THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BT TBE
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN 0-W GLOUClllll'l'l!IB ;
AND BY THE
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
OBADIAH. @xposftfon BY REV. W. J. DEANE, M.A., BECTOB 0-W A8HIIII.
'il;!om fbtfcs BY REV. PROFESSOR J. R. THOMSON, M.A.
ll,omiHes bu llatious !autbom. BEV, A. O. TfilSELTON. REV. D. THOMAS, D.D.
NEW EDITION.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1907 THE BOO.K OF OBADIAH.
INTRODUCTION.
§ I. SUBJECT OF THE BooK.
THE Book of Obadiah is occupied with one subject--the punishment of Edom for its cruel and unbrotherly conduct towards Judah at the time of some great national calamity, merging e.t the end in a prophecy of the restoration of Israel. We must not suppose, however, that Obadiah intends to limit his utterances to a denunciation of the Edomites. His words are not exclusively intended for their case. While wha.t he says con- cerning their destruction is to be regarded as literally true, they are also taken as the type of nations hostile to God, and their overthrow prefigures the universal judgment on Gentiles, which should usher in the establishment of the kingdom of God, the sovereignty of Jehovah over all the world. The work consists of two parts-one (vers. 1-16) telling of the destruction of Edom, and the causes thereof; the other (vers.17-21), of the salvation and final victory of Israel. It commences with a proclamation of Jehovah to the nations to come and do battle against Edom. Relying on the impregnable nature of her seat among the rocks of Petra, she fears no foe, yet thence the Lord shall bring her down. She shall suffer no mere predatory inroad, but shall be totally stripped and plundered. The allies in whom she trusted shall prove treacherous, and laugh her credulity to scorn. The wise men for whom she was widely celebrated shall fail to save her in that day; all her valiant chiefs shall become faint-hearted, and utter desolation shall be her portion. Why is Edom thus affiicted ? It is in retribution for the wrong which she did to Israel, the covenant nation, to whom she was united by closest ties of kindred. When Judah was reduced to low estate, Edom rejoiced in her sister's calamity, beheld her disaster with malicious satisfaction, and sided with her enemies in the plunder and murder of the wretched inhabitants of Jerusalem. Such conduct thtl Edomites will, as the prophet foresees, repeat at the fu-st opportunity; and for this, when God visits the heathen, they sha.11 be maTkcd out for destruction, and s'.i.dl ODADIAH. b h INTRODUOTION TO
receive tbe m0&sure wbicb they meted to others. The lest five verses com- prise the second pa.rt of the prophecy. On Mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and deliverance shall be given to the house of Jacob. The Israelites shall be agents in God's hand for the accomplishment of his vengeance ; they shall expel the invaders of their country, and spread abroad on every side; the dispersed among the Gentiles shall return to their fellow-countrymen; and the great consummation shall arrive when "the kingdom shall be the Lord's." The relation of Edom to Israel had for the most part been of the most unfriendly character. Quarrels between relatives are proverbially bitter; this was the case with these two nations. The hostility showed itself in the refusal to allow Israel to pass through their land on the way to Canaan; it led to wars with Saul (1 Sam. xiv. 47) and with David, who mnst have bad good reason for his very severe treatment of them when he pnt to death all the males (2 Sam. viii. 13, 14, Revised Version ; 1 Kings xi. 15, etc.). Hadad, an Idumean chief, was one of Solomon's most inveterate opponents (1 Kings xi. 14-22); and though the Edomites were for many years kept under by stern measures, yet they rebelled whenever they saw a hope of success. Thus they joined with Moab and .Ammon in an invasion of Judrea in the time of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xx. 22); under Jehoram they regained their independence, massacred the Judreans who were in their borders, and, in alliance with Philistines and desert tribes, plnndered the king's palace in Jerusalem and slew his sons (2 Chron. xxi. 8, 17 ; Joel iii. 19 ; .Amos i. 11). Some years later, however, they were successful1y attacked by .Amaziah,.theirstronghold Sela, or Petra, was taken, and the population was pnt to the sword, twenty thonsand being slain in battle or butchered afterwards (2 Kings xiv. 7; 2 Chron. xx:v. 11, etc.). Yet they were never completely subdued; they were always on the watch to smite J ndah and to carry away captives (2 Chron. xxviii. 17). When N ebuc:hadnezzar besieged J ernsalem, they gladly joined the invaders (Ezek. xx:xv.; xxxvi.. 5), helped to plunder the city and to cut off stragglers who endeavoured to escape. This hostile attitude of Edom towards God's people is the ground of the judgment denounced by Obadiah. The following eloquent passage from Dean Stanley's 'Lectures on the Jewish Church ' (ii. 556) shows the attitude of Edom, and the feeling evoked by it in the breast of the J ewe : " Deepest of all was the indignation roused by the sight of the nearest of kin, the race of Esau, often allied to Judah, often independent, now bound by the closest union with the power that was truly the common enemy of both. There was an intoxica- tion of delight in the wild Edomite chiefs, as at each successive stroke against the venerable wall, they shonted, ' Down with it, down with it, even to the ground l ' They stood in the passes to intercept the escape of those who would have fled down to the Jordan valley; they betrayed tLe fogitives; they indulged their barbarous revels on the templo hill. L ,ng and loud has been the wail of execration which has gone up from the THE BOOK OF OBA DIAII. ill