in Oba 1:13, does not signify destruction, but (from the root אוּד, to fall heavily, to load) simply pressure, a burden, then weight of suffering, distress, misfortune (see Delitzsch on Job 18:12). In Oba 1:13 Obadiah warns against taking part in the plundering of Jerusalem. The gate of my people: for the city in which the people dwell, the capital (see Mic 1:9). Look not thou also, a brother nation, upon his calamity, as enemies do, i.e., do not delight thyself thereat, nor snatch at his possessions. The form tishlachnâh, for which we should expect tishlach, is not yet satisfactorily explained (for the different attempts that have been made to explain it, see Caspari). The passages in which nâh is appended to the third pers. fem. sing., to distinguish it from the second person, do not help us to explain it. Ewald and Olshausen would therefore alter the text, and read תּשׁלח יד. But יד is not absolutely necessary, since it is omitted in 2Sa 6:6; 2Sa 22:17, or Psa 18:17, where shâlach occurs in the sense of stretching out the hand. חילו, his possessions. On the fact itself, compare Joe 3:5. The prominence given to the day of misfortune at the end of every sentence is very emphatic; “inasmuch as the selection of the time of a brother’s calamity, as that in which to rage against him with such cunning and malicious pleasure, was doubly culpable” (Ewald). In Oba 1:14 the warning proceeds to the worst crime of all, their seizing upon the Judaean fugitives, for the purpose of murdering them or delivering them up to the enemy. Pereq signifies here the place where the roads break or divide, the cross-road. In Nah 3:1, the only other place in which it occurs, it signifies tearing in pieces, violence. Hisgı̄r, to deliver up (lit., concludendum tradidit), is generally construed with  אל  (Deu 23:16) or  בּיד (Psa 31:9; 1Sa 23:11). Here it is written absolutely with the same meaning: not “to apprehend, or so overpower that there is no escape left” (Hitzig). This would affirm too little after the preceding הכרית, and cannot be demonstrated from Job 11:10, where hisgı̄r means to keep in custody.

Oba 1:15-16

This warning is supported in Oba 1:15 by an announcement of the day of the Lord, in which Edom and all the enemies of Israel will receive just retribution for their sins against Israel. Oba 1:15. “For the day of Jehovah is near upon all nations. As thou hast done, it will be done to thee; what thou hast performed returns upon thy head. Oba 1:16. For as ye have drunken upon my holy mountain, all nations will drink continually, and drink and swallow, and will be as those that were not.” כּי (for) connects what follows with the warnings in Oba 1:12-14, but not also, or exclusively, with Oba 1:10, Oba 1:11, as Rosenmüller and others suppose, for Oba 1:2-14 are not inserted parenthetically. “The day of Jehovah” has been explained at Joe 1:15. The expression was first formed by Obadiah, not by Joel; and Joel, Isaiah, and the prophets that follow, adopted it from Obadiah. The primary meaning is not the day of judgment, but the day on which Jehovah reveals His majesty and omnipotence in a glorious manner, to overthrow all ungodly powers, and to complete His kingdom. It was this which gave rise to the idea of the day of judgment and retribution which predominates in the prophetic announcements, but which simply forms one side of the revelation of the glory of God, as our passage at once shows; inasmuch as it describes Jehovah as not only judging all nations and regarding them according to their deeds (cf. Oba 1:15, and Oba 1:16), but as providing deliverance upon Zion (Oba 1:17), and setting up His kingdom (Oba 1:21). The retribution will correspond to the actions of Edom and of the nations. For גּמלך וגו, compare Joe 3:4, Joe 3:7, where (Joe 3:2-7) the evil deeds of the nations, what they have done against the people of God, are described. In Oba 1:16 Obadiah simply mentions as the greatest crime the desecration of the holy mountain by drinking carousals, for which all nations are to drink the intoxicating cup of the wrath of God till they are utterly destroyed. In shethı̄them (ye have drunk) it is not the Judaeans who are addressed, as many commentators, from Ab. Ezra to Ewald and Meier, suppose, but the Edomites. This is required not only by the parallelism of כּאשׁר שׁתיתם (as ye have drunk) and בּאשׁר שׁתיתם על הת (as thou hast done), but also by the actual wording and context. בּאשׁר שׁתיתם על הר cannot mean “as ye who are upon my holy mountain have drunk;” and in the announcement of the retribution which all nations will receive for the evil they have done to Judah, it is impossible that either the Judaeans should be addressed, or a parallel drawn between their conduct and that of the nations. Moreover, throughout the whole of the prophecy Edom only is addressed, and never Judah. Mount Zion is called “my holy mountain,” because Jehovah was there enthroned in His sanctuary. The verb shâthâh is used in the two clauses in different senses: viz., shethı̄them, of the drinking carousals which the Edomites held upon Zion, like yishtū in Joe 3:3; and shâthū, in the apodosis, of the drinking of the intoxicating goblet (cf. Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15; Jer 49:12, etc.), as the expression “they shall be as though they had not been” clearly shows. At the same time, we cannot infer from the words “all nations will drink,” that all nations would succeed in taking Zion and abusing it, but that they would have to taste all the bitterness of their crime; for it is not stated that they are to drink upon Mount Zion. The fact that the antithesis to שׁתיתם is not תּשׁתּוּ (“ye will drink”) but ישׁתּוּ כּל־הגּוים, does not compel us to generalize shethı̄them, and regard all nations as addressed implicite in the Edomites. The difficulty arising from this antithesis cannot be satisfactorily removed by the remark of Caspari, that in consequence of the allusion to the day of the Lord upon all nations in Oba 1:15, the judgment upon all nations and that upon the Edomites were thought of as inseparably connected, or that this induced Obadiah to place opposite to the sins of the Edomites, not their own punishment, but the punishment of all nations, more especially as, according to Oba 1:11, it must necessarily be assumed that the foreign nations participated in the sin of Edom. For this leaves the question unanswered, how Obadiah came to speak at all (Oba 1:15) of the day of the Lord upon all nations. The circumstance that, according to Oba 1:11, heathen nations had plundered Jerusalem, and committed crimes like those for which Edom is condemned in Oba 1:12-14, does not lead directly to the day of judgment upon all nations, but simply to a judgment upon Edom and the nations which had committed like sins. The difficulty is only removed by the assumption that Obadiah regarded Edom as a type of the nations that had risen up in hostility to the Lord and His people, and were judged by the Lord in consequence, so that what he says of Edom applies to all nations which assume the same or a similar attitude towards the people of God. From this point of view he could, without reserve, extend to all nations the retribution which would fall upon Edom for its sins. They should drink tâmı̄d, i.e., not at once, as Ewald has rendered it in opposition to the usage of the language, but “continually.” This does not mean, however, that “there will be no time in which there will not be one of the nations drinking the intoxicating cup, and being destroyed by drinking thereof; or that the nations will come in turn, and therefore in a long immeasurable series, one after the other, to drink the cup of intoxication,” as Caspari supposes, but “continually, so that the turn never passes from the heathen to Judah, Isa 51:22-23” (Hitzig). This drinking is more precisely defined as drinking and swallowing (לוּע, in Syriac, to devour or swallow, hence לע, a throat, so called from the act of swallowing, Pro 23:2), i.e., drinking in full draughts; and the effect, “they will be like such as have not been, have never existed” (cf. Job 10:19), i.e., they will be utterly destroyed as nations.

Oba 1:17-21

The Kingdom of Jehovah Established upon Zion. - The prophecy advances from the judgment upon all the heathen to the completion of the kingdom of God by the raising up of Israel to world-wide dominion. While the judgment is falling upon all the heathen nations, Mount Zion will be an asylum for those who are delivered. Judah and Israel will capture the possessions of the nations, destroy Edom, and extend its borders on every side (Oba 1:17-19). The Israelites scattered among the nations will return into their enlarged inheritances, and upon Zion will saviours arise, to judge Edom, and the kingdom will then be the Lord’s (Oba 1:20, Oba 1:21). This promise is appended as an antithesis to the proclamation of judgment in Oba 1:16. Oba 1:17 “But upon Mount Zion will be that which has been saved, and it will be a sanctuary, and the house of Jacob will take possession of their possessions.” Upon Mount Zion, which the Edomites have now desecrated by drinking carousals, there will then, when the nations are obliged to drink the cup of intoxication even to their utter destruction, be pelētâh, that which has escaped, i.e., the multitude of those who have been rescued and preserved throughout the judgment. See the explanation of this at Joe 2:32, where this thought is still further expounded. Mount Zion is the seat of the kingdom of Jehovah (cf. Oba 1:21). There the Lord is enthroned (Joe 3:17), and His rescued people with Him. And it (Mount Zion) will be qōdesh, a sanctuary, i.e., inviolable; the heathen will no more dare to tread it and defile it (Joe 3:17). It follows from this, that the rescued crowd upon it will also be a holy people (“ a holy seed,” Isa 6:13). This sanctified people of the Lord, the house of Jacob, will capture the possessions of their foes. The suffix attached to מורשׁיהם is supposed by many to refer to בּית יעקב: those of the house of Jacob, i.e., the rescued Israelites, will take their former possessions once more. This view cannot be overthrown by the simple remark that yârash cannot mean to take possession again; for that meaning might be given to it by the context, as, for example, in Deu 30:5. But it is a decisive objection to it, that neither in what precedes nor in what follows is there any reference to Israel as having been carried away. The penetration of foes into the gates of Jerusalem, the plundering of the city, and the casting of lots upon the booty and the prisoners (Oba 1:11), do not involve the carrying away of the whole nation into exile; and the gâlūth of the sons of Israel and Jerusalem in Oba 1:20 is clearly distinguished from the “house of Jacob” in Oba 1:18. And since we have first of all (Oba 1:18, Oba 1:19) an announcement of the conquest of Edom by the house of Jacob, and the capture of the mountains of Esau, of Philistia, etc., by the inhabitants of the south-land, i.e., by Judaeans; and then in Oba 1:20 the possession of the south-land is promised to the gâluth (captivity); this gâluth can only have been a small fragment of the nation, and therefore the carrying away can only have extended to a number of prisoners of war, whilst the kernel of the nation had remained in the land, i.e., in its own possessions. The objection offered to this, namely, that if we refer the suffix in mōrâshēhem (their possessions) to kŏl-haggōyı̄m (all nations), Judah would have to take possession of all nations, which is quite incredible and even at variance with Oba 1:19, Oba 1:20, inasmuch as the only enemies’ land mentioned there (Oba 1:19) is the territory of the Edomites and Philistines, whilst the other countries or portions of country mentioned there are not enemies’ land at all. For there is no incredibility in the taking of the land of all nations by Judah, except on the assumption that Judah merely denotes the posterity or remnant of the citizens of the earthly kingdom of Judah. But this is not what Obadiah says. He does not mention Judah, but the house of Jacob, and means thereby not the natural Israel, but the people of God, who are eventually to obtain the dominion of the world. The discrepancy between Oba 1:17 and Oba 1:19 is not greater than that between שׁתיתם in Oba 1:16 and ישּׁתּוּ כל־הגּוים in Oba 1:16, and disappears if we only recognise the fact that Edom and the Philistines are simply mentioned in Oba 1:19 as types of the heathen world in its hostility to god. We therefore regard the application of the expression mōrâshēhem to the possessions of the heathen nations as the only correct one, and that all the more because the וירשׁוּ in Oba 1:19 is very clearly seen to be a more exact explanation of the וירשׁוּ in Oba 1:17. In Oba 1:17 Obadiah gives, in a few brief words, the sum and substance of the salvation which awaits the people of the Lord in the future. This salvation is unfolded still further in what follows, and first of all in Oba 1:18, Oba 1:19, by a fuller exposition of the thought expressed in Oba 1:17.

