Obadiah 1

A. Introduction: Setting the Stage for the "Days"

Main Idea of the Passage

The first verse of Obadiah sets the stage for the book, identifying for readers and hearers the nature of Obadiah's prophecy (a vision), the source (YHWH) and target (Edom) of his prophecy, and the significance of his prophecy (the beginning of the end for Edom).

Literary Context

Like most prophetic books of the OT, Obadiah begins by introducing information that is critical to interpreting the book. The opening statement not only gives the identity of the human speaker, but through the citation formula identifies the divine voice behind the prophet. Accordingly, when we hear first person declarations (vv. 2a, 4c, 8c), we know they are not Obadiah's predictions of what he will do, but YHWH's own words.

Strictly speaking, YHWH's speech does not follow immediately after the citation formula, leading scholars either to delete the formula as a secondary addition or to rearrange the text so that this formula comes immediately before v. 2a. However, as we will see, Obadiah has a penchant for surprising readers and hearers with apparently misplaced clauses. These surprises keep the audience alert and contribute to the rhetorical force of the whole. At the same time, sometimes this formula functions as a code expression for authorized prophetic speech generally, and it may appear without a following divine address. Its placement here reflects the fact that all true prophetic speech is divine speech, and that all that follows comes under the rubric of true prophecy — even the report of a message delivered to someone other than the prophet. The enigmatic reference to a message sent among "the nations" (haggôyim) inserts a motif that will become significant later, albeit in an ironic reversal of roles. Whereas this note presents the nations as the agents through whom YHWH will execute his judgments against Edom, later they will share Edom's fate as objects of YHWH's wrath (vv. 15a, 16).

Structure and Literary Form

The introduction consists of three parts: a simple third person identification of the prophet responsible for the utterances in this book (v. 1a), the citation formula (v. 1b), and an enigmatic reference to a report of a communication event — complete with narrative preamble identifying the source of the message and the audience for whom it is intended (v. 1c-d), a citation of the message (v. 1e), and the audience's response (v. 1f). Syntactically the introduction is awkward; the three main parts are not linked by conjunctions of any sort and appear to be stand-alone fragments. The first line (v. 1a) functions as a superscription for the entire book, inviting us to hear it as a unified whole. If the citation formula invites us to read the entire book as prophetic speech, then the report of a messenger going to the nations creates anticipation and provides a lens through which to read what follows. Yes, the nations will be involved in Edom's demise, but no, they will not be acting on their own; they will be fulfilling a divine command. This opening introduces us to four different voices: (a) the editor of the book, who identifies the genre and the prophet; (b) the prophet, who begins with the citation formula; (c) heavenly envoys, who call on the nations to rise up against Edom — "Rise!" (qûmû); (d) the nations, who declare their positive response: "Yes, let us rise against her for battle!"

Explanation of the Text

1. The Nature of Obadiah's Prophecy (v.1a)

It is fitting that the shortest prophetic book should also have the shortest superscription . As noted earlier, the superscription offers no information on the prophet except his name . Meaning "servant of YHWH," Obadiah ('obadyâ) presents this man as a representative of prophets frequently referred to as "my/your/his servants the prophets." We know nothing of this Obadiah's vocation, home, or family. Although the book is obviously the work of a man learned in Israel's scriptural and prophetic tradition, if our view of the context of the oracles in this book is correct, he probably came from the lower classes, since these were the people whom Nebuchadnezzar left behind when he deported the Judahite population in 598 BC (2 Kgs 25:14).

Whoever was responsible for the final shape of the book classified its contents as a "vision." The word hazôn derives from a verb hazâ, "to see," and is used especially of revelatory visions (Ezek 12:27; 13:16). It also occurs in the superscriptions of the books of Isaiah (Isa 1:1; cf. 2 Chr 32:32) and Nahum (Nah 1:1), and is applied to Habakkuk (Hab 2:2) as well. The latter two reflect how flexibly the word could be used. In Nah 1:1 "vision" is paired with "oracle, burden" (massa'), and in Hab 2:1 the prophet climbs the watchtower to "see" (râ'a) what YHWH will say to him in answer to the questions he raised in Hab 1 . The Balaam narratives in Num 23 – 24 portray this prophet from Mesopotamia as one "whose eye is open," "who hears the words of God," and "who sees a vision [hazâ mahazeh] of Shaddai" (24:3 – 4). While YHWH often revealed prophetic messages in visionary form, Obadiah leaves no hint of an optical revelatory event, suggesting that here hazôn speaks not only of physical sight, but of extraordinary perception. Inspired by YHWH, Obadiah is able to "see" the future of Edom and his own people and to paint a graphic verbal picture of that future.

