John Trapp on Obadiah 1:1

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.