The Doom of Edom. (b. c. 587.)

1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the Lord , and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. 2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. 3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? 4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord . 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 grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? 6 How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! 7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him. 8 Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord , even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? 9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

Edom is the nation against which this prophecy is levelled, and which, some think, is put for all the enemies of Israel, that shall be brought down first or last. The rabbin by Edom understand Rome. Rome Christians they understand it of, and have an implacable enmity to it a such; but, if we understand it of Rome antichristian, we shall find the passages of it applicable enough. And though Edom was mortified in the times of the Maccabees, as it had been before by Jehoshaphat, yet its destruction seems to have been typical, as their father Esau's rejection, and to have had further reference to the destruction of the enemies of the gospel-church; for so shall all God's enemies perish; and we find (Isa. xxxiv. 5) the sword of the Lord coming down upon Idumea, to signify the general day of God's recompences for the controversy of Zion, v. 8. Some have well observed that it could not but be a great temptation to the people of Israel, when they saw themselves, who were the children of beloved Jacob, in trouble, and the Edomites, not only prospering, but triumphing over them in their troubles; and therefore God gives them a prospect of the destruction of Edom, which should be total and final, and of a happy issue of their own correction. Now we may observe here,

I. A declaration of war against Edom, (v. 1): "We have heard a rumour, or rather an order, from the Lord, the God of hosts; he has given the word of command; it is his counsel and decree, which can neither be reversed nor resisted, that all who do mischief to his people shall certainly bring mischief upon themselves. We have heard a report that God is raised up out of his holy habitation, and is preparing his throne for judgment; and an ambassador is sent among the heathen," a herald rather, some minister or messenger of Providence, to alarm the nations, or the Lord's prophets, who gave each nation its burden. Those whom God employs cry to each other, Arise ye, stir up yourselves and one another, and let us rise up against Edom in battle. The confederate forces under Nebuchadnezzar thus animate themselves and one another to make a descent upon that country: Gather yourselves together, and come against her; so it is in the parallel place, Jer. xlix. 14. Note, When God has bloody work to do among the enemies of his church he will find out and fit up both hands and hearts to do it.

II. A prediction of the success of that war. Edom shall certainly be subdued, and spoiled, and brought down; for all her confidences shall fail her and stand her in no stead, and in like manner shall all the enemies of God's church be disappointed in those things which they stayed themselves upon.

1. Do they depend upon their grandeur, the figure they make among the nations, their influence upon them, and interest in them? That shall dwindle (v. 2): "Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen, so that none of thy neighbours will court thy friendship, or court an alliance with thee; thou art greatly despised among them, and looked upon with contempt, as an infatuated and unfaithful nation." And thus (v. 3) the pride of thy heart has deceived thee. Note, (1.) Those that think well of themselves are apt to fancy that others think well of them too; but, when they come to make trial of them, they will find themselves mistaken, and thus their pride deceives them and by it slays them. (2.) God can easily lay those low that have magnified and exalted themselves, and will find out a way to do it, for he resists the proud; and we often see those small and greatly despised who once looked very big and were greatly caressed and admired.

2. Do they depend upon the fortifications of their country, both by nature and art, and glory in the advantages they have thereby? Those also shall deceive them. They dwelt in the clefts of the rock, as an eagle in her nest, and their habitation was high, not only exalted above their neighbours, which was the matter of their pride, but fortified against their enemies, which was the matter of their security, so high as to be out of the reach of danger. Now observe, (1.) What Edom says in the pride of his heart: Who shall bring me down to the ground? He speaks with a confidence of his own strength, and a contempt of God's judgments, as if almighty power itself could not overpower him. As for all his enemies, even God himself, he puffs at them (Ps. x. 5), sets them all at defiance. Their father Esau had sold his birthright, and yet they lifted up themselves, as if to them had still pertained the excellency of dignity and power. Many forfeit their privileges, and yet boast of them. Because Edom is high and lifted up, he imagines none can bring him down. Note, Carnal security is a sin that most easily besets men in the day of their pomp, power, and prosperity, and does, as much as any thing, both ripen men for ruin and aggravate it when it comes. (2.) What God says to this, v. 4. If men will dare to challenge Omnipotence, their challenge shall be taken up: Who shall bring me down? says Edom. "I will," says God. "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle that soars high and builds high, nay, though thou set thy nest among stars, higher than ever any eagle flew, it is but in thy own imagination, and thence will I bring thee down." This we had Jer. xlix. 15, 16. Note, Sinners will certainly be made ashamed of their pride and security of their pride when it has a fall and of their security when their confidences fail their expectation.

3. Do they depend upon their wealth and treasure, the abundance of which is looked upon as the sinews of war? Is their money their defence? Is that their strong city? It is so only in their own conceit, for it shall rather expose them than protect them; it shall be made a prey to the enemy, and they for the sake of it, v. 5, 6. Much to this purport we had Jer. xlix. 9, 10. Only here comes in, in a parenthesis, How art thou cut off! thou and all thy stores. The prophet foretels it, but laments it, that the thread of their prosperity was cut off. How art thou fallen, and how great is thy fall! How art thou stupefied! so the Chaldee words it. How senseless art thou under these desolating judgments, as if they were but common strokes! But he shows that it should be an utter ruin, not a usual calamity; for, (1.) It is indeed a usual calamity for those that have wealth to have it stolen, and to lose a little out of their great deal. Thieves come to them (for where the carcase is, there will the birds of prey be gathered together), robbers come by night, and they steal till they have enough, what they have occasion for, what they have a mind for; they steal no more than they think they can carry away, and out of a great stock it is scarcely missed. Those that rob orchards, or vineyards, carry off what they think fit; but they leave some grapes, some fruit for the owner, who easily bears his loss perhaps and soon recruits it. But, (2.) It shall not be so with Edom; his wealth shall all be taken away, and nothing shall escape the hands of the destroying army, not that which is most precious and valuable, v. 6. How are the things of Esau, the things he sets his heart upon and places his happiness in, his good things, his best things, how are these things, which were so carefully treasured up and concealed, now searched out by the enemy and seized! How are the hidden things, his hidden treasures, plundered, rifled, and sought up! His hoards, that had not see the light for many years, are now a spoil to the enemy. Note, Treasures on earth, though ever so fast locked up and ever so artfully hidden, cannot be so safely laid up but that thieves may break through and steal; it is therefore our wisdom to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

4. Do they depend upon their alliances with neighbouring states and potentates? Those also shall fail them (v. 7): "The men of thy confederacy, all of them, the Ammonites and Moabites, and other thy high allies that were at peace with thee, that entered into a league offensive and defensive with thee, that solemnly engaged not only to do thee no hurt, but to do thee all the service the could, did eat thy bread, were magnificently treated and entertained by thee, lived upon thee; their soldiers had free quarter in thy country, and took pay as thy auxiliaries; they brought thee even to the border of thy land, were very respectful to thy ambassadors, and brought them on their way home, even to the utmost limits of their country; they seemed forward to serve thee with their forces when thou hadst occasion for them, and came along with thee to the border, till thou wast just ready to engage the invading enemy; but then," (1.) "They had deceived thee; they flew back and retreated when thou wast in extremity, and proved as a broken reed to the traveller that is weary, and as the brooks in summer to the traveller that is thirsty; they bear no weight, yield no relief." Nay, (2.) "They have prevailed against thee; they were too hard for thee in the treaty imposed upon thee, and by cheating thee ruined thee, brought thee into danger, and there left thee an easy prey to thy enemy." Note, Those that make flesh their arm arm it against them. Yet this was not the worst. (3.) "They have laid a wound under thee; that is, they have laid that under thee for a stay and support, for a foundation to rely on, for a pillow to repose on, which will prove a wound to thee; not as thorns only, but as swords." If God lay under us the arms of his power and love, these will be firm and easy under us; the God of our covenant will never deceive us. But if we trust to the men of our confederacy, and what they will lay under us, it may prove to us a wound and dishonour. And observe the just censure here passed upon Edom for trusting to those who thus played tricks with him: "There is no understanding in him, or else he would never have put it into their power to betray him by putting such a confidence in them." Note, Those show they have no understanding in them who, when they are encouraged to trust in the Creator, put a cheat upon themselves by reposing a confidence in the creature.

5. Do they depend upon the politics of their counsellors? These shall fail them, v. 8. Edom had been famous for great statesmen, men of learning and experience, that sat at the help of government, and were masters of all the arts of management, that in all treaties used to outwit their neighbours; but now the counsellors have become fools, and the wise God makes them so: Shall I not in that day destroy the wise men out of Edom? As men they shall fall by the sword in common with others (Ps. xlix. 10), and their wisdom shall not secure them; as wise men they shall be infatuated in all their counsels; their best-laid designs shall be baffled, their measures broken, and those very projects by which they thought to establish themselves and the public interests shall be the ruin of both. Thus wisdom perishes from Teman, as it is in the parallel place, Jer. xlix. 7. This was, (1.) The just punishment of their folly in trusting to an arm of flesh: There is no understanding in them, v. 7. They have not sense to trust in a living God, and a God of truth, but put confidence in men that are frail, fickle, and false; and therefore God will destroy their understanding. Note, God will justly deny those understanding to keep out of the way of danger that will not use their understanding to keep out of the way of sin. He that will be foolish, let him be foolish still. (2.) It was the forerunner of their destruction. A nation is certainly marked for ruin when God hides the things that belong to its peace from the eyes of those that are entrusted with its counsels. Quos Deus vult perdere, eos dementat—God infatuates those whom he designs to destroy. Job xii. 17.

6. Do they depend upon the strength and courage of their soldiers? They are not only able-bodied, but men of spirit and courage, that can face an enemy and stand their ground; but now (v. 9), Thy mighty men, O Teman! shall be dismayed; their courage shall fail them, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter, and none escape. The weak, and feeble, and unarmed must fall of course into the hand of the destroyer when the mighty men are dismayed, and not only lose the day, but lose their lives, because they have lost their spirit. Howl, fir-trees, if the cedars be shaken. Note, The death or disuniting of the mighty often proves the death and destruction of the many; and it is in vain to depend upon mighty men for our protection if we have not an almighty God for us, much less if we have an almighty God against us.

The Guilt of Edom. (b. c. 587.)

10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. 11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. 12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. 13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; 14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. 15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. 16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.

When we have read Edom's doom, no less than utter ruin, it is natural to ask, Why, what evil has he done? What is the ground of God's controversy with him? Many things, no doubt, were amiss in Edom; they were a sinful people, and a people laden with iniquity. But that one single crime which is laid to their charge, as filling their measure and bringing this ruin upon them, that for which they here stand indicted, of which they are convicted, and for which they are condemned, is the injury they had done to the people of God (v. 10): "It is for thy violence against thy brother Jacob, that ancient and hereditary grudge which thou hast borne to the people of Israel, that all this shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off for ever." Note, Injuries to men are affronts to God, the righteous God, that loveth righteousness and hateth wickedness; and, as the Judge of all the earth, he will give redress to those that suffer wrong and take vengeance on those that do wrong. All violence, all unrighteousness, is sin; but it is a great aggravation of the violence if it be done either, 1. Against any of our own people; it is violence against thy brother, thy near relation, to whom thou shouldst be a goël—a redeemer, whom it is thy duty to right if others wronged him; how wicked is it then for thee thyself to wrong him! Thou slanderest and abusest thy own mother's son; this makes the sin exceedingly sinful, Ps. l. 20. Or, 2. Much more if it be done against any of God's people; "it is thy brother Jacob that is in covenant with God, and dear to him. Thou hatest him whom God has loved, and because God espouses and will plead with jealousy, and in whose interests God is pleased so far to interest himself that he takes the violence done to him as done to himself. Whoso touches Jacob touches the apple of the eye of Jacob's God." So that it is crimen læsæ majestatis—high treason, for which, as for high treason, let Edom expect an ignominious punishment: Shame shall cover thee, and a ruining one; thou shalt be cut off for ever.

