Introduction to the Book of Obadiah

Table of Contents

• General Info
• Brief Survey
• Key Verses
• Author, Date and Recipients
• Historical Background & Timeline
• Themes, Purpose & Theology
• Interpretation Hints and Challenges
• Outline

General Info

As with all the minor prophets, the book of Obadiah is named for its human author.  Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament and is one of only two books of the minor prophets that is not addressed to Israel or Judah.  The other is the Book of Nahum, which is addressed to Assyria.  Obadiah was addressed to Edom, a relatively small mountainous area east of Israel and the Dead Sea.  Its people were descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau (Gen. 36).  Animosity between the descendants of Jacob (aka Israel) and the descendants of Esau goes back to the birth of the brothers, with Esau being delivered first with Jacob coming out grasping his heel.  Thus He was named Ya'aqob, which in Hebrew means “he who grasps or clutches the heel”.  Esau was also later called Edom because he gave up his birthright to Jacob for some red stew (edom is the Hebrew word for “red” - see Gen 25:30).  Thus the people of Edom were considered to be close relatives (even brothers) to the people of Israel.  This made the Edomites animosity, that went all the way back to the days of Abraham and Isaac (son of Abraham and father of Jacob and Esau), even more sinful.

Thus, Obadiah’s prophecy was a warning to the country and people of Edom.  He proclaimed that God would judge the nation and destroy it because the Edomites had refused to aid the Israelites when the Babylonia armies invaded and destroyed Jerusalem, they cheered on and aided the invaders.  As a reward, Babylon allowed the Edomites to carry off a portion of the plunder.  As a result, Obadiah prophesied the coming destruction of Edom.

In the Protestant Canon, Obadiah is grouped with the other eleven books in the section called the “Minor Prophets”.  Each of the twelve books are named for its author and main character.  Obadiah in Hebrew means “Burden Bearer”.  In the Hebrew Bible Canon, the twelve books of the minor prophets (along with Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) are grouped into a section called the Nevi’im Aharonim, or the “Latter Prophets”.

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Brief Survey

The short Book of Obadiah is based on two related themes.  The first is the coming judgment and accompanying destruction of the nation of Edom (1-14).  The second is vindication and restoration of Judah (15-21), the southern kingdom of Israel.  The human author and messenger, Obadiah is relating a vision that he received from the Lord God, and is passing it on to his readers.  As God’s messenger, Obadiah relays that an envoy is being sent to call the nations to battle against Edom (1), in which the coming reality of judgment against the nation for it’s pride, arrogance, and historical treatment of God’s chosen people (2–9).  The nation of Edom would be completely destroyed.  Their falsely-placed confidence in their military, geographical physical location, and her human intellectual achievements would not saver her.

In verses 10–14, Obadiah gives the reasons for Edom’s coming humiliation using a series of taunts.  Although the nation of Edom should have felt some responsibility to their close relatives in Israel (the Hebrew text literally reads “your brother Jacob” (Israel and Jacob were two names of the same person), but Edom committed violence toward Israel instead (10).   The errant nation had a duty to its brother Jacob / Israel  (Dt 22:1-4) that they not only ignored but actively repudiated, thus they would be “destroyed forever” (10).  Instead of coming to Israel’s aid, they actually gloated over their misfortune (12), and even seizing some of their wealth (12-13) and handing over some of the survivors to the Babylonians (14).

In verses 15-21, the narrative shifts to the near and distant future, noting that the “day of the Lord is near”, in which all nations will be judged according to their deeds (15-16).  Yet, Israel will be delivered and receive a great inheritance (17) while Esau (Edom) will be destroyed with no survivors (18) and other peoples will inherit their land, including the returning Israelite refugees (19-20).  The final verse, Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau.  And the kingdom will be the LORD’s (21) might be a precursor to, or more likely, a reference to the future millennium reign of Christ, when all peoples will recognize the Lord as King.  See our article, Day of the Lord for additional information.

