Obadiah 1:14

Physical violence eventually came into play too. As the Judean fugitives from Jerusalem left the city, the Edomites met them at some fork in the road and slew them rather than helping them escape from the invader. Other Edomites imprisoned fleeing Judahites instead of giving them refuge. This could be poetic hyperbole, but there is nothing in the text that indicates overstatement. All the other descriptions of Edom’s actions seem to be literal.

Some English translations render Obadiah 1:12-14 as referring to the future while others have interpreted them as referring to the past. Most commentators take the time as past; God was describing something that had already happened. [Note: E.g., Finley, p. 340.] A few take it as future describing something that would take place in the future. [Note: E.g., Gaebelein, pp. 5, 29.] Since this is a judgment oracle, it seems more likely that God was announcing judgment on Edom for something she had already done rather than for something she would do in the future. As she had been proud (Obadiah 1:2), she had also been violent (Obadiah 1:10). Keil proposed that Obadiah referred to an event that had happened and to another that would happen again in the future, the past event being typical of future reoccurrences. [Note: Keil, 1:363.]

The two most likely historical occasions that are in view are, first, the invasion by a coalition of Arabs and Philistines who carried off King Jehoram’s family and his property during a period of tension with Edom (2 Kings 8:20-22; 2 Chronicles 20:1-2; 2 Chronicles 21:8-17; 2 Chronicles 22:1). The second possible event was the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. (2 Kings 24:13-16; 2 Kings 25:4-17; 2 Chronicles 36:18; 2 Chronicles 36:20; cf. Psalms 137:7; Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 25:21; Jeremiah 27:3; Jeremiah 40:11; Ezekiel 25:12; Ezekiel 32:29; Ezekiel 35:3-9; Ezekiel 35:11-15; Ezekiel 36:2-7; Lamentations 1:17; Lamentations 2:15-17; Lamentations 4:21-22). As discussed in the introduction to this exposition, I think there is slightly better evidence for the first occasion than for the second.