In the following verses we are told more particularly,

I. What the violence was which Edom did against his brother Jacob, and what are the proofs of this charge. It does not appear that the Edomites did themselves invade Israel, but that was more for want of power than will; they had malice enough to do it, but were not a match for them. But that which is laid to their charge is their barbarous conduct towards Judah and Jerusalem when they were in distress, and ready to be destroyed, probably by the Chaldeans, or upon occasion of some other of the calamities of the Jews; for this seems to have been always their temper towards them. See this charged upon the Edomites (Ps. cxxxvii. 7), that in the day of Jerusalem they said, Rase it, rase it, and Ezek. xxv. 12. They are here told particularly what they did, by being told what they should not have done (v. 12-14): "Thou shouldst not have looked, thou shouldst not have entered; but thou didst so." Note, In reflecting upon ourselves it is good to compare what we have done with what we should have done, our practice with the rule, that we may discover wherein we have done amiss, have done those things which we ought not to have done. We should not have been where we were at such a time, should not have been in such and such company, should not have said what we said, nor have taken the liberty that we took. Sin thus looked upon, in the glass of the commandment, will appear exceedingly sinful. Let us see,

1. What was the case of Judah and Jerusalem when the Edomites behaved themselves thus basely and insulted over them. (1.) It was a day of distress with them (v. 12): It was the day of their calamity, so it is called three times, v. 13. With the Edomites it was a day of prosperity and peace when with the Israelites it was a day of distress and calamity, for judgment commonly begins at the house of God. Children are corrected when strangers are let alone. (2.) It was the day of their destruction (v. 12), when both city and country were laid waste, were laid in ruins. (3.) It was a day when foreigners entered into the gates of Jerusalem, when the city, after a long siege, was broken up, and the great officers of the king of Babylon's army came, and sat in the gates, as judges of the land; when they cast lots upon the spoils of Jerusalem, as the soldiers on Christ's garments, what shares each of the conquerors shall have, what shares of the lands, what shares of the goods; or they cast lots to determine when and where they should attack it. (4.) It was a day when the strangers carried away captive his forces (v. 11), took the men of war prisoners of war, and carried them off, in poverty and shame, to their own country, or such a multitude of captives that they were as an army. (5.) "It was a day when thy brother himself, that had long been at home, at rest in his own land, became a stranger, an exile in a strange land." Now, when this was the woeful case of the Jews, the Edomites, their neighbours and brethren, should have pitied them and helped them, condoled with them and comforted them, and should have trembled to think that their own turn would come next; for, if this was done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? But,

2. See what was the conduct of the Edomites towards them when they were in this distress, for which they are here condemned. (1.) They looked with pleasure upon the affliction of God's people; they stood on the other side (v. 11), afar off, when they should have come in to the relief of their distressed neighbours, and looked upon them, and their day, looked on their affliction (v. 12, 13), with a careless unconcerned eye, as the priest and Levite looked upon the wounded man, and passed by on the other side. Those have a great deal to answer for that are idle spectators of the troubles and afflictions of their neighbours, when they are capable of being their active helpers. But this was not all; they looked upon it with a scornful eye, with an eye of complacency and satisfaction; they looked and laughed to see Israel in distress, saying, Aha! so we would have it. They fed their eyes with the rueful spectacle of Jerusalem's ruin, and looked at it as those that had long looked for it and often wished to see it. Note, We must take heed with what eye we look upon the afflictions of our brethren; and, if we cannot look upon them with a gracious eye of sympathy and tenderness, it is better not to look upon them at all: Thou shouldst not have looked as thou didst upon the day of thy brother. (2.) They triumphed and insulted over them, upbraided their brethren with their sorrows, and made themselves and their companions merry with them. They rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. They had not the good manners to conceal the pleasure they took in Judah's destruction and to dissemble it, but openly declared it, and rudely and insolently declared it to them; they rejoiced over them, crowed, and hectored, and trampled upon them. Those have the spirit of Edomites that can rejoice over any, especially over Israelites, in the day of their calamity. (3.) They spoke proudly-magnified the mouth (so the word is), against Israel, talked with a great disdain of the suffering Israelites, and with an air of haughtiness of the present safety and prosperity of Edom, as it if might be inferred from their present different state that the tables were turned, and now Esau was beloved, and the favourite of heaven, and Jacob hated and rejected. Note, Those must expect to be in some way or other effectually humbled and mortified themselves that are puffed up and made proud by the humiliations and mortifications of others. (4.) They went further yet, for they entered into the gate of God's people in the day of their calamity, and laid hands on their substance. Though they did not help to conquer them, they helped to plunder them, and put in for a share in the prey, v. 13. Jerusalem was thrown open, and then they entered in; its wealth was thrown about, and they seized it for themselves, excusing it with this, that they might as well take it as let it be lost; whereas it was taking what was not their own. Babylon lays Jerusalem waste, but Edom, by meddling with the spoil, becomes particeps criminis—partaker of the crime, and shall be reckoned with as an accessary ex post facto—after the fact. Note, Those do but impoverish themselves that think to enrich themselves by the ruins of the people of God; and those deceive themselves who think they may call all that substance their own which they can lay their hands on in a day of calamity. (5.) They did yet worse things; they not only robbed their brethren, but murdered them, in the day of their calamity; laid hands not only on their substance, but on their persons, v. 14. When the victorious sword of the Chaldeans was making bloody work among the Jews many made their escape, and were in a fair way to save themselves by flight; but the Edomites basely intercepted them, stood in the cross-way where several roads met, by each of which the trembling Israelites were making the best of their way from the fury of the pursuers, and there they stopped them: some they barbarously and cowardlike cut off themselves; others they took prisoners, and delivered up to the pursuers, only to ingratiate themselves with them, because they were now the conquerors. They should not have been thus cruel to those that lay at their mercy, and never had done, nor were every likely to do, them any hurt; they should not have betrayed those whom they had such a fair opportunity to protect; but such are the tender mercies of the wicked. One cannot read this without a high degree of compassion towards those who were thus basely abused, who when they fled from the sword of an open enemy, and thought they had got out of the reach of it, fell upon and fell by the sword of a treacherous neighbour, whom they were not apprehensive of any danger from. Nor can one read this without a high degree of indignation towards those who were so perfectly lost to all humanity as to exercise such cruelty upon such proper objects of compassion. (6.) In all this they joined with the open enemies and persecutors of Israel: Even thou wast as one of them, an accessary equally guilty with the principals. He that joins in with the evil doers, and is aiding and abetting in their evil deeds, shall be reckoned, and shall be reckoned with, as one of them.

II. What the shame is that shall cover them for this violence of theirs. 1. They shall soon find that the cup is going round, even the cup of trembling; and, when they come to be in the same calamitous condition that the Israel of God is now in, they will be ashamed to remember how they triumphed over them (v. 15): The day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen, when God will recompense tribulation to the troublers of his church. Though judgment begin at the house of God, it shall not end there. This should effectually restrain us from triumphing over others in their misery, that we know not how soon it may be our own case. 2. Their enmity to the people of God, and the injuries they had done them, shall be recompensed into their own bosoms: As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. The righteous God will render both to nations and to particular persons according to their works; and the punishment is often made exactly to answer to the sin, and those that have abused others come to be themselves abused in like manner. The just and jealous God will find out a time and way to avenge the wrongs done to his people on those that have been injurious to them. As you have drunk upon my holy mountain (v. 16), that is, as God's professing people, who inhabit his holy mountain, have drunk deeply of the cup of affliction (and their being of the holy mountain would not excuse them), so shall all the heathen drink, in their turn, of the same bitter cup; for, if God bring evil on the city that is called by his name, shall those be unpunished that never knew his name? See Jer. xxv. 29. And it is part of the burden of Edom (Jer. xlix. 12), Those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup (who had reason to promise themselves an exemption from it) have assuredly drunken, and shall Edom that is the generation of God's wrath go unpunished? No, thou shalt surely drink of it; the cup of trembling shall be taken out of the hand of God's people, and put into the hand of those that afflict them, Isa. li. 22, 23. Nay, they may expect their case to be worse in the day of their distress than that of Israel was in their day; for, (1.) The afflictions of God's people were but for a moment, and soon had an end, but their enemies shall drink continually the wine of God's wrath, Rev. xiv. 10. (2.) The dregs of the cup are reserved for the wicked of the earth (Ps. lxxv. 8); they shall drink and swallow down, or sup up (as the margin reads it), shall drink it to the bottom. (3.) The people of God, though they may be made to drink of the wine of astonishment for a while (Ps. lx. 3), shall yet recover, and come to themselves again; but the heathen shall drink and be as though they had not been; there shall be neither any remains nor any remembrance of them, but they shall be wholly extirpated and rooted out. So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord! so they shall perish, if they turn not.

Promises to Israel and Judah. (b. c. 587.)

17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it. 19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. 21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord 's.

After the destruction of the church's enemies is threatened, which will be completely accomplished in the great day of recompence, and that judgment for which Christ came once, and will come again, into this world, here follow precious promises of the salvation of the church, with which this prophecy concludes, and those of Joel and Amos did, which, however they might be in part fulfilled in the return of the Jews out of Babylon notwithstanding the triumphs of Edom in their captivity, as if it were perpetual, are yet, doubtless, to have their full accomplishment in that great salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ, to which all the prophets bore witness. It is promised here,

I. That there shall be salvation upon Mount Zion, that holy hill where God sets his anointed King (Ps. ii. 6): Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, v. 17. There shall be those that escape; so the margin. A remnant of Israel, upon the holy mountain shall be saved, v. 16. Christ said, Salvation is of the Jews, John iv. 22. God wrought deliverances for the Jews, typical of our redemption by Christ. But Mount Zion is the gospel-church, from which the New-Testament law went forth, Isa. ii. 3. There salvation shall be preached and prayed for; to the gospel-church those are added who shall be saved; and for those who come in faith and hope to this Mount Zion deliverance shall be wrought from wrath and the curse, from sin, and death, and hell, while those who continue afar off shall be left to perish.

II. That, where there is salvation, there shall be sanctification in order to it: And there shall be holiness, to prepare and qualify the children of Zion for this deliverance; for wherever God designs glory he gives grace. Temporal deliverances are indeed wrought for us in mercy when with them there is holiness, when there is wrought in us a disposition to receive them with love and gratitude to God; when we are sanctified, they are sanctified to us. Holiness is itself a great deliverance, and an earnest of that eternal salvation which we look for. There, upon Mount Zion, in the gospel-church, shall be holiness; for that is it which becomes God's house for ever, and the great design of the gospel, and its grace, is to plant and promote holiness. There shall be the Holy Spirit, the holy ordinances, the holy Jesus, and a select remnant of holy souls, in whom, and among whom, the holy God will delight to dwell. Note, Where there is holiness there shall be deliverance.

