---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Obadiah foretells the subduction of the Idumeans by the Chaldeans, and finally by the Jews, whom they had used most cruelly when brought low by other enem"
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url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/obadiah/1"
---

Obadiah foretells the subduction of the Idumeans by the Chaldeans, and finally by the Jews, whom they had used most cruelly when brought low by other enemies. These prophecies have been literally fulfilled for the Idumeans, as a nation, are totally extinct.
Whoever will be at the trouble to collate this short prophecy with the *forty-ninth* chapter of Jeremiah, will find a remarkable *similarity*, not only in the *sentiments* and *words*, but also in *whole verses*. In the above chapter Jeremiah predicts the destruction of the Idumeans. Whether he copied *Obadiah*, or *Obadiah* copied him, cannot be determined; but it would be very strange if two prophets, unacquainted with each other, should speak of the same event precisely in the same terms. See the parallel texts in the margin, and [Jeremiah 49:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/49/1), &c.
NOTES ON THE BOOK OF OBADIAH
Verse [Obadiah 1:1](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/1). ***We have heard a rumour*** — See [Jeremiah 49:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/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.

Verse [Obadiah 1:2](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/2). ***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 *low* and *depressed*, it is by his *justice*. Compared with the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Syrians, Arabs, and other neighbouring nations, the Idumeans were a small people.

Verse [Obadiah 1:3](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/3). ***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.

Verse [Obadiah 1:4](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/4). ***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 [Jeremiah 49:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/49/16).

Verse [Obadiah 1:5](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/5). ***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*, [Obadiah 1:6](../../../kjv/obadiah/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*.

Verse [Obadiah 1:7](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/7). ***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.

Verse [Obadiah 1:8](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/8). ***Shall I not - destroy the wise*****men**] It appears, from [Jeremiah 49:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/49/7), that the Edomites were remarkable for wisdom, counsel, and prudence. See on the above place.

Verse [Obadiah 1:9](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/9). ***Thy mighty*****men,*****O Teman*** — This was one of the strongest places in Idumea; and is put here, as in [Amos 1:12](../../../kjv/amos/1/12), and elsewhere, for *Idumea* itself.
***Mount of Esau*** — Mount *Seir*.

Verse [Obadiah 1:10](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/10). ***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 [2 Chronicles 28:17-18](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/28/17-18). They had even stimulated the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, to destroy the temple, and level it with the ground. See [Psalms 137:7](../../../kjv/psalms/137/7).

Verse [Obadiah 1:11](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/11). ***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."

Verse [Obadiah 1:12](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/12). ***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 [Obadiah 1:12-15](../../../kjv/obadiah/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 [Obadiah 1:15](../../../kjv/obadiah/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.

Verse [Obadiah 1:14](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/14). ***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.

Verse [Obadiah 1:15](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/15). ***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.

Verse [Obadiah 1:16](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/16). ***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 [Jeremiah 49:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/49/12).

Verse [Obadiah 1:17](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/17). ***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 neighbouring 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.

Verse [Obadiah 1:18](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/18). ***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 *1Macc 5:3*, c. *2Macc 10:15-23*; and *Joseph*. Antiq., lib. xiii. 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.

Verse [Obadiah 1:19](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/19). **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 fulfilment, *1Macc 5:9, 35, 45; 9:35, 36*.

Verse [Obadiah 1:20](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/20). ***Zarephath*** — Sarepta, a city of the Sidonians, [1 Kings 17:9](../../../kjv/1-kings/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*.

Verse [Obadiah 1:21](../../../kjv/obadiah/1/21). ***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 fulfilment.
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"

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