The Pulpit Commentary — Obadiah — Section 8

Septuagint, 6,ra,,: Vulg1ttC1, scisfflm. The is no reference to the ohe.rite.ble le.w in word occurs in thl' parallel pe.sse.ge, Jer. Lev. xix. 10; Dent. xxiv. 21, which would xlix. JG. and in Cant. ii. 14, where it has the not affect, or be k~own unto, these grapo- ml'nning <1f "rdu~0." Of the rook. Thie plnnderere. rnny be Sela, or 1\,tre., AB 2 Kings xiv. 7. Ver. 6.-Obadie.h contemple.tee Edom's The cou11tr,· inhabited by the Edomites lay ruin, in retribution of her plundering Jeru- on thl' eRst-0rn side of ihe Arabnh, e.nd salem, and speaks of it e.s past. Row are extended from the south end of the Dead the things of Ese.u searched out I litero.lly, Sea to the Elanitio Gulf. It was a region how arti thy thingB searched out, EBau I i.e. of mountain e.nd valley, difficult, anrl in the people aud property the.t belong to many pRrt.,; inncceesiole from the west. Esau. The enemy leave no ple.oe uneX•· Rook-hewn dwellings are found every- e.mined. So in Zeph. i. 12 the Lord says, where in these bills. the Edomites, when "I will search Jerusalem with candles." they expellcrl the aboriginal Troglodytes (For "Esau" e.e equivalent to "Edom," see (Deut. ii. 12, 22), haring adopted their habi- Gen. xxv. 30.) Hi.a hidden things (matspon, tations and excavated new ones on the same 4,rn! .\ey&µ,i,oi,); hidden treasures; Sep- model throughout the whole district. These tuagint, .,-a ,,,,,pvµµli,a ab.-ou. Jeremie.h were useful, not only as being secure from (xlix. 10) gives, "seorot places." Keil hostile attack, but o.s cool retreats in the notes that Petra we.s o. gree.t emporium summer of that scorching tract, and offer- of the trade between Arabia e.nd Syria, ing 11. warm shelter in winter when fuel and that in it gree.t treasures were stored was eoarce. Petra, the capital, lay oom- (Diod. Sio., m. 95), pletely hidden at the end of a rocl..)' defile Ver. 7.-In this dire ce.lamity Edom some two miles long, and could easily be shall be deserted by her friends and defended n,.,"'lilllBt an enemy by a he.ndful a.lliee-e. punishment for her behe.viour of men. (For a description of this remark- to her sister Judah. The men of thy able place, see the Introdnotion, § I.) oonfederaoy. The LXX. and· the· Vul- Ver. 4.-Though thou ualt thyself aa gate e.nne;ii: these words to tb:e following the eagle. The Hebrew gives "nest" as clause. The allies intended me.y be Moe.I). the subject of both claUBes, ihus: ' 1 Though Ammon, Tyre, and Zidon, who joined to- .thou exaltest . . . e.nd settest thy •nest." gether to resist NebU:chadnezw, and were Job (x:ui.x.. 27, 28) speaks of the eagle smitten by him (Jer:- xivii, 3); or, as making its nest in the highest rocks. The Perowne thinks, 'th13 Chaldeans themeelv-es, metaphor is found in Numb. x:riv. 21; who, though •the Edomiiee had aided in Hab. ii. 9. Will I bring thee down (Amoe the attack on Jerusalem, afterwards turned ix. 3). The seizure of Petra by the Nabe.- age.inst them. - He.ve brought thee even to thmans ie the judgment referred to in this the border ; Septne.giut, dEcos .,.,;,, op[i,,11 pa.rt of the prophecy; the complete rnin is i!a1r/,r.,-.,1,,,£,, tr<, " They sent thee forth unto mentioned later (vere. 18, etc.). thy borders;" Vulgate, UsqU8 ad terminum emiBerunt ii. Keil o.nd others explain tms V crs. 5, 6.-To prove the completeness of to mean the.t the Edomitee send ambB.8- the destruction that shall befall Edom, the ee.d.ore to their e.llies, e.sking help, but proµhet supposes two caBeB of despoiling in these meesel)gere are oonducted back to whicL oomething would be left behind. It the frontier with their request not granted, will be far worse than any mere raid of because the allies are unwilling to entangle themselve11 in the fate of Edom. It is•easier thieves ; nothing will be spared. to underBtand the passage in ibis we.y-Thy Ver. 5.-Thiev88 ... robbers. The former very allies have ·e.iisisted the enemy in ex- are ordinary thieves who pilfer secretly; ihe pelling thee -from· thy borders, and refusing latter are robbers who e.ct with violence, to receive fugitives·who came to them. The or members of e. marauding expedition. men that were e.t pee.oe with thee, Either Row e.rt thou cut o:ff ! An interposed the same e.s •• the men of thy oonfede- ejaculation of the prophet, sympathizing nwy ," or the neighbouring Arabian tribes witL the Edomitee for the utter desolation who resorted to Petra for commercial which he sees in vision. Septuagint, nou reasons (comp: Judg. iv. 17). The phrase ~ o.1r,ppl,p71s; " WLere wouldst thou have here, litere.lly, the men of thy pea)Je, is found been cast away?" taking a different read- in Ps. rli. 9 and Jer; :u:xviii. 22. Have ing; Vulgate, Q=ad.-0 conticu:i8sea f " How deceived thee, by not bringing the ex- wouldBt tl10u have been silent?" i.ti. for pected help; and have prevailed e.ge.iDlt foa.r. Till they had enough. Would they thee, by actue.l violence, They that eat rwt have taken such plunder as they thy bree.d. The Hebrew is simply, "thy wanted, and then decamped? The grape- bread," i.e. the men of thy bread. Vulgate, gatherers would leave some bunches un- qui comedunt tecwm; the LXX. omits the 1.oucl.u,d, whi.cl; esraped their notice, There words, The expreasion (comp. Ps. xli. 9.) 1-21.] THE BOOK OF OBADIAH. 8