III. That this salvation and sanctification shall spread, and prevail, and get ground in the world: The house of Jacob, even this Mount Zion, with the deliverance and their holiness there wrought, shall possess their possessions; that is, the gospel-church shall be set up among the heathen, and shall replenish the earth; the apostles of Christ by their preaching shall gain possession of the hearts of men for him whose messengers and ministers they are, and when they possess their hearts they shall possess their possessions, for those who have given up themselves to the Lord give up all they have to him. When Lydia's heart was opened to Christ her house was opened to his ministers. When the Gentile nations became nations of those that were saved, were disciplined, walked in the light of the Lord, and brought their glory and honour into the new Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. 24), then the house of Jacob possessed their possessions. This is the part fulfilled by the planting of the Christian religion in the world, and shall be fulfilled yet more and more by the setting up of Christ's throne where Satan's seat is, and the erecting of trophies of his victory upon the ruins of the devil's kingdom. Now here is foretold,

1. How this possession shall be gained, and the opposition given to it got over (v. 18): The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, for their God is, and will be, a consuming fire; and the house of Esau shall be for stubble, easily devoured and consumed by this fire. This is fulfilled, (1.) In the conversion of multitudes by the grace of Christ; the gospel, preached in the house of Jacob and Joseph, and there owned and professed, shall be as a fire and a flame to melt and to soften hard hearts, to burn up the dross of sin and corruption, that they may be purified and refined with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. Christ, when he comes, shall be as a refiner's fire, Mal. iii. 1, 2. (2.) In the confusion of all the impenitent implacable enemies of the gospel of Christ, that oppose it and do all they can to hinder the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah by it. The gospel day is a day that burns like an oven, in which all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be a stubble, Mal. iv. 1. Jacob and Joseph shall be as a fire and a flame; for those that meddle with them, to do them hurt, will find that they do so at their peril; they shall be to them as a torch of fire in a sheaf, Zech. xii. 6. The word of God in the mouth of his ministers is said to be like fire, and the people as wood to be devoured by it, Jer. v. 14. And the man of sin is to be consumed by the breath of Christ's mouth, 2 Thess. ii. 8. Those that are not refined as gold by fire of the gospel shall be consumed as dross by it; for it will be a savour either of life or of death. When idols and idolatry were abolished, and the wealth and power of nations were brought into the service of Christ and his gospel, and the spoils of the strong man armed were divided by him that was stronger than he, then the house of Jacob and Joseph devoured the house of Esau, so that there was none of them left remaining. This the Lord spoke by his prophets, and this he did by his apostles.

2. How far this possession shall extend, v. 19, 20. This is described in Jewish language, which speaks the accession made to the land of Israel, after the return out of captivity into Babylon. The captivity of this host of Israel, that is, this host of Israel that have been so long in captivity and now they have come back are still called the children of the captivity, these shall not only recover their own land, but shall gain ground upon their neighbours adjoining to them, some of whom shall become proselytes and shall incorporate with the Jews, who, by possessing them in a holy communion, possess their land. We must reckon ourselves truly enriched by the conversion of our neighbours to the fear of God and the faith of Christ, and their coming to join with us in the worship of God. Such an accession to our Christian communion we must reckon to be more our wealth and strength than an accession to our estates. Or, The ancient inhabitants of those lands that were carried away into captivity being lost, and never returning to their estates, the children of Israel shall take possession of that which lies next them; for their numbers shall so increase that their own land shall be too strait for them, and their neighbours' estates shall escheat to them ob defectum sanguinis—through default of heirs. They shall enter upon that which is adjoining to them. The country of Esau shall be possessed by those of the south parts of Canaan, for to them it lies contiguous. Those of the plain, on the west of Canaan, which was a champaign country, shall enter upon the land of the Philistines, their neighbours. Those of Judah, which was the chief of the two returning tribes, shall possess the field of Ephraim and Samaria, which before belonged to the ten tribes; and Benjamin, the other tribe, shall possess Gilead on the other side of Jordan, which had belonged to the two tribes and a half. The kingdom of Israel shall join with that of Judah both in civil and sacred interests, and, as friends and brethren, shall mutually possess and enjoy one another; and both together shall possess the Canaanites, even to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon; and Jerusalem shall possess the cities of the south, even to Sepharad. Thus did the Jews enlarge their borders on all sides. The modern rabbin teach their scholars by Zarephath and Sepharad to understand France and Spain, grounding upon this a foolish groundless expectation that some time or other the Jews shall be masters of those countries; and they call and count the Christians Edomites, over whom they are to have dominion. But the promise here, no doubt, has a spiritual signification, and had its accomplishment in the setting up of the Christian church, the gospel-Israel, in the world, and shall have its accomplishment more and more in the enlargement of it and the additions made to it, till the mystical body is completed. When ministers and Christians prevail with their neighbours to come to Christ, to yield themselves to the Lord, they possess them. The converts that Abraham had are said to be the souls that he had gotten, Gen. xii. 5. The possession is gained, not vi et armis—by force and arms; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual; it is by the preaching of the gospel, and the power of divine grace going along with it, that this possession is got and kept.

IV. That the kingdom of the Redeemer shall be erected and maintained, to the comfort of his loyal subjects and the terror and shame of all his enemies (v. 21): The kingdom shall be the Lord's, the Lord Christ's. God shall give it to him, by putting all things into his hand, all power both in heaven and in earth; men shall give it to him, by resigning themselves to him as his willing people, and appointing him their head. Now the work of kings is to protect their subjects and suppress their enemies; and this Christ will do; he will both reward and punish. 1. The mountain of Zion shall be saved; on it saviours shall come, the preachers of the gospel, who are called saviours, because their business is to save themselves and those that hear them; and in this they are workers together with Christ, but to little purpose if he by his grace did not work together with them. 2. The mountain of Esau shall be judged; and the same that come as saviours on Mount Zion shall judge the mountain of Esau; for the word of the gospel in their mouth, that saves believers, judges unbelievers, convinces and condemns them. Christ's ministers are saviours on Mount Zion when they preach that he that believes shall be saved; but they judge the mount of Esau when they preach that he that believeth not shall be damned, which they are not only commissioned, but commanded to do, Mark xvi. 16. And in the course of God's providence his scripture is fulfilled; when God raises up friends to the church in her distress (as he raised up judges to deliver Israel of old, Judg. ii. 16), then saviours come on Mount Zion, to save it from being sunk and ruined; and when the enemies of the church are brought down, and their power broken, then is the mount of Esau judged; and this shall be done in every age in such a way as God thinks best; we may depend upon it that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church, but the church shall prevail against them; for the kingdom shall be the Lord's; the kingdoms of the world shall become his, and he has taken, and will take, to himself his great power and reign.

A COMMENT OR, EXPOSITION Of the Propheſie of OBADIAH.

Verſe 1. THE viſion of Obadiah,] The ſame, ſay ſome, that hid the Lords Prophets and fed them by fifty in a cave, when ſought for to the ſlaughter, by wicked Jezabel, 1 King. 18.4. whereupon himſelf alſo received a Prophets reward. That is (ſaith Lyra) was endued with the ſpirit of propheſie. Hierom addeth, that he was buried at Samaria, (called afterwards Sebaſte by Herod, in honour of Auguſtus) and that there his Sepulchre was yet to be ſeen. The Rabbines ſay, that this Obadiah was that widows husband, whom Eliſha relieved, by multiplying her oyl, 2 King. 4. Others (with more ſhew of reaſon) conjecture that this was that Obadiah mentioned 2 Chron. 34.12. a faithfull Levite, ſet by Joſiah to overſee the Artificers, who repaired the Temple in the eighteenth yeere of his reigne:Jer. 49. Ezech. 25. Pſal. 137.7. and ſo was contemporary to Ezechiel and Jeremy, with whom alſo he conſenteth in many paſſages: and beſides, he maketh mention of the Babyloniſh captivity, and the Edomites cruelty to the Jews at that time. But let him be who he will, (for where the Scripture hath no tongue, we need not finde ears: but may well content our ſelves with a learned ignorance) his doctrine he entituleth not a Burden, becauſe he concludeth it comfortably, but a Viſion which is more generall: it being his ſcope to comfort the people of God, that were under great affliction.

Thus ſaith the Lord God concerning Edom,] If Obadiah were himſelf an Edomite, but a Proſelyte to the Church (as ſome Rabbines have reported him) his viſion ſhould have taken the better with his cruell countrey-men, to bring them to repentance. But whether he were or not, they ſhould have obſerved his authority: and that his doctrine came Cum privilegio, and that it was the Lord God, the Tremend Trinunus that ſpake by him; and that hee was according to his name, a ſervant of the moſt high-God, which ſhewed unto them the way of ſalvation, Acts 16.17. Sed ſurdo fabulam: the Edomites were ſo fleſhed in blood, and ſuch inveterate enemies to the Church, that there was little good to be done upon them. Howſoever, to leave them without excuſe, and, if poſſible, to rouſe them out of their ſecurity, He ſaith,

We have heard a rumour from the Lord,] We, that is, I and my fellow-Prophets (who are à ſecretis to the Lord, Amos 3.7.) have heard for a certainty, that the Edomites are devoted to deſtruction. And that this was no vain rumour, but accordingly accompliſhed, ſee Jer. 25.9, 21. Mal. 1.3.

and an Embaſſadour is ſent among the heathen.] An herald at arms ſent by Nebuchadnezzar, ſay ſome, to ſtir up his Chaldeans againſt the Edomites: Others, make this Embaſſadour to be Chriſt, or a created Angel, or a divine inſtinct, or, laſtly, the Prophets. Whoſoever he is, he doth his work very vigorouſly.

Ariſe ye, ſaith he, and let us riſe up againſt her in battell.] Let us joyn our forces, and do our utmoſt againſt Idumea. After this ſort alſo ſhall Gods warriours ſtirre up themſelves one day, and one another, againſt the Romiſh Edomites, thoſe Pſeudo-chriſtians Antichriſtians, when God ſhall once put into their hearts, to hate that old withered whore of Babylon, to make her deſolate and naked, to eat her fleſh, and burn her with ſire, Rev. 17.16, 17. The Alarum was long ſince given them (not unlike this in the Text) by Francis Petrarch in theſe words. Babylon altera, nempe propinquior atque recentior, adhuc ſtat: citò itidem caſura; ſi eſſetis viri. De rem. utriuſque ſort. de al. 118. There yet ſtandeth a nearer and newer Babylon then that of old: but it ſhould not ſtand long, were you but Men. Ariſe ye, and let us riſe up againſt her in battell. The Jews at this day call the Hierarchie of Rome, the wicked kingdome of Edom; and for Dumah, Eſay 21.11. they read Roma, by a very eaſie (but willing) miſtake. See Dr. Taylours ſermon, called The Romiſh Edomite.

Verſe 2. Behold, I have made thee ſmall among the heathen.] That is, vile, deſpicable, and abject, as Pſal. 119.141. I am ſmall and deſpiſed: nothing is more ordinary then to deſpiſe the day of ſmall things, Zech. 4.10.Auguſtin. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Heſiod. Godw. Catal. And whereas God is ſaid to be Magnus in magnis, nec parvus in minimis, hee had alwayes kept down theſe profane Edomites, ſhutting them up in mount Seir, a craggy barren countrey (not unlike Aſcre Heſiods countrey, or Landaffe in Wales, which is ſaid to be a place, neither pleaſant, fertile, nor ſafe) and not ſuffering them to attain to any fame, or almoſt name among other Nations. Were it not that they are mentioned in the Bible (and never there for any goodneſſe neither) it would hardly have been known that there ever had been ſuch a people. Wherefore then ſhould Edom be ſo intolerably inſolent, as verſe 3? ſwell to ſuch an height of pride, play ſuch bloody pran[illegible: 1 letter]s, as he is here accuſed of? eſpecially ſince God is taking a courſe to make him yet leſſer and lower then yet he is,Eſay 23.9. by thoſe armies of his that are comming upon him, to ſtain the pride of all his glory.