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Key Verses

“The vision of Obadiah.  This is what the Sovereign LORD says about Edom - We have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Rise, and let us go against her for battle” - “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised.  The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ’Who can bring me down to the ground?’  Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. (1-4)

“In that day,” declares the LORD, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, men of understanding in the mountains of Esau?  Your warriors, O Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter.  Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.  On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.  You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.” (8-12)

The day of the LORD is near for all nations.  As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. (15)

“But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will possess its inheritance.  The house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; the house of Esau will be stubble, and they will set it on fire and consume it.  There will be no survivors from the house of Esau.”  The LORD has spoken. (17-18)

Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau.  And the kingdom will be the LORD’s. (21)

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Author and Date

The human author of the book is Obadiah, whose name means “servant of the Lord”.  He was a relatively obscure prophet who probably lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  Nothing is known of his hometown or family, and the normal custom of identifying his father and other personal details that is typically included in a book’s opening statement is ignored.  Instead, the book begins with merely, “The vision of Obadiah”, then immediately transitions into God’s proclamation regarding Edom.  This likely means that the author probably came from modest means, and was likely without relationship to royal or priestly lines.  There are over a dozen other men named Obadiah mentioned in the Old Testament, but none of these can be positively identified as the author of this book.

Since Obadiah doesn’t tie his prophecy to the reign of any particular king, we must determine the approximate time frame from the book’s contents.  Scholars have proposed dates ranging from approximately 850 BC to as late as approximately 400 BC.  We rule out the earlier dates since the author presents the fall of Jerusalem as a past event (11).  So the writing would have occurred after that event in 586 BC.  Likewise, since the book treats the judgment on Edom to be future (1-10,18), it would have been written before Babylon finally turned against Edom.  Since we know from the history books that Babylon attacked and destroyed Edom in 553 BC, we place the date of the writing of Obadiah between these two events (586 and 553 BC).

Furthermore, the several compelling similarities between vv. 1–9 and Jer. 49:7–9, 14–16 suggest that Obadiah and Jeremiah were addressing Edom at roughly the same time.  While we cannot date Obadiah precisely, we know that Jeremiah prophesied from about 626 B.C. until after 586 BC, so that adds additional credibility to our estimate.

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Historical Background and Timeline

We’ve described or alluded to the historical animosity of the inhabitants of Edom toward their relatives in Israel (Judah) in virtually ever other chapter on this page, so we’ll just attempt to wrap up the subject here.  We begin with additional example from the Scriptures.  When Moses and Joshua led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt and they were on their way to the Promised Land of Canaan (~1430 BC), the Ammonites and Moabites had refused to allow the Israelites to pass through their territory (Nu 20:1414-21; 22:4).  Rather than attacking their relatives, they took a long detour instead.  We then fast-forward about eight centuries to the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah (870-848 BC), where we find the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites launching an attack on Judah / Israel.  The author of the Chronicles then records King Jehoshaphat’s prayer:  “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir [authors of Scripture often use “Edom”, “Esau”, “Sier” and “Mt Sier” interchangeably], whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.  See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.  Our God, will you not judge them?  For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2Chr 20:10-12).  The Lord responded to the king’s prayer by giving the Israelites a resounding victory (2Chr 20:13-30).

 Furthermore, the bible authors record a number of additional atrocities that Edom committed, including 2Kings 8:20-22, Jeremiah 49:7-22, and Amos 1:11, as also described in Obadiah 10-14.  The supreme irony in Obadiah is that, the same Babylonians that ransacked and captured Jerusalem with the aid of Edom would later turn and destroy the Edomites only a few decades later.

See Chronology of the Monarchy Timeline for additional info.

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Themes, Purpose and Theology

The Book of Obadiah contains two related themes, the coming destruction of Edom, and the reassurance of acquittal and restoration for Israel.  Although God allowed Edom to be a thorn in Israel’s side for almost 1500 years, judgment was finally at hand.  The main purpose of the book is to declare that this judgment is now very near and inevitable.

The main historical theme is the aforementioned humiliation and the eventual destruction of the Edomites because of their pride and their hatred and continuous victimizing of the Israelites down through the centuries, and particularly because of their hatred and mistreatment of the Jews at the time of the conquest of Judah and the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC (Ob 1:10–14).

The main related theological theme is the sovereignty of God over history and all nations.

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Interpretation Hints and Challenges

The Book of Obadiah is a short and straight-forward proclamation against the Edomites.  The biggest interpretation challenge is determining the date of the writings and of the naming of of the predicted event.  As we noted in the various chapters above, particularly “Author and Date” and “Historical Background”, the evidence is clear that Obadiah is proclaiming judgment on Edom for transgressions against Israel that goes all the way back to the time of Abraham in the Book of Genesis.  It is also clear that God used the Babylonians to take vengeance on Edom, which is ironical since the Edomites participated in Babylon’s conquering of Jerusalem.

See also Interpreting Prophetical and Apocalyptic Literature for additional interpretive info regarding the literary genre.

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Outline

The short Book of Obadiah an be divided into two sections, Warnings and announcement of judgment against Edom (v 1-14), and promise of victory to Israel (15-21).

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