The Pulpit Commentary — Obadiah — Section 12

tion!'d in Hos. i. 1 I : Ezck. xxxvii. 19; Zeoli. re1tehed to the river, elu\11 possess all tho "· 6. The fnture sR l vRtion is to be for all. territorv on tho other side of Jo\'dan. 'l'hu1 For stubble, which the brAelites used rather the resixlred people shall, in nccordanoe wtth thnn woorl for lighting fires and boating the promise in Gen. :nviii. H, "epreod <W<'llB (lllnlt. vi. 30). (For the image of abroad tr• the west, and to the east, and to firr consuming the ungorlly ns stubble, ROO the north, and to the south" (oomp. lee.. !iv. , Exod. n. 7; le&. v. 24; Ne,h. i. 10.) They 1-8). Obadiah eeee the twelve tribes, shall kindle in them, This may mean, once more united, extending their territQry tilr lsrnelit<'s "shall bum nmong" the on every side; and, to make this evident, Edomites; but more prohe,bly is merely he gives certo.in examples, using J udo.h a repetition of ..-hRt hRs g-one before: tho and Benjamin as equivalent to "the people J e..-s she.ll confJllme the Edomites. There of God," and their enlargement 1ts denoting shell not be eny remaining. This refers to the majestio progress of the kingdom of the totnl annihilation of the Edomites under God. John Hyrcnnus (Jo&>ph1lll, 'Ant.,' xii. 8. 6; Ver. 20.-Alld the oaptivity of this host of xiii. 9. 1), and is a punishment quite dis- the ohildren of Israel sholl possess th11t of t;nct from their defeat e.t the hands of the the Canaa.n.ites, even unto Zarephath; Sep- No.ho.thm&ns predicted in vers. 1-9 (see tuagint, Kal -rijs µ•-ro,,c«rlas ;, lipx¾, ali"Ml .,-oir Introduction, § I.). The LXX. gives, ou1< v/ois 'llTpa¾,"-, -yij .,.;;,., Xru,ai,a{,.,., f,.,s lap•· lcr.,-a, ,rvpocpdpos (fl1Jptp6pos, Alex.); St. Je- .,...,..;v, "And this sh111l be the beginning of rome roa<ls, '"'potp&pos, which he translated the captivity of the children of Israel, the frumentariWl. Many of the Fnthers read, land of the C11naanitee o.s far e.s Se.repte.." wvpcpdpos : thus, too, tho Arabic and Coptic This would imply the.t the Ephraimites V cr,;ions. Schleusner, BIJb 11oee, thinks that should be the first to go into exile, and on the LXX. had in view the Greek proverb, their return should occupy the territory of o&b, ..-vpq,6pos, which is used to express the the Ce.nannites on the north. But lr.px¾i idea that not even a single survivor re- may mean "domain." Vulgate, Et trans- mains (see Herod., viii. 6). For the Lord migratio ezercitUB hujus fili<Yruin Israel, hath spoken it (Joel iii. 8). omnia loea Chananaumim wque ad Sareptam. Ver. 19.-Judah and Benjamin between The general meaning is 1the.t Jewish cap- them shall possess the whole territory that tives, who have been ta.ken to other lands, once belonged to the children of Israel. In shall retnrn and possess the cities of the J os!J. xv. 21, 33, 48, tile inheritance of J ndah south. The sentence in the Hebrew is in- is distributed into three portions-the eouth, complete. Our translators supply, "she.II tile plain, and the mountains; the so.me possess." Pusey (in agreement with the divisions a.re noticeable here (see note on Che.ldee, nnd virtuo.lly with the Septua- Zech. vii. 7). They of the eouth. The in- giat) renders, "which are among the Ca- ho.bite.nts of the Negeb, "the dry country"- ne.e.nites; " and this seems to be correct, the southern po.rt of Judah, shall take pos- me.king "shall possess the cities of the ses,,ion of Idumee. (A.mos iL 12). They of south" tho predicate of both clauses. So the plain. Of the Shephelah, or " low land " the first portion of the verse means, e.s -the maritime plain and the country held Henderson s11ys, the number of Israelitish by tile Philistines (2 Chron. xxviii. 18; Zeph. captives which were found in Phcenicill, ii. 7). All!!. they shall posse&& The Jn- into which they he.d been sold at different dmnns not o.lready mentioned. i.e. those of times as slaves (comp. vers. 11, H; Joel iii. the mountains, she.ll take the territory of 6, 7). This host. Not a general deporta- the ten tribes. The fieldll of Ephraim, and tion, but only the portion of the people the fieldll of Sama.ria. The country e.nd the referred to. From this expression some capital. Septuagint, .,-1, llpos 'Ecppalµ ,ea/ .,-/) have inferred that Obadiah himself wae ,reliiov ~aµ.apelas, "the Mount of Ephraim one of this body. This iH possible, but not and the Plain of Samaria." Others trans- necessary. The captives who o.re among lat.e, "Ephraim shall possess the field of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; as far Sam.aria," considering that otherwise a.B Zarephath, were probably placed there Ephraim would be excluded from the re- for safe keeping before being sold into stored kingdom, and Judah would inherit Greece e.nd other countries. Ze.rephath t!Je territory of Ephraim, in violation of the ("Melting-house"), the Barepta. of St. covenant (Briggs, 'Messianic Prophecy,' p. Luke (iv. 26), now Sura/end or Sarafe'Tld, 317). But the Ieraelires proper were merged e.nd celP.bre.ted in the history of Elijnh in tl,e Judmans at the return; and if Ben- (1 Kings xvii. 9, etc.), lay between 'l'yre jamin p',sseBses Gilead, it is not unnatural and Bidon, e. little inland, e.nd was 11 town tho.t Judah should extend northward to of eome importance, e.s it.s ruins prove. The Samaria. And Benjamin shall possess captivity of leru.aalem. The c11ptives from Gilead. Benjamin, the other portion of the Jerusalem. Which is in Beph11rad; Septua- bonse of Je.coh, whose territory originally gint, ,,.,, 'E,Ppa61i, "as far ns Ephrathe.h; "  1-21.] THE BOOK OF OBADIAH. 7