Obadiah Introduction

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ZECOT - Obadiah

Obadiah Introduction to Obadiah

Consisting of only 291 words, Obadiah is by far the shortest book in the OT

Obadiah Introduction to Obadiah

In recent years it has become fashionable to view the Book of the Twelve as an intentional literary composition, with a coherent plot and/or themes and literary patterns signaling that those who collected these works intended the entire work to be read as a coherent corpus. Accordingly, Obadiah 1–5, which is heavily dependent on Jeremiah 49:9, 14–16, has been adapted to imitate Amos 9:1–4, and Obadiah 8–14 represents a mosaic of anti-Edom oracles, drawing on Isaiah and Ezekiel and composed for the Book of the Twelve.

Background Information

Author

Obadiah - Not clear which Obadiah

1 Kings 18:3–16 ESV

3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, 4 and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself. 7 And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” 8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’ ” 9 And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.” ’ 12 And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here” ’; and he will kill me.” 15 And Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.

Date

Multiple dates have been proposed (850-400 BC)

Most likely between 586-553 BC

586 BC - Fall of Jerusalem

Obadiah 11 ESV

11 On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.

Psalm 137:7 ESV

7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”

Ezekiel 25:12 ESV

12 “Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them,

Amos 1:11 ESV

11 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.

553 BC - Fall of Edom

Audience

Edomites - Obadiah 1-15

Judahites - Obadiah 16-21

Genre

Prophecy

Satire

Outline of Book

Obadiah 1-4 - First Declaration

Obadiah 5-7 - Second Declaration

Obadiah 8-14 - Third Declaration

Obadiah 15-18 - The Day of the Lord

Obadiah 19-21 - The Kingdom will be Yahweh’s

Purpose of Obadiah

Announce the destruction of Edom & encourage the Judahites

Theology

God is sovereign over all

The Day of the Lord

God will judge the nations

God will be merciful to His people

Quotes on the book of Obadiah

Anchor Yale Bible Commentary

Obadiah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary Preliminary Observations

The book of Obadiah is the smallest book in the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament. With only one chapter of 21 verses it can easily be overlooked by readers of the Bible. After all, what are 21 verses compared to, say, the 1,364 verses (MT) of Jeremiah? Yet close study of Obadiah is worth the effort. For one thing, its small size proves to be advantageous. Readers can hold in the mind and memorize the whole book without too much difficulty. This enables them to see the entire forest without getting lost among the trees, something that cannot be done so easily with a large book. Furthermore, Obadiah flows in the mainstream of the Israelite prophetic tradition, a characteristic that has not always been recognized. This short book elegantly summarizes many of the great prophetic themes, such as divine judgment against Israel’s enemies, the day of Yahweh, the lex talionis as the standard of judgment, the cup-of-wrath metaphor, Zion theology, Israel’s possession of the land, and the kingship of Yahweh. Thereby the book serves as a concise epitome for much of the message of the prophets. It also illustrates the nature of prophetic discourse: its poetry and prose; its types of speech, such as judgment, accusation, warning, and promise; and its rhetorical style. It especially exemplifies oracles against the foreign nations, a category that occupies much of the corpus of the Latter Prophets. Therefore attention to the little book of Obadiah should prove to be a rewarding experience for serious students of the Bible.