Verses 15-21
Obadiah 1:15 a, Obadiah 1:16-Ecclesiastes : . The Judgment of the Nations.— The “ Day of Yahweh” approaches; Judah has already drunk her cup of suffering ( cf. Jeremiah 25:15; Jeremiah 49:12), and now the other nations shall drink destruction. Mount Zion shall be a sanctuary, and the house of Jacob (here for “ Judah” ) shall recover what has been lost ( Obadiah 1:17). Judah shall be joined by the restored northern kingdom (the house of Joseph), and together they shall utterly destroy the Edomites (Esau, Obadiah 1:18; for the contrast of Jacob and Esau, cf. Malachi 1:2-Deuteronomy :). The territories to be recovered in S. and N. are indicated ( Obadiah 1:19 f.). Judah in Zion shall be reinforced by the help of the restored Israel (the saviours of Obadiah 1:21) against Esau, and the “ Messianic” kingdom shall be established (Zarephath on coast, between Tyre and Sidon, cf. 1 Kings 17:9); Sepharad, since the Persian period a name for Asia Minor, particularly Phrygia; this host, Obadiah 1:20, may be a corrupt form of Halah ( cf. 2 Kings 17:6).
Obadiah 1:19 seems to have been expanded by glosses, and Marti suggests as its original form, “ And they ( i.e. the united Israel and Judah) will take possession of the Negeb and the Shephelah, and the fields of Ephraim and Gilead.” In Obadiah 1:20, we should probably read, “ shall possess the Canaanites” , the Heb. being impossible as it stands.
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