2. The Source and Target of Obadiah's Prophecy (v. 1b)

The formula "Thus says Adonay YHWH" highlights the speaker's heraldic role and the speech that follows as the very words of the one who sent him. This declaration is commonly referred to as the "messenger formula," because it usually introduces the utterance of a person who has been sent with official authority to speak on behalf of a superior. However, since it can also be used in circumstances not involving an officially commissioned spokesman (cf., e.g., 1 Sam 9:9; 20:22), it is better designated as a "citation formula." Whether or not it functions as a messenger formula depends on the relationship between the ones who use the formula and the persons whose words they quote.

To understand how the formula functioned in relation to divine speech, we might look at a mundane example involving only humans. Conveniently, the narratives of Jacob and Esau in Genesis provide the best illustration. In Gen 32:4 – 7[3 – 6], with obvious fear Jacob prepares to meet Esau after his sojourn in Aram.

Whereas these messengers here were "envoys" (mal'akîm) of their master Jacob, prophets were envoys commissioned by God and authorized to speak for him with his voice — hence the use of the first person in prophetic speeches. As was the case with Jacob in commissioning this envoy, the goal of prophetic speech is rhetorical: to get the addressees to view reality the way the divine Commissioner perceives it and to change their conduct in accordance with that reality. This typically involves breaking down prevailing perceptions and reconstructing them according to the speaker's mind . The communication/rhetorical event involves five phases: (1) commissioning the messenger; (2) transmitting the message to the messenger; (3) delivering the message; (4) reporting the completion of the assignment; (5) the response of the addressee. The book of Obadiah reports only the second phase; we do not know the circumstances or means by which YHWH commissioned Obadiah, the manner or context in which he delivered his message, or the response of the addressees .

The text highlights the authority of the one sending Obadiah by identifying him as "Adonay YHWH" ('adonay yhwh). That this should be the first of seven occurrences of the divine name YHWH (yhwh) scattered throughout the text sends an early signal of the central character in the book. Remarkably, four of these seven occur in formulaic expressions highlighting the divine authority of the words declared (vv. 1b, 4d, 8b, 18g); three portray him as the determining actor in the events described (vv. 1c, 15a, 21b). The citation formula occurs in the OT with God as the sending authority more than 430 times: 293 involve the divine name without title, "Thus says YHWH"; 134 involve the compound form we have here; and a few more involve other epithets for God.

Obadiah's present preference for the compound form may reflect the influence of Ezekiel, since the overwhelming majority of cases involving this form occur in that book (122/134), and Ezekiel uses the shorter form only three times (11:5; 21:8[3]; 30:6). Whatever its inspiration, the addition of Adonay highlights YHWH's authority to govern the world as he deems right and to exercise his sovereign power in the judgment of the nations and the salvation of his people. The addition here creates a sensitive inclusio with the last statement of the book: "the dominion" (hammelûkâ) does indeed belong to YHWH (v . 21b).

The citation formula identifies the target audience as Edom, whose divinely assigned territory lay south of the Zered Brook, which flowed into the south end of the Dead Sea (Deut 2:1 – 7). The OT often refers to the mountainous heartland of Edomite territory as "Seir." The Edomite genealogy preserved in Gen 36 suggests that this geographic designation for the land derived from the name of an ancestor of the Horites (36:20 – 30), whom the Edomites displaced (Deut 2:12). Edom emerged as a nation approximately the same time as Israel, though they never achieved Israel's political and economic power, and because they have left no literary records (like the OT), the history of this nation is obscure.

Our concern here is not the political history of Edom, but the history of this people's relationship with Israel and their significance for the prophecy of Obadiah. The way the prophet refers to the Edomites is telling. It is appropriate that the heading to the book should identify the Edomites by their national name, "Edom." In the oracle itself this name occurs only once (v. 8c), where the parallelism demands a correlation with Mount Esau (v. 8d). Otherwise the prophet always refers to the Edomites by the simple name of their eponymous ancestor, "Esau" (v. 6a), or the collective designation, "house of Esau" (v. 18c, f), and to their homeland as "Mount Esau" (vv. 8d, 9b, 19a, 21a), a designation for Mount Seir that occurs nowhere else.