Verſe 3. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee,] ſo as to make thee think thy ſelf ſome great buſineſſe, when its no ſuch matter; and that thou canſt ſecure thy ſelf in thy ſtrong-holds from thy ſtrongeſt enemies: but herein thy pride hath befooled thee, and put the ſame trick upon thee that the ſerpent did once upon the firſt woman, Gen. 3.13. (the ſame word is there uſed as here) who complained, when ſhe was in the tranſgreſſion. The ſerpent hath deceived me, &c.1 Tim. 2.14. He is ſtill the King of all the children of pride; and thereby cheateth them, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. raviſheth them of their right reaſon, and rendreth them the direct objects of Gods hatred and heavy diſpleaſure, Jam. 4.6. hee ſetteth himſelf in battell aray againſt them. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens (ſaith Zophar concerning the proud perſon, Job 20.6.) and his head reach unto the clouds: yet he ſhall periſh for ever like his own dung; they which have ſeen him, ſhall ſay, Where is he? There is a deceitfulneſſe in ſinne, Heb. 3 13. a lie in all theſe outward vanities, Jon. 2.8. they were never true to thoſe that truſted in them. But the proud perſon feedeth upon aſhes, he feedeth himſelf with falſe hopes: a deceived heart hath turned him aſide, put him into a fools paradiſe, that he cannot deliver his ſoul, Eſay 44.20. get out of his golden dreams, nor ſay, Is there not a lie in my right hand? His caſe is not unlike that mans, who lying faſt aſleep upon the edge of a ſteep rock, dreams merrily of much happineſſe and ſafety: but upon the ſudden ſtarting for joy, breaks his neck, and tumbles headlong into the bottome of the ſea.

thou that dwelleſt in the clefts of the rock] In a rocky mountainous countrey (as the Highlander in Scotland out of the reach of my rod, as thou fondly fancieſt: in Arabia Petraea, where thine enemies cannot come at thee; and where thou thinkeſt thy ſelf no leſſe ſafe and out of harmes-way, then Moſes was, when God had put him into the cleft of the rock, and covered him with his hand Exod. 33.22. or Elias when he ſtood in the mouth of the cave 1 King. 19.13.

whoſe habitation is high] Heb: his habitation is high; by a change of the perſon out of an holy diſdaine o[illegible: 1 letter] Edoms pride and creature-confidence, as if he were extra jactum, out of gun-ſhot, above danger.

that ſaith in his heart, Who ſhall bring me down?] Aequalis aſtris gradior, & cunctos ſuper Altum ſuperbo vertice attingens polum,Atreus in Thieſte apud Senec. Demitto ſuperos, ſumma votorum attigi &c. My roof receives me not, tis ayre I tread: Ben: Jonſ. At every ſtep I feele my advanced head Knock out a ſtarr in heaven— Such great ſwelling words of vanity ſpeakes the proud man,2 Pet. 2.18. ſuch big bubbles of of words, ſ[illegible: 1 letter]ſquipedalia verba, Who ſhall bring me down? who is the Lord? who is lord over us? &c. Such haughty expreſſions ſuch lofty language is a forerunner, a preſage of imminent deſtruction, as here. A bulging wall is not farr from a downfall. While the word (Is not this great Babel &c.) was yet in Nebuchadnezzars mouth, he was deprived of his kingdome, and driven from men &c. Dan. 4.31. Megaſthenes the Perſian (an ancient writer) reporteth that the Chaldeans relate, that Nebuchadnezzar returning home laden with victories, fell mad; and being in a fanatick veine, foretold the deſtruction of Babel, whether he foretold it or no tis ſure he occaſioned it, by confiding in it, and by robbing both God of his glory, and his anceſtors (the firſt founders) of their honour: for he only enlarged it,Pſal. 129.1. and built the palace entirely: and now he ſaith? Who ſhall bring me down? &c. That will I, ſaith God, in the next words. Aeſop being asked by Chilo (one of the ſeven wiſe men of Greece) what God was doing? anſwered, He bringeth down the proud, and lifteth up the lowly. See the like Pſal. 147.6.

Verſe 4. Though thou exalt thy ſelf as the Eagle] Or, as the Arabick text hath it, ad aquilam hard by the Eagle; Couldſt thou fly as high a pitch as that bird, which is ſaid to ſore out of ſight, and build thy neſt aloft, as He doth, on the higheſt mountaines, and talleſt trees, that the ſerpent may not come at his young.

and though thou ſet thy neſt among the ſtarrs] i. e. upon ſuch high hills as reach to the upper region of the ayre.Cicero. 1. de Oratore. Of Ithaca, ( Ʋlyſſes his country) the Oratour ſaith, that it was in ſcopulis quaſi nidus affixa, ſet as a neſt among the rocks. And Paulus Aemylius the Romane Generall pulled down the caſtles at Athens, ſaying that they were tyrannorum nidi: and our Henry 8. commanded the Abbeys here to to be demoliſhed, ſaying, that thoſe crowes-neſts were to be deſtroyed, ne iterum ad cohabitandum convolent that they might never breed againe amongſt us. Lucifer and his Antitype Nebuchadnezzar ſpake of aſcending into heaven, above the heights of the clouds, and of the ſetting their thrones above the ſtarres of God Eſa. 14.13, 14. See the like language, or bigger from the Prince of Tyre Ezek. 28.2. with the iſſue, much like this that here followeth.

thence will I bring thee down] Down with a vengeance: as he did Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Edom, Attilas, Genſericus, Bajazet &c. The Philiſtines flouted Jonathan and his armour-bearer and ſaid, Come up to us, and wee will ſhew you a thing: that is, we will give you your payment before we part with you: they held it impoſſible to get up that ſharp ſteep craggy rock where they kept garriſon. But Jonathan clambred over that rock on his hands, and feet; and put them to the rout 1 Sam. Plut. in Alexand. Curt. l. 7. 14.13 An exploit of as great or rather of greater valour, then that of Alexander the great, for which he is ſo crowned and Chronicled by Plutarch, and Curtius: the ſtory is this. Arimazes having garriſoned a very ſtrong rock, (held almoſt inacceſſible, and to which there was but one only paſſage) in the Sogdian countrey, with thirty thouſand men: and being ſent unto by Alexander to yeeld up his hold, derided him and asked whether Alexander could flie? whereunto Alexander returned this anſwer, I will make thee know ere thou art a night elder, that the Macedonians can flie. Hereupon he pickt out three hundred of the boldeſt men he had: and by great promiſes prevailed with them the next night, to climbe up the backſide of the rock to the top of it; which accordingly they did: and killing the guardes, took the garriſon, letting in Alexander, who nailed Arimazes to a croſſe.

ſaith the Lord] who will ſurely do it: how improbable, or impoſſible ſoever you may judge it.

Verſe 5. If theeves came to thee, if robbers by night] Or, what? have theeves come to thee? have robbers been here? O, ſure 'tis worſe then ſo with thee: they would never have made ſuch clean work, as they ſay, but have left ſomewhat behind them, they would never have plaid the Harpyes in this ſort, and taken all before them, &c. Thus the neighbour nations ſtand wondring at this wofull deſolation, and ſarcaſtically inſulting: Now to be mocked in miſery is no ſmall grief to the party. Thus the Prophet prickes them by a Rhetorical Addubitation, the better to affect their minds with an effectual feare of no ordinary or eaſy calamity, but ſuch as will be wonderfull, and incredible: ſo that they that heare 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 Sr. 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 grapes:] Surely they would: Deut. 24.21. there would likely be a gleaning of grapes after the vintage is done Iſa. 24.13. two or three berries in the top of the uppermoſt bough; foure or five in the outmoſt fruitfull branches Eſa. 17.6. It is hard but ſome make eſcape out of the battle to bring the ill newes. Edoms ruine therefore and deſolation was moſt deplorable and irreparable, ſith none was left alone: but all both men and meanes raked and racemated.

Verſe 6. How are the things of Eſau ſearched out?] Or (as Druſius reades it) How are the poſterity of Eſau ſearched out? the men to the ſlaughter, the wealth to the ſpoile? what cunning and daring ſouldiers were theſe to pry into every corner for prey, and to pull them out of every lurking hole, where they might have been circumvented and butchered, in thoſe dark and ſtrait places; This ſhewes ſurely that they were both armed and animated by God himſelf. Confer Joel. 2.6, 7, 8, 9. but eſpecially Jer. 49.10, 11. where you have the full of that, which is here but abridged: and therefore this verſe hath not ſo much as an Athnach in it, for diſtinction.

how are his hid things ſought out?] i. e. his treaſures and Jewels which have their name in Hebrew from hiding: becauſe men uſe to ſecret and ſecure them with utmoſt care and diligence, See Mat. 13.44. hence they are called treaſures of darkneſſe Eſa. 45.3. See Iob 3.21. Abundance of this was found at Conſtantinople, taken by the Turks: Turk. hîc[illegible: 1 letter]. 345. 347. ſo that the ſouldiers divided it among themſelves by hat-fuls, wondring at their wealth, and deriding their folly, that poſſeſſing ſo much, they would beſtow ſo little in defence of themſelves and their countrey, loſt by their tenacity and nigardice: And the ſame is reported of Heidelberg. Joſeph cont. Appron. l. 1. Antiq. l. 10. c. 10. This that is here threatened againſt Edom, was accordingly executed in the fift yeare after the deſtruction of Jeruſalem, ſaith Joſephus; Nebuchadnezzar in the 23. yeare of his raigne invading and waſting Idumea. Ill-gotten goodes proſper not. Men rake together riches, and know not who ſhall gather them Pſa. 39.7. But, let no man goe beyond and defraud another: for God is the avenger of all ſuch 1 Theſ. 2 Cor. 4.2. Prov. 10. 4.6. They do beſt that renounce with St. Paul, thoſe hidden things of diſhoneſty: not walking in craftineſſe, nor making haſt to be rich; for treaſures of wickedneſſe profit not: and when God comes by his judgements to turn the bottome of the bag upwards, as Joſephs ſteward once did, all our ſecret thefts will out. See Eccle. 12.16.

