4aThough you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you bset your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord.
5 “If athieves had come to you, If robbers by night— Oh, how you will be cut off!— Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to you, bWould they not have left some gleanings?
6 “Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!
7 All the men in your confederacy Shall force you to the border; aThe men at peace with you Shall deceive you and prevail against you. Thosewhoeat your bread shall lay a1 trap for you. bNo1 one is aware of it.
8 “Willa I not in that day,” says the Lord, “Even destroy the wise men from Edom, And understanding from the mountains of Esau?
9 Then your amighty men, O bTeman, shall be dismayed, To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau May be cut off by slaughter.
Edom Mistreated His Brother
10 “For aviolence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, And byou shall be cut off forever.
11 In the day that you astood on the other side— In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And bcast lots for Jerusalem— Even you were as one of them.
12 “But you should not have agazed on the day of your brother 1In the day of his captivity; Nor should you have brejoiced over the children of Judah In the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly In the day of distress.
13 You should not have entered the gate of My people In the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have1 gazed on their affliction In the day of their calamity, Nor laid hands on their substance In the day of their calamity.
14 You should not have stood at the crossroads To cut off those among them who escaped; Nor should you have1 delivered up those among them who remained In the day of distress.
15 “Fora the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; bAs you have done, it shall be done to you; Your1 reprisal shall return upon your own head.
16aFor as you drank on My holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been.
Even his friends, his allies in the conflict with Israel, know that Edom is not to be trusted. They are acquainted with the character of this ancient people, and thus they will do what needs to be done to keep him from dominating