Obadiah's preference for the name Esau reflects his rhetorical concern. As noted, he is not interested in the political history of Edom or Edom's economic standing among the nations. To him Edom is a person, the brother of Jacob (vv. 10b, 12a), who shares a common ancestry in the first two patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac, but whose history of violence against his twin brother will finally be answered . According to biblical tradition, the history of conflict between Israel and Edom antedates their birth . Genesis 25:20 – 34 reports that Jacob and Esau were at odds already in their mother's womb . Remarkably, the patriarchal narratives actually paint Esau in a more positive light than Jacob, whose name means "cheat." In purchasing the birthright for a pot of lentil stew, Jacob was a shrewd opportunist, capitalizing on his brother's hunger (25:29 – 34); and when he stole the ancestral blessing, he acceded to his mother's deceitful schemes (27:1 – 45). Esau could not help it if he was hungry when he came in from the field, and it was not his fault if their father Isaac overrode YHWH's oracle (25:23) and sought to bless his eldest son before his death (27:7, 27 – 29). When Jacob returned from Haran, he was the one with the guilty conscience over what happened decades earlier (32:1 – 11), while Esau held no grudges (33:1 – 17).

The present oracle is a response, not to the individual Esau's abuse of Jacob, but the abuse the latter's descendants experienced at the hands of the descendants of the former. However, as we will see, Obadiah does not respond to centuries of abuse but to a particular recent moment in history.

3. The Context of Obadiah's Prophecy (v. 1c-f )

The remainder of the introduction represents the first part of an extended statement (vv. 1b – 5f) inspired by Jeremiah's oracle against Edom in Jer 49:7 – 22. Obadiah rearranges and adapts the material according to his own rhetorical agenda, but the echoes add the weight of prophetic tradition to his utterances. The present text derives from Jer 49:14. The relationship between these texts may be highlighted by juxtaposing literal translations as follows:

Jeremiah 49:14a-b Obadiah 1c-f

A report I have heard from YHWH, A report we have heard from YHWH,
and an envoy among the nations is sent: and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
"Gather together and come against her, "Rise up!"
and rise up for the battle." "Yes, let us rise against her for battle!"

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Each line involves subtle but significant changes, which we will note as we proceed through Obadiah's utterance. Although both utterances are meaningful and both open with an alliterative clause, Obadiah's text certainly poses more interpretive challenges. Whereas Jeremiah's first line is autobiographical, Obadiah complicates matters by changing the singular verb to the plural. Who else is listening in on this communication from YHWH? Either this is an editorial "we," or Obadiah speaks as a representative of a group, perhaps of the people as a whole, or of a cadre of faithful followers of YHWH in post-fall Jerusalem.

But what is the report? While the word šamû'â itself does not help much,18 the answer is given in v. 1d. The important detail to note is that like the oracle that Obadiah is about to declare, and like the message that the present messenger delivers, this report — that is, the report that a message had been sent to the nations — also came from YHWH. YHWH has let Obadiah and his colleagues in on a secret concerning Edom's fate, and on the way divine providence is exercised.

In v. 1d we learn some of the content of the report: an envoy has been sent among the nations. The word sîr occurs only six times in the OT. Its meaning is suggested by Prov 13:17, where it is paired with "messenger" (mal'ak), and by all the other texts, where it is associated with the verb "to send" (šalah). Obadiah does not explain who this messenger might be, but it is best to see here a reference to an angelic member of the heavenly council. Perhaps Obadiah saw a scene like that described in 1 Kgs 22:19 – 23, where Micaiah ben Imlah saw YHWH seated on his throne surrounded by his council. In that passage YHWH was seeking their counsel for a way to get Ahab to engage the Arameans in battle over Ramoth Gilead so that he might fall in battle. When one of those council members volunteered to be a deceptive spirit to entice him into going to war, YHWH sent him out.

The envoy's message is summarized in v. 1e with one word in Hebrew, "Rise up!" (qûmû). We might interpret this as a cryptic summary of Jeremiah's version of the divine summons to battle, "Gather together and come against her, and rise up for the battle." The notion of YHWH summoning the nations to battle on his behalf is common in the OT. We find fuller versions of such a summons in Jer 51:27 – 28 and Joel 4:9 – 11[3:9 – 11].

Raise a standard in the land,
blow the trumpet among the nations;
prepare the nations for war against her,
summon against her the kingdoms,
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
appoint a marshal against her,
bring up horses like bristling locusts.
Prepare the nations for war against her,
the kings of the Medes, with their governors
and deputies,
and every land under their dominion.

(Jer. 51:27 – 28, NRSV)

Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare war,
stir up the warriors.
Let all the soldiers draw near,
let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weakling say, "I am a warrior."
Come quickly,
all you nations all around,
gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O YHWH.

(Joel 4:9 – 11[3:9 – 11], NRSV)

Given the context in which Obadiah is ministering, the present statement is striking. Only recently his own people had been the victims of a host of armies whom YHWH had summoned to punish Judah for her rebellion against him and in fulfillment of the covenant curses declared centuries earlier by Moses in Deut 28:47 – 67. Now he is summoning them against Edom, which means that when Edom falls to Nabonidus (in 553 BC), this too will be an act of the sovereign God of Israel.