The Pulpit Commentary — Obadiah — Section 11

taken metaphorioally In both ola111ea <- uxviii. 11 ; xliv. 9). (]!'or the aooomplish- note on N&h. lli. 11). The meaning la then ment of this propheoy age.inst Edom. see thie-As ye Jewe, who are upan my holy Introduction, § L) mountain the people of eleotion, have not Vere. 17-21.-Part II. Tlll!l REBTOBA- eeo&ped f;om euft'ering the wrath of God, so all the nationa eh&Jl feel the same, and that TION OJ' lmABL. to a much more terrible extent. Confi.rmatory Vera. 17-20.-§ 1. Whilejudgmentfalla of this explan&tion is the language of Jere- upon heathen nations, the hoUAe of Jacob shall miob who (xxv. 15-29) bide all the nations be deli11eroo,, shall add to ita po118e8Bicn,, a-nd to drink the cup of God's wrath, beginning at Jerusalem and passing on to Edom, and ,pread far and wide. then says, in answer to any who refuse the Ver. 17.-Upon Mount Zion. Once dese- offered draught, "Lo, I begin to bring evil crated by the idolatrous revelry of the on the oity which is called by my name, Edomilea and the other nations, now the and ahould ye be utterly unpunished?" seat of Jehovah (Joel iii. 17) and his king- The same notion is found also in Jer. xlix. dom. Delivere.noe (peletah); Septuagint, 12 and Lam. iv. 21, etc. But there are """'7Jp(a. Abstract for concrete, and to be objections to this view: of the passage. . The rendered," those that escape," or" those that previous verse enunciated the doctrine of are saved;" i.e. a remnant that shall escape retribution ; this verse confirms the former destruction (comp. Joel ii 32; Amos ix. 8). with the words, " for as ye," etc. It would There shall be holiness; rather, it (Mount be no proof of the le:,; taliania on the Zion) ahall be holy; so Septuagint, 1<a.t Edomitee to cite who.t had happened to lcr-ra, 11-yrnv: Hebrew, kodesh, "a sanctuary," the Jews. What is wanted is an assertion where the heathen shall not come (lee. Iii. that whe.t they had done should be repaid to 1; comp. Joel iii. 17 [iv.17, Hebrew]: Rev. them in like coin. Besides, the prophecy is xxi. 27). The houe of le.oob. Jnde.h and nominally addressed to the Edomites, not Benjamin. the holy seed, in whom the king- to the Jews, and it would be most harsh to dom of the Lord shonld be established change the subject suddenly here. "Upon (comp. ver. 18). The northem kingdom ia my mountain" cannot be equivalent to "ye not mentioned.. Shall poaaesa their posses- who are upon my mountain; " nor is such an Bioua ; Septuagint, Ka.-ra.,cll.71povoµ.f,croucriv d expression ever used to signify "Judmo.ns." o11<0S 'Ia.rcw/3 -rovs l<ILTa.1</\.71povaµ.f,cra.vTa.s It is best, therefore, to take the clause as a.b-ro6s, "The house of Jacob shall take for referring to the Edomites and their com- an inheritance those who took them for an rades, who, after their victory, indulged in inheritance ; " Vulgate, Poasidebit domus unseemly revelry, and profaned the mountain Jacob eos qui ae poesederant. Tbese ver- hallowed by God's presence in the temple sions must have used a different punctna• with their idolatrous festival. The "drink- tion from that of th!:' Mo.soretic text- ing" in this first clause is literal; in the morishehem for morashehem (comp. Numb. following clause it is figurative. Septua- x:xiv. 18, 19). The Hebrew pronoun is am• gint, l•ms," thou didst drink," which makes biguous, and "their possessions" may mean the connection of the subject here with that either those that the Jews themselves had in ver. 15 more evident, and it has probably lost, or those of the Edomites. But nothing been altered by the translators for that pur- is said of Israel being carried away captive pose. So shall all the heathen drink oontinu- u.nd losing its country; and, though the e.lly. The prophet plays on the word" drink." prophet may have looked forward to such a The nations shall drink, not wine, but the ce.wtrophe and to a future restoration, tbiel wrath of God (Ps. lxxv. 8; Jer. xxv. 15). is not the subject here. The possession! The no.tions a.re spoken of here because referred to are those of the enemy repre- Edom is taken as o. type of all nations hostile sented by the Edomites, e.nd tho,e which to God, and the ret!'ibution tho.t fa.Us on him the Jews had lost since the days of David is extended to all who o.ssume his attitude and Solomon; and " the house of J 11cob" towards God's people (Keil). Continually; signifies, not merely the earthly kiuguom Vulgate, jugiter, perpetuo.lly, in uninter- of Juclah, but" the people of God, who are rupted succession. The LXX. ho.a oTvov, eventually to obtain the dominion of the by a mistaken reading. They shall swallow world" (Keil); M11rk xvi. 15. down; drink a full drought; Septuagint, Ver. 18.-The last cle.use of the preceding rca.-ra.{3~crol!'l'a.,, "they sho.11 go down." They verse is here expaudeu and more fu Uy ex• ahe.11 be a.a though they had not been. ple.ineu. The house of Je.oob ... the house of '1.'hey shall drain the wrath of God till Jos~ph. The kingdoms of Ju,fah o.nd Israel, they uttorly perish, till, e.s nations, thoy the two an,\ the ten trib~s united once more. exist no more (comp. Ezek. xxvi. 21; In Ps. lxxvii. 15 the whole people are called xxvii. 36). Septuagint, 1<a.8ws o~x {nrcfp- "the sons of Ja.cob and Joseph." So els&- xonu, "11B if not being" (comp. Ecclus. where. The reunion of the tribes is m~n• r, T1IR BOOK 'OF OBADIAH. (1-21.