1
sn (1:1) The name Obadiah means in Hebrew "servant of the LORD." A dozen or so individuals in the OT have this name, none of whom may be safely identified with the author of this book.
2tn (1:1) Heb "Lord LORD." The phrase hw]hy+ yn´d)a& (a&d{n´y y+hw]h) is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as "Lord GOD."
3tn (1:1) The Hebrew preposition le is better translated here "concerning" or "about" Edom rather than "to" Edom, although it is in fact the case that much of the book speaks directly to Edom.
4sn (1:1) The name Edom derives from a Hebrew root that means "red." Edom was located to the south of the Dead Sea in an area with numerous rocky crags that provided ideal military advantages of protection. Much of the sandstone of this area has a reddish color. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob (Gen 25:19-26).
5tn (1:1) Although the word "saying" is not in the Hebrew text, its presence in the translation is warranted by the fact that what follows seems to be the content of the envoy's message.
6tn (1:1) Heb "Arise; let us arise against her in battle!"
7tn (1:2) The introductory phrase "the LORD says" is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify who the speaker is.
8tn (1:2) The form of the Hebrew verb used here (i.e., the perfect) usually describes past events. However, here (and several times in the following verses as well) the verb is best understood as lending certainty to the fulfillment of events that at the time of writing were still in the future. It is the perfect of certitude. See GKC §106.n.
9tn (1:3) Heb "the presumption of your heart."
10sn (1:3) The word rock in Hebrew (sela´) is a word-play on Sela, the name of a prominent Edomite city.
11tn (1:3) Heb "the one who says in his heart."
12tc (1:4) The present translation reads tasim (active) rather than sim (passive) of the MT. Cf. LXX, Syriac, Vg.
13sn (1:5) Obadiah introduces two illustrations in order to show the totality of Edom's approaching destruction. In both cases, that of robbers and that of harvesters, at least something would have been left behind by the intruders. Such will not be the case, however, with the calamity that is about to befall Edom.
14tn (1:5) Heb "be cut off."
15tn (1:5) Heb "some gleanings." According to the Mosaic law, harvesters were required to leave some grain behind in the fields for the poor (Lev 19:9; 23:22; see also Ruth 2). There was a similar practice with grapes and olives (Lev 19:10; Deut 24:21); regarding gleanings left behind from grapes, see Judg 8:2; Jer 6:9; 49:9; Mic 7:1.
sn (1:5) The implied answer to these rhetorical questions is "yes." The fact that in these imagined misfortunes something would have remained after the acts of theft stands in stark contrast to the totality of Edom's destruction as predicted by Obadiah. Edom will be so decimated as a result of God's judgment that nothing at all will be left.
16sn (1:6) Esau here is a synecdoche of part for whole. The meaning is "Edomites." Cf. "Jacob" in v. 10, where the meaning is "Israelites."
17tn (1:7) Heb "send."
18tn (1:7) Heb "the men of your covenant."
19tn (1:7) Heb "the men of your peace."
20tn (1:7) Heb "your bread," which makes little sense. With different vowels the Hebrew word can be read as "those who eat bread with you," i.e., "your friends."
21tn (1:7) The meaning of the Hebrew word translated "trap" is uncertain; it occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. The word probably refers to something "spread out" for purposes of entrapment, such as a net. Other possibilities include "ambush," "fetter," or "stumbling block."
22sn (1:9) Teman, like Sela, was a prominent city of Edom. Here it is a synecdoche of part for whole, standing for all of Edom.
23tn (1:9) The Hebrew word used here (lema´an) usually expresses purpose. Here, however, the sense is more likely that of result.
24tn (1:9) Heb "cut off."
25tn (1:10) In the traditional understanding this phrase goes with the end of v. 10. It seems better, however, to regard it as matching the reference to violence at the beginning of v. 11. Both the parallel linguistic structure of the two phrases and the metrical structure of the verse favor this understanding.
26tn (1:10) Heb "be cut off."
27tn (1:11) In the Hebrew text the verse begins with "in the day of."
28tc (1:11) The present translation reads with the Qere the plural ("gates") rather than the singular.
29sn (1:11) Casting lots seems here to be a way of deciding who would gain control over material possessions and enslaved peoples following a military victory.
30tn (1:11) Heb "like one from them."
31tn (1:12) The Hebrew expression "to look upon" often has the sense of "to feast the eyes upon" or "to gloat over." Cf. v. 13.
32tn (1:12) Or "boast." The Hebrew text includes the phrase "with your mouth," which would be redundant in the English translation.
33tn (1:13) Heb "their distress" ('edam). The word is used three times in this verse as a word-play on the name Edom.
34tc (1:13) In the MT the verb is feminine plural, but the antecedent is unclear. The Hebrew phrase tislahnah here should probably be emended to read tislah yad, although yad ("hand") is not absolutely essential to this idiom.
35tn (1:14) The meaning of the Hebrew word translated "fork in the road" is uncertain. The word is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in Nah 3:1, where it means "plunder." Here, however, it seems to refer to a strategic intersection or fork in a road at which bands of Edomites apprehended Israelites who were fleeing from the attack on Jerusalem.
36tn (1:14) Heb "to cut off."
37tn (1:15) Heb "near."
38sn (1:16) This reference to drinking has in mind the profane activities of those who had violated Jerusalem's sanctity. The following reference to drinking on the part of the nations has in mind God's judgment upon them. They will drink, as it were, from the cup of divine retribution.
39tn (1:17) Heb "will be a fugitive." This is a collective singular.
40tn (1:17) Heb "house" (also four times in v. 18).
41tc (1:17) The present translation reads murisehem ("those dispossessing them") rather than the MT morasehem ("their possessions"). Cf. LXX, Syriac, and Vg.
42tn (1:18) Heb "will be no survivor."
43tn (1:19) Heb "of the Shephelah."
44tc (1:21) The present translation reads musa´im ("those who have been delivered") rather than the MT mosi´im ("deliverers"). Cf. LXX, Aquila, Theodotion, and Syriac.
45tn (1:21) Heb "to judge." In this context the term does not mean "render judgment on," but "rule over."