G. FERRIES.
OBADIAH (39793) and a3y).—1. The ‘steward’ or major-domo (maby wx, οἰκονόμος) of Ahab, 1 Καὶ 18% (Αβδειού). From his youth he had feared the Lorp, v.™, and, during a persecution of Jahweh’s prophets by Jezebel, Obadiah is recorded to have concealed 100 of them in caves and fed them with bread and water, v... While obeying the com- mission of Ahab to search for pasture for the perishing horses and mules, he was met by Elijah, and after some hesitation agreed to bear the pro- phet’s message to the king, v.™.
* See, further, art. MANNKR, p. 2374, note. VOL Ul —37
descended from Jeduthun, 1 Ch 9" (B ᾿Αβδειά, A ’OBi.d)=Abda of Neh 117. 3. A Judahite, 1 Ch 3 (Αβδειά). 4. A chief of the tribe of Issachar, 1 Ch 175 (B Μειβδειά [prob. a seribal error], A ᾽Οβδιά). 5 A descendant of Saul, 1 Ch 8%=9# (‘ABd(e)kd). 6. A Gadite chief who joined David at Ziklag, 1 Ch 199 (‘ASd(e)d). 1. Father of the Zebulunite chief Ishmaiah, 1 Ch 2719 (’AB4(e):o¥). 8. One of the princes who were sent by Jehosha- phat to teach in the cities of Judah, 2Ch 177 (8 ᾿Αβιά, A’ABéid). 9. A Merarite Levite who was one of the overseers of the workmen employed by Josiah to repair the temple, 2 Ch 34" (B’ABdad, Α΄ Αβδία:). 10. The head of a family that returned with Ezra, Ezr 8° (Β ᾿Αδειά, Α ᾿Αβαδιά), called in 1 Es 8 Aba- dias. 11. One of those who sealed the covenant, Neh 105 (Αβδ(ε)ιά). 12. The eponym of a family of doorkeepers, Neh 12% (x%* 'OSdlas, BAS* om.). 13. The prophet. See next article.
OBADIAH, BOOK OF.—
i. Name, and Place in the Canon. ii. Contents. iii. Unity and Date. iv. Condition of Text, Literary Characteristics, etc. Literature.
This, the shortest of all the prophetical writings, consisting of only twenty-one verses, has an im- portance out of all proportion to its length, be- cause of the literary and exegetical questions it raises, and the diversity of opinion which still prevails as to the wnity and the date of the book, and the historical allusions it contains.
i. NAME, AND PLACE IN THE CANON.—The name Obadiah is not uncommon in the OT (see pre- ceding article), and has been read on an ancient seal, inscribed ‘Obadyahu ‘ebhed hammelekh (see figure in Benzinger, Heb. Arch. p. 258). It occurs, like similar names, in the two forms wy and 7729, of which the latter is used in the case of the prophetical book which forms our subject. The Neaeearetie pointing 7:72, which is supported
by LXX B Ὀβδειού, implies, as is pointed out by G. A. Smith (Twelve Prophets, ii. 164 n.), the meaning ‘worshipper of J”’ (1 οἵ. Obed-edom; see the cautious note of Driver, Text of Sam. p. 206), but the word might be vocalized 73y=ny-13y ‘ser- vant of J”’ (ef. AN’ ABS(e)od; NI2y of Neh 1127|| 1 Ch 916. and the name Addiel in 1Ch δ᾽. Of the particular Obadiah whose name the prophecy bears we know nothing, although Delitzsch conjectures that he may have been the prince of that name who, according to 2 Ch 17’, was sent by Jehosha- phat to teach in the cities of Judah. It must, indeed, remain uncertain whether the name is that of the author of the early prophecy contained in vv.!-10 (see below), or of the writer who supple- mented this and gave the book its present form, or whether (which Kénig suggests as a possibility) both these authors bore the name Obadiah.*
In the Hebrew Bible the Bk. of Ob stands fourth amongst the Twelve Minor Prophets, be tween Amos and Jonah. It has been suggested by Kénig (Zindeit. 302) that this position may have been given to it by the collectors of the Canon in view of Am 9" (‘that they may possess the remnant of Edom’), which finds its echo and its supplement in Ob ™ (‘they . . . shall possess the mount of Esau’), and of Ob? (‘a messenger is sent among the nations’), which might be sup- posed to find an illustration in the story of Jonah (cf. art. JONAH, in vol. ii, p. 748°). In the LXX Obadiah alone comes between Jl and Jon, the order being Hos, Am, Mic, Jl, Ob, Jon, instead of | the MT order Hos, JI, Am, Ob, Jon, Mic.
2. A Levite, |
* We assume that ΠΡ» Is a proper name and not merely an appellative, as is probably the case with ΣΝ ‘my messenger, | which usage has converted into the familiar name Malachi.
OBADIAH, BOOK OF
Obadiah is one of the OT books that are not quoted in the New Testament.
ii. CoNTENTS.—The prophecy is announced as ‘concerning Edom.’ Tareas has sent a messenger (vy) among the nations to stir up a general rising against her (v.?).
The words oy7xd may yy Dx AD must have been penned by the later writer (see below under ‘ Unity’) to introduce the quotation of the earlier oracle, beginning ‘We have heard,’ ete. ; for it is plain that the latter is a form of expression which could hardly be put directly into the mouth of Jahweh.
Edom is to be brought low in spite of her trust in her rocky fastnesses (vv.?4). The ruin is to be complete, the spoiling beyond that of ordinary thieves (vv.5*), This destruction of Edom is to be wrought by the treachery of her former friends and allies (v.7). The wonted wisdom of Edom shall fail her in this extremity (vv.**). The reason for this chastisement is the unbrotherl conduct of which Edom was guilty towards Jud in the day of its calamity when Jerusalem was sacked by foreign, and lots cast over it (vv. 11), Edom is emphatically charged to desist from such conduct (vv.!2-44),