Verſe 7. All the men of thy confederacy] which therefore ſhould be true to thee, but prove trecherous: ſo vaine it is to truſt to that broken reed of carnall combinations, Many friends are like deep ponds, cleare at the top, and all muddy at the bottom: the cauſes they will be, but not the companions of calamity. Like they are ſaith One, to crowes which flock to a dead carcaſſe, not to defend it but to devour it: and no ſooner have they bared the bones, but they are gone. David complaineth of ſuch Pſal. 55.13, 14, 15. and Jeremy of his unkind countreymen of Anathoth chap. 11. But for Edom, it was no great pitty, conſidering their perfidy both to God (becauſe they had tranſgreſſed the lawes morall and municipall, changed the ordinances, that is, the law, of nations and broken the everlaſting covenant, that is, the law of Nature, which is that light that lighteneth every man that commeth into the world Ioh. 1.9.) and alſo to their brethren the Iſraelites their extreame inhumanity, as it followeth ver. 10.11. They had therefore but their own meaſure meted againe to them: as they had forgotten the brotherly covenant, Am. 1.9, 11. ſo they met with thoſe that paid them home in their own coyne: neither were they any more pittyed, then Haman when the king frowned upon him, or Sejanus when he fell into the diſpleaſure of Tiberius; his friends ſhewing themſelves moſt paſſionate againſt him, ſaying that if Caeſar had clemency, he ought to reſerve it for men, and not caſt it away upon monſters.

al brought thee even to the border] And there left thee at the worſt: pretending to help thee, but betraying thee indeed to the enemy: and helping to caſt thee out of thy countrey, under a ſhew of courteſy.

the men that were at peace with thee] Heb: the men of thy peace, the Ammonites, Moabites and other neighbour-nations from whom thou fearedſt no hurt: theſe, to ingratiate with the king of the Chaldeans.

have deceived thee] Tuta frequenſque via eſt per amici fallere nomen. Ovid. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Socr. This made a certaine Heathen cry out, Friends, there is no friend to be found: and Another, to pray God to deliver him from his friends; for, as for his enemies he could better beware of them.

they that eat thy bread] Heb. thy bread-men, thy fellow-commoners, convictores & conſalanei, others amici, that are ſeldome either ſatisfied, or ſure.

have laid a wound under thee] The Hebrew word ſignifieth both a wound and a plaiſter: they would ſecretly wound them, lay a wound under them; and yet ſeeme willing to bind up their wounds, and heale them, by applying a plaſter: ſuch dawbing there is in the world, Fide, deffide. Cavebis autem ſi pavebis.

there is none underſtanding in him] that is, in Edom. and this ſeemeth ſpoken by way of Apoſtrophe to the Iſraelites, whoſe comfort is intended in this whole Propheſie. It is as if it had been ſaid, Edom holds himſelf wiſe, but will ſhew himſelf a very ſot, deſtitute of common ſenſe: ſuch as taketh not notice that theſe are the wounds with which he was wounded in the houſe of his friends: the wit[illegible: 1 letter]al is either inſenſible of it: or elſe well content with it, till he hath bought his wit, and begins to open his eyes; but not till the paines of death are upon him, as it is ſaid of the Mole.

Verſe 8. Shal I not in that day ſaith the Lord &c.] Edom was famous for wiſdome, as appeareth by Eliphaz the Temanite, and other of Iobs friends who were Idumeans: and Rabſhakeh could ſay, that counſel and ſtrength are for wa[illegible: 1 letter]r Eſa. 36.5. what a price did Agamemnon ſat upon Neſtor? and Darins upon Zophirus? Scipio did nothing without his Polybius, and aſcribed moſt of his victories to his adviſe.Prov. 20.18. Every purpoſe is eſtabliſhed by counſel; and with good advice make warr, ſaith Salomon. Romani ſedendo vincnnt paſſed for a proverbe of old. The Romanes, conquered by ſitting in counſel: and Cyreas got more cities by his wisdome, then, Pyrebus by his puiſſance. But where no counſel is the people fall Prov, 11.14. and this was Edoms caſe in that day, that is, at that time when their confederates betrayed them to their enemie, and deſolation was at next doore by. God deſtroyed their wiſe men: he either cut them off, or infatuated them. Deus, quem deſtruit, dementat. When God intends to undo a man (ſay the Dutch) he firſt puts out his eyes, and befools him, Pliny ſaith of the Eagle, that ſetting upon the Hart, hee lights upon his hornes, and there flutters up and down, filling his eyes with duſt, born in her feathers: that at laſt he may caſt himſelf from a rock, and become a prey. God blindeth the underſtanding, and expectorateth the wiſdome of thoſe whom he deſigneth to deſtruction. Surely the Princes of Zoan are fools, the wiſe counſellours of Pharaoh are become bruitiſh, they have alſo ſeduced Egypt —The Lord hath mingled a ſpirit of perverſities in the middeſt thereof, &c. Eſay 19.11, 12, 13, 14.

Verſe 9. And thy mighty men, O Teman,] thy Gyants, thy Champions, that durſt look death in the face upon great adventures in the field: theſe were now diſmayed, and diſpirited; their courage was quailed, and even broken with fear, as the word ſignifieth: ſo that as Saul, when the Devil had preached his funerall, made haſte and fell with the fulneſſe of his ſtature all along on the earth, as being ſore afraid, 1 Sam. 28.20, ſo ſhall it be with the mighties of Teman, that is, of Edom: for Teman was nephew to Eſau, and ſonne to Eliphaz, Gen. 36. and of him, ſome city, or part of the countrey took its denomination. The Chaldee and the Vulgar Latine take the word Teman appellatively, and render it thus. Thy mighty men ſhall periſh from the South: or, thoſe that dwell to the Southward of thy countrey, and ſo are more remote from the Northern Chaldees; yet they ſhall no ſooner hear of their coming, but they ſhall tremble, and forget their proweſſe.

to the end that every one of the mount of Eſau may be cut off by ſlaughter.] Heb. every man, be he never ſo manly, and magnanimous. Of the mount of Eſau] of Idumea, which was mountaneous, and therefore fitly called Seir, that is, rough and rugged, nay be cut off by ſlaughter.] ſo that they ſhall live by fame onely, and hardly that.

Verſe 10. For thy violence againſt thy brother Jacob,] For thine open violence, Hence tachmas, the vulture, who liveth by rapine, Levit. 11.10. thine iniquity, rapine, injury done by force, and in publike view, ſet upon the top of a rock, that all might behold it, Ezek. 24.7.

againſt thy brother,] thine own mothers ſonne, Pſal. 50.20. This is no ſmall aggravation of thy ſinne, that it is in germanum Iaeob, thy neareſt Allies. Edom had other ſinnes not a few: but this was the chief, and is therefore here and elſewhere chiefly alledged, as the cauſe of their utter ruine, Ezech. 25. and 35. Amos 1. Mal. 1. Nothing is more hatefull to God then unnaturalneſſe. A brother is born for adverſity, Prov. 17.17. his birth bindes him to it: and hee muſt firſt offer violence to himſelf, that is unkind to his diſtreſſed brother: he muſt tear the dictates of nature out of his own heart. And however at other times brethren may jarre and jangle: yet at a ſtrait, and in a ſtreſſe, good nature (if there be any remains of it) will work: and good blood will not belie it ſelf: Iſrael was charged for this cauſe not to abhor an Edomite, becauſe he was his brother, Deut. 23.7. and yet the Edomites uſed them as diſcourteouſly in their paſſage to Canaan, as the Moabites and Ammonites did, Num. 20.20, 21. they were alſo their perpetuall enemies, and of a deviliſh vindictive ſpirit toward them, to the very laſt: hence their enſuing doom.

ſhame ſhall cover thee,] for thy violence covering thee as a garment, and for thy pride compaſſing thee as a chain, Pſal. 73.6. The face of ſuch as are aſhamed is wont to be covered with bluſhing, the blood fluſhing to the outward parts to relieve them, and, as it were, to hide their ſhame. Hence the Hebrews ſay, that thoſe that bluſh for ſhame, are covered with ſhame, Mic. 6.10. Pſal. 69.8. and 35.26. and 109.17, 29. Iob 18.22. Thoſe that ſhame the counſel of the poor, becauſe the Lord is his refuge, Pſal. 14.6. ſhall themſelves be covered with confuſion here, and be raiſed up at laſt day to ſhame and everlaſting contempt, Dan. 12.2.

And thou ſhalt be cut off for ever. Aeteruùm, ex ima deciſus ſtirpe, peribis. Eſay prophcieth the ſame irreparable ruine to Edom, chap. 34.10. and ſo doth Ezechiel, chap. 35.9. That which Ieremy ſpeaketh of ſeventy years continuance only of their ſerving the king of Babel, chap. 25.11. it is not meant of an end of their captivity, but of the Babyloniſh Monarchy.

Verſe 11. In the day that thou ſtoodeſt on the other ſide,] Over-anent; curiouſly cying, and maliciouſly promoting, by thy virulent tongue, and violent hands, the downfall of Iſrael. Nemo curioſus quin malevolus, ſaith an Ancient. Theſe Edomites fed their eyes with their brethrens miſeries, as with a pleaſant ſpectacle. At firſt perhaps, they were onely lookers on: but afterwards they ſtood againſt them in battel (when they ſaw them worſted) and took part with their enemies. See Eſth. 8.2. Pſal. 9.6. Eph. 6.11. The Samaritanes afterward ſerved them in like ſort, as Joſephus reporteth: eſpecially when Antiochus tormented the Jewes, they wrote to him to excuſe themſelves as no Jews; and (offering him their ſervice) baſely ſtiled him, Antiochus the mighty God.

In the day that the ſtrangers carried away captive, &c.] Edoms malice is here aggravated by the circumſtance of time they took to expreſſe it: viz. when Gods people were at worſt, and when their extreme miſery ſhould have moved pity. This was a Dog-like, Devil-like practiſe, to fall upon thoſe that are down before; to adde affliction to the afflicted, Pſal. 69.26. to puſh the wounded out of the Heard, as they ſay Deer do. Of ſuch barbarous and ſavage uſage David oft complaineth, and Job, and Jeremy, and Jeſus, Pſal. 22. ſuch ſhall one day cry out at Gods barre, as Joſephs brethren did, Gen. 42.21. and finde no mercy, Jam. 2.21. no more then cruell Haman did, Eſth. 7. it being juſt with God to ſet off all hearts from him, who had been ſo unreaſonably mercileſſe. This Job well knew, and therefore ſo ſtudiouſly purgeth himſelf of this hainous wickedneſſe, chap. 31.29. Auſonius alſo out of Pitaccus Mytelenaeus affirmeth him to bee a beaſt and worſe, that maketh himſelf merry in another mans miſery. The beaſtlieſt among bruit creatures, even ſwine, ſeem to be affected with the out-cries of their kind. Men onely, more bruitiſh then they, triumph in the calamities each of other, and are not moved with their out-cries, albeit as bitter as that of Hezekiah, Eſay 38.14. O Lord, I am oppreſſed, help me. This Solomon calleth oppreſſion of an high nature, Eccleſ. 4.1. See Pſal. 142.4.

and forreiners entred into his gates,] having taken the city: then did the Edomites ſet fire to the Temple, 2 Eſdr. chap. 4. verſ. 45. Citizens in a ſiege fortifie their gates, and defend them to the utmoſt; for if the gates bee gained, the city is loſt: as it was at Jeruſalem, and as it had like to have been at the city of Coccinum, in the Iſland of Lemnos, which the Turks had ſurprized on the ſudden, but that they were happily prevented by the courage of one Marulla, a maiden of that city, who ſeeing her father ſlain in the gate, took up the weapons that lay by him: and, like a fierce Amazon, notably revenged his death, deſperatly fighting in defence of her countrey,Turk. hiſt. 412 with thoſe few that were in the gate at the firſt, and ſo kept the Turks out, untill the reſt of the citizens, moved with the alarm, came to the gate.

and caſt lots upon Jeruſalem,] i. e. upon the plunder of Jeruſalem: according to the cuſtome of old ſouldiers, Num. 26.56. See this fulfilled, 2 King. 24. and 25. See allſo more of this practiſe, Nah. 3.10. Joel 3.3. and how grievous it is to the ingenious, hear Andromache, O foelix una ante alias Priameia virge, Hoſtilem ad tumulum,Virg. Aeneid. Lib. 3. Troiae ſub moenibus altis Juſſa mori, quae ſortitus non pertulit ullos, Nec victoris heri tetigit captiva cubile.

Even thou waſt as one of them.] The emphaſis lieth in the word Thou: as in that of Julius Caeſar, [non-Latin text not transcribed] vov [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Di[illegible: 1 letter] Caſſ. beholding Brutus among the Conſpiratours that took away his life: What? Thou my ſonne Brutus? Even Thou, brother Edom, whom we ſpared in our paſſage thorow the wilderneſſe; when we deſtroyed other Nations, Deut. 2. Thou, who haſt from David's dayes (for moſt part) been our vaſſall and tributary. Hierom applieth this to Heretikes; Mercer to that Arch-heretike Antichriſt, an utter oppoſite to Chriſt, yet a pretended friend (as was Iudas) a ſervant of Gods ſervants (if you'le beleeve him) but a moſt bloody perſecutour of the Church, in whoſe ruines he yet revelleth, and will do, till Chriſt ſhall puniſh him, with his ſore, and great, and ſtrong ſword, Eſay 27.1. and dung his vineyard with the fleſh of that wild-bore.

Verſe 12. But thou ſhouldeſt not have looked on the day,] Unleſſe it were with weeping eyes. Ijſdem quibus videmus oculis flemus. Men have the ſame organ of ſeeing and of weeping: that when they behold a dolefull object, they might weep over it: not as the Crocodile doth over the dead body which ſhe had ſlain before, and afterward devoureth: but with true tears of compaſſion,Gen. 4.6. weeping with thoſe that weep. God takes it ill here, that any ſhould once look upon his afflicted people, unleſſe it be to pity and relieve them. He obſerved Cains lowring upon his brother: and the Jewes wagging their heads, Mat. 27.39. Rabſhakehs lofty looks,Gen. 31.2. Eſay 37.23. Labans change of countenance, &c. Men may not look at liberty, and as they liſt. Vultu ſaepe laeditur charitas. It was not for nothing therefore, that in Queen Elizabeths dayes, at a meeting of the borderers in the Marches, betwixt England and Scotland, about goods unjuſtly taken,Cam Eliſab. 279. ſecurity was given and confirmed on both ſides by oath, (according to cuſtome) and proclamation made, that no man ſhould harme other, by word, deed, or look.

when he became a ſtranger,] and fell under a ſtrange puniſhment, as Job ſpeaketh, chap. 31.3. that is, a rare and unheard of miſery, monſtroſum exilium, Tremellius rendreth it. This was threatened, 2 Chron. 7.21. and accordingly fulfilled, Lam. 1.9. Iſrael became the worlds wonderment, a famous inſtance of Gods ſeverity againſt a people of his wrath, and of his curſe. Aben-Ezra rendreth it, In his ſtrange day, ſuch as he had never ſeen the like before. Others, when he was baniſhed his own borders, and became a stranger at home: when God ſeemed to look ſtrange upon him, and to ſtand aloof, or as a man aſtonied, that knows not whether he had beſt help or no, as a mighty man that cannot ſave, Jer. 14.8,Acts & Mon, 1423. 9. Iohn Baptist was beheaded in priſon without any law, right, or reaſon, as though God had known nothing at all of him, ſaid that Martyr.

neither ſhouldeſt thou have rejoyced over the children, &c.] For this is to bee ſick of the devils diſeaſe, [non-Latin text not transcribed], and ſuch are aſſured, that they ſhall not go unpuniſhed, Prov. 17.5. God will ſoon ſee it, and be diſpleaſed, and turn the current of his wrath, upon ſuch an offendour, Prov. 24.18. as he did here upon Edom, for looking with liking on the calamity of his brother, for rejoycing at the downfall of his enemy.

Neither ſhouldſt thou have ſpoken proudly.] Heb. Magnified thy mouth, bluſtering and breathing out big threats, ſetting up thine horne on high and ſaying, Raſe it, raſe it, even to the foundation thereof, Pſal. 137.7. Diripite, ex imis evertite fundamentis.Buchanan. Such a Pyrgopolynicas was Nebuchadnezzar, Eſay 10.13. and Alexander the great, and Antiochus, that little Antichriſt, Dan. 7.8. and that great Antichriſt of Rome, bellowing with his bulls, and menacing hell to all that adhere not to him. See Rev. 13.5, 6. and a like phraſe to this, Ezek 35.13.

Verſe 13. Thou ſhouldeſt not have entered into the gate, &c.] But have looked upon them as my people, though under a cloud of calamity; which will ſoon blow over. To enter therefore into their gates for prey, and ſpoil, is to burden your ſelves with that burdenſome ſtone, that ſhall break you: to drink of that poiſonous cup that ſhall bane you: to lay your hands upon that harth of fire, that will burn you, Zech. 12.2, 3, 6 Look to it, hands off, keep you farre from ſo evil a matter, leſt it prove as that gold of Tholouſe, a miſchief to all that meddle with it.Aurum Tholoſanum.

thou ſhouldest not have looked,] See Verſe 12. The repetition ſhews the hainouſneſſe of the ſinne. The Holy Ghoſt doth not open his mouth in vain (whatever Iob did, chap. 36.16.) nor multiply words without reaſon.

In the day of their calamity.] This is thrice mentioned: to ſhew how ſenſible God was of this ſavage dealing of theirs with his poor people, who now lay under the ſtrokes and ſtripes of a diſpleaſed mercy. The Hebrew word here rendred calamitie, ſignifieth a fog, vapour, or mistie cloud, Gen. 2.6. Iob 36.27. and by a Metaphor, it is put for affliction and miſery, as it is alſo in Latine.

Tempora ſi fuerint nubila, ſolus eris,Ovid. Athanaſ. Nubecula eſt, citò tranſibit ſaid that Father.

Verſe 14. Neither ſhouldeſt thou have ſtood in the croſs-way] To intercept thoſe poore fugitives. Who ſought to ſave themſelves by flight, ſith they could not by fight. But alaſſe, Ʋna ſalus victis,Virg. nullam ſperare ſalutem. Seeking to ſhun the ſhelves, they ran upon a rock. Miſcheivous Edomites waylaid them: and either ſlew them, or drew them back to priſon, as in the next words.

neither ſhouldeſt thou have delivered up] Or ſhut up cloſe priſoners the Reſidue, Heb: Serido (the ſame almoſt with the Engliſh, the letters only tranſpoſed) thoſe poore few that were yet undevoured by the ſword. This was greateſt cruelty of all: And ſee the Edomites progreſſe in it, and what Proficients they prove. Nemo repentè fit deterrimus. Sin proceedes by degrees: neither is any man at his worſt at firſt. Firſt they looked at the churches calamity, and then they laughed, and then they inſulted and ſpoke big words, and then they plundered, and laſtly they butchered ſome, and impriſoned other ſome. Did not Gods enemies do all this amongſt us, in our late unnaturall commotions? wherein, beſides the many maſſacres made every where, it was a like difficult thing, in thoſe parts where they prevailed, to find a wicked man in their priſons, or a good man out of them.

Verſe 15. For the day of the Lord is near &c.] The wicked plotteth againſt the juſt, and gnaſheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord ſhal laugh at him: for he ſeeth that his day is coming Pſa. 37.12, 13. the particular day of his ſore puniſhment, a type and pledge of the generall judgement, that great day of the Lord, as it is called Rev. 6.17. and 16.14. becauſe the great God will on that day do great workes, and determine great matters, Jud. 19. But as ſome mens ſins go before to judgement, (as it were, by a ſpeciall ſeſſions preceding and anteverting the great Aſſiſes) ſo ſhould Edom, and his neighbour Nations taſt all of Nebuchadnezzars cup and whip Jer. 25. and this day is ſaid to be neere upon them, though it came not of above an hundred yeares after: ſo is the comming of Chriſt to judgement neere, though we preſume not to ſet the time as ſome have done, deceiving and being deceived.

as thou haſt done, it ſhall be done to thee] God loves to retaliate, and to oppoſe frowardneſſe to frowardneſſe Pſal. 18.26. contrariety to contrariety Levit. 26.18.21. ſeverity to cruelty, as he did to Adonibezek, Agag, Zeba and Zalmunna Jud. 8.19. and Edom here, and Ezech. 35. And the heathens held this but meet, as appeareth by their fables and ſtories of Phineus Quid fodis immeritis natis ſua lumina, Phineu? Poena reverſura eſt in caput ipſa tuum.Ovid. So of Diomedes king of Thrace, Juſtum eſt ai[illegible: 1 letter] Rhadamanthus quod quis injuſtè alj[illegible: 1 letter]s intulit idem ſubeat & patiatur. Ariſt. Ethic. caſt by Hercules to be devoured by his own dogs which he had ſo oft fed with mans fleſh. The like might be ſaid of Perillus and his brazen bull, whereof himſelf had the handſell. Herein they ſaid no other thing, then what God had in the old law decreed Levit. 24.19. and Chriſt in the New hath confirmed Mat. 7.2. for a terrour to evill-doers, who ſhall have like for like returned unto them, and be filled with their own wayes Prov. 14.14. See Lam. 4.21. The Rabbbines conceive all this to be ſpoken of the Romanes (whom they call Edomites) Sure we are God will be even with that Romiſh Antichriſt, and render him his own in kind, when he once takes him in hand, as Rev. 18.6. &c. Rev. 13: 10.

Verſe 16. For as ye have drunk upon mine holy mountaine] As you O Edomites, have rejoyced and revelled in the ruines of Zion, carouſing and carolling in her calamity, ſo ſhall many nations, and you among, yea above the reſt (for your exceſſive perfidy and cruelty) drink deeply of the cup of Gods fury, which hath eternity to the bottom.

and they ſhal be as though they had not been] This clauſe makes againſt that other ſenſe that ſome ſet upon the text, viz. The Heathen ſhall drink, feaſt, and triumph over thee, O Edom, whom they have ſubdued: yea they ſhall drink ſo ſtoutly that they ſhall ſwallow thee up, and all thy ſubſtance, leaving thee nothing Praeter coelum & coenum, as that Roman prodigall boaſted he had done to himſelf. Their expoſition ſeemeth more probable, who here begins the Conſolatory part of the Propheſie? and make this verſe an Apoſtrophe to the afflicted Iews thus.Aben-Ezra Tremell. Mercer. Levely[illegible: 1 letter] Tar[illegible: 3 letters]. Like as ye my people have drunk your part of the cup of affliction (an ordinary Metaphor, not in Scripture onely, as Ezek. 23.32. Ier. 49.12. Mat. 20.22. but alſo in Heathen Writers, in alluſion perhaps to the cup of poyſon given at Athens to Malefactours, or (as ſome think) to the manner of their feaſts whereat the Sympoſiarch, or ruler of the feaſt (Ioh. 2.) gave order what, and how much, every one ſhould drink) ſo ſhall all the Heathen drink, and that continually: yea they ſhall not only ſip of the top, that which is ſweeteſt and cleareſt; but the dregs and ſediment too, they ſhall both drink and ſwallow down; till ſuch time as it hath wholly ſwallowed them up, ſo that they ſhall be as though they had not been. See for confirmation of this ſence, Ier. 25.25. and 49.12. And pray for the ruin of Rome, ſo long ſince foretold by Sibylla. Tota eris in cineres, quaſi nunquam Roma fuiſſes. The Propheſie is fulfilled already in Edom; whoſe very name is loſt, more then what the Scripture reporteth of them. The Chaldees cut off abundance of them, together with the Moabites, Ammonites, and other neighbour nations. After that, Iudas Macchabeus, and his nephew Hircanus ſlew a great ſort of them: and then, laſtly, the Romans and other Princes rooted them utterly out. See Ioſeph. Lib. 1. Antiq. cap. 10. 1 Maccab. 5.65. 2 Mac. 10.16, 32.

Verſe 17. But upon Mount Zion ſhall be deliverance,] God will turne againe their captivity as the streames in the South. He ſtirred up the ſpirit of Cyrus to ſend them home: he reſtored unto them both Religion and Liberty: he did all that could be done for them, by ſending his Son amongſt them in the fulneſſe of time, made of a woman, &c. made alſo unto all his people, wiſdome, righteouſneſſe, ſanctification, and redemption, 1 Cor. 1.30. Jeſus hath delivered us from the wrath to come, 1 Theſſ. 1.10. Neither is there any other Name, whereby heaven is to be had, but onely by the Name of Jeſus.

and there ſhall be holineſſe,] Holineſſe to the Lord, as Zach. 14.20. See the Notes there. All the Lords people ſhall be an holy nation, 1 Pet. 2.9. Every inhabitant of the city of God ſhall be partaker of holineſſe, both imputed and imparted; that, for juſtification, being inherent in Chriſt, imputed to us; this, for ſanctification, imparted by Chriſt, inherent in us.

and the houſe of Jacob ſhall poſſeſſe' their poſſeſſions.] They returning from Babylon ſhall not onely recover their own poſſeſſions, out of the hands of the Edomites, Samaritans, and Syrians, by vertue of an Edict from king Darius; but they ſhall alſo poſſeſſe the Edomites themſelves, and their territories: when converted to the faith of Chriſt, they ſhall bring their wealth unto the Church, and (as it is faid of Tyrus, Eſay 23.18.) feed and clothe therewith the Saints of God.

Verſe 18. And the houſe of Jacob ſhall be a fire, &c.] The houſe of Jacob are the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin: the houſe of Joſeph are the ten tribes of Iſrael, whereof Ephraim was the head. The ſence is this, thoſe two tribes, together with ſuch of the ten as joyned themſelves to them, either before, or after the captivity, ſhall invade Idumea, burn it, and ſubdue it, as fire doth stubble fully drie. This was done by Hircanus, and Judas Macchabeus, who compelled the Edomites to bee circumciſed: and ſo wholly poſſeſſed thoſe parts,Joſeph. 13. Ant. 17. that there were not any reliques of them remaining; no not ſo much as one [non-Latin text not transcribed] (as the Septuagint render it) or, [non-Latin text not transcribed] (as ſome read them,) any to carry corn after the camp, or fire before it, according to the cuſtome of the Greeks and Eaſterlings: which torch-bearer might as little bee violated, as an Embaſſadour; but here, hee ſhould bee cut off with the reſt, and not ſo much as a meſſenger left to relate the overthrow. The Edomites were ſo utterly rooted out by Hircanus, Alex. ab Alex. l. 5. c. 3. that they thenceforth ceaſed to bee Edomites, and became Jews. Thoſe of them that were converted, by the preaching of the Goſpel, ceaſed to be either Edomites or Jewes, and became Chriſtians. The Apoſtles burning with the zeal of Gods glory, and love to mens ſouls, devoured and waſted the infidelity, idols, and vices of the Gentiles, where-ever they came preaching. Hence Chryſoſtom ſaith, Peter was a man made all of fire, walking among ſtubble: Paul was inſatiabilis Dei cu[illegible: 1 letter]tor, an inſatiable ſervant of Chriſt. And to the like purpoſe it was, that to one that deſired to know what kind of man Baſil was, it is ſaid, there was preſented in a dream a pillar of fire, with this Motto, Talis eſt Baſilius, Such an one is Baſil. And old Latimer, when he was demanded the reaſon why ſo little powerfull preaching? anſwered, Deest ignis, the ſpark of the ſpirit is wanting. Howbeit this Prophecy, as it began to be fulfilled at firſt by the Apoſtles, and the Apoſtolicall perſons that came after them; ſo it is daily, and ſhall be continually to the worlds end fulfilled by the faithfull preachers of Gods holy word, who are clothed with a ſpirit of judgement and of burning, Eſay. 4 4. and out of whoſe mouth proceedeth fire, Rev. 11.5. to purge the gold, and to conſume the ſtubble.

Verſe 19. And they of the South ſhall poſſeſſe the mount of Eſau,] Thoſe of the South, that is, the tribe of Judah. For Iudaea was divided into five parts, Joſh. 15. whereof one was Southward, toward the coaſt of Edom, ver. 21. Another was in the vale or plain, near unto the Philiſtines, ver. 33. Here then Obadiah ſheweth, that the Jews ſhall not onely recover their ancient inheritances, but alſo much enlarge the ſame: whereby he ſignifieth, that the Church of Chriſt ſhall grow ſo very great, that Jewry ſhall be too narrow for them (ſee Zach. 10.10) the ancient bounders ſhall not receive them. See Num. 24.17. Eſay 11.14. The Goſpel was ſoon ſpread, not onely to the neighbour nations, but to all the ends of the earth: the Edomites, Philiſtines, &c. are onely mentioned, as being better known and more adverſe to the Jews, then other nations were.

and they of the plain, the Philiſtines,] i.e. thoſe five Lordſhips, Gath, Gaza, Aſcalon, Ekron, and Azotus, all which countrey (called Sarona, Acts 9.) Augustus gave to Herod the Aſcalonite; and, after his death, to his ſons; dividing it into Tetrarchies, Luke 3.1.

and they ſhall poſſeſſe the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria,] All which Hircanus ſubdued, and deſtroyed their Temple built in mount Garizim.

and Benjamin ſhall poſſeſſe Gilead,] that is, ſhall propagate and extend his habitation beyond Iordan: and in reſpect of his exceeding great multitude, ſhall be compelled to hold and poſſeſſe Gilead, all the countrey betwixt Iordan and mount Libanus. Thus Hierom with the Hebrew Scholiaſts, and many others: who do alſo note, that under theſe earthly felicities heavenly are deſcribed: and that all this is chiefly accompliſhed under Chriſt, when as the faithfull are made heirs and lords of all things by Him, who is their Head. See Ezek. 37.16, &c.

Verſe 20. And the captivity of this hoſt of the children of Iſrael, &c.] i.e. the multitude of the Jews carried captive to Babylon, returning at length into their own countrey, ſhall poſſeſſe all the places of the Canaanites, all the Maritine cities, all the tract of ground as farre as Sarepta, which is betwixt Tyre and Zidon, therefore called Sarepta of Zidon, 1 King. 17.19. Here dwelt the Canaanites, whom Aſher could not expell, Judg. 1.31, 32. See Mat. 15.22.

and the captivity of Jeruſalem which is in Sepharad,] that is, either in ſome citie of Aſſyria, or in the utmoſt bounds of the Babyloniſh dominion, (as ſome interpret the word Sepharad, by taking it aſunder) or as farre as Apharad, (ſo the Septuagint) that is, Euphrates. The Hebrew Doctors, as by Canaanites here, they underſtand the Dutch, and by Zarephath, France, ſo by Sepharad they will needs have Spain to be meant, ſubdued ſay they by Nebuchadnezzar, after other his great conqueſts, and by him planted with Iews, carried captive from Ieruſalem. With ſuch bold and frivolous fancies do theſe poor deluded creatures fondly feed themſelves. They are generally light, aeriall, and fanaticall brains, ſaith One: apt to work themſelves into the fools-paradiſe of a ſublime dotage. They not onely expect a corporall reſtitution to their own countrey,Blounts voyage. but alſo a ſoveraignty over all other nations, and poſſeſſion of their Provinces, ſaith Another: they beleeve that the Meſſias is not yet come,Buxtorf. ſynag. c. 5. becauſe the Chriſtian Empire is not yet deſtroyed: and therefore they pray daily for the overthrow of the Roman Empire. Out of the Eaſt it is that they expect their Meſſiah, whither the Spaniſh Iews fled, (when they were baniſhed) and are exceedingly multiplied: for thoſe do they hold to be this captivity of Ieruſalem here mentioned,Spec. Europ. viz. of the tribe of Iudah; and the other in Germany, and Italy, to be of the tribe of Benjamin: who in honour of the more noble tribe, and to correſpond with them the better, do learn the Spaniſh Tongue: which thoſe ſtill retain, in hope, belike, to be one day Lords of that large and rich countrey.

Shall Poſſeſſe the cities of the South.] i. e. ſhall return to their own Southerly cities and provinces. And this Propheſie of recovering the holy land, is to be taken in a ſpirituall ſence: and it importeth, that all thoſe that are Iſraelites indeed, Iews inwardly, ſhall flee to the Church of Chriſt, Rom. 9.

Verſe 21. And Saviours ſhall come up on mount Zion,] Judas Macchabeus, and Hircanus in the hiſtory: as in the myſterie, the Apoſtles and other of Chriſts Miniſters, who are here and elſewhere called Saviours (a very high ſtile) becauſe God maketh uſe of their Miniſtery (as he doth likewiſe of the Angels) for the good of them that are heirs of ſalvation, Heb. 1.14. and by their help, the faithfull are ſaved. Hence thoſe expreſſions, 1 Tim. 4.16. thou ſhalt ſave thy ſelf and thoſe that hear thee, Iam. 5.20. he ſhall ſave a ſoul from death, Iob 33.24. Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have received a ranſom. See alſo Mic. 5.6. Iude 23. 1 Cor. 3.6, 7, 9, and 4.1. and 9.22. Let Miniſters hence learn their dignity, and their duty. Chriſt hath communicated to them many of his own moſt honourable titles, as Light of the world, Doctour, Paſtour, Saviour Redeemer, &c. True it is, He alone is the principall Saviour (and therefore it followeth in the cloſure of this ſhorteſt,Breviſſimus ſed difficilimus Propheta. Mer[illegible: 1 letter]er. but moſt difficult Prophet, the kingdom ſhall be the Lords) He, to ſpeak properly is the ſole both Soveraign and Saviour of his body the Church. Sed ſervatores dicuntur, ſaith Mercer, but they are called Saviours, becauſe they preach the word of this ſalvation, and are inſtrumentall to Chriſt in that great work; like as the Apothecary is to the skilfull Phyſician, in curing his patient of a deadly diſeaſe.

to judge the mount of Eſau,] Antichriſt with his adherents: all other Infidels alſo, and Atheiſts, condemned here by Chriſt and his faithfull Miniſters,Ezek. 20.4. as rebels againſt God, and ſinners againſt their own ſouls. Wilt thou judge them, ſonne of man? wilt thou judge them? cauſe them to know their abomination, and to judge themſelves worthy to bee deſtroyed; that judging themſelves, they may not bee judged, 1 Cor. 11.31. but of Eſauites may become true Iacobites: as Iether, by nature an Iſmaelite, 1 Chron. 7.17. is, for his faith and piety, called an Iſraelite, 2 Sam. 17.25. Lo thus to judge the mount of Eſau, ought to bee the ambition of Chriſts Miniſters, for to gain them to Chriſt, by convincing the world of ſinne, of righteouſneſſe, and of judgement, that is, of the miſchief of ſinne, the neceſſity of juſtification by Chriſts merit, and of ſanctification by his Spirit. This is to be both Iudges and Saviours; as thoſe Iudges of old were, whereunto the Prophet here ſeemeth to allude. This is to ſave people with fear, pulling them out of the fire, Joh. 16.[illegible: 1 letter]. Iude 23. This is to proclaim Chriſt King, and to ſet the Crown upon his head, as Cant. 3.11. with that glorious acclamation, The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our King, and He will ſave us, Eſay 33.22.

The Kingdom ſhall be the Lords.] Not onely the Kingdom of Power, over all creature, 1 Chron. 29.11. and Grace in the hearts of his people here (called oft the kingdom of heaven in the Goſpel) but alſo of Righteouſneſſe, and of Glory hereafter, to be chiefly exerciſed at that Great and dreadfull day.

Now to this King Eternal, Immortal, Inviſible, the onely wiſe God, be honour and glory, for ever, and ever. Amen. 1 Tim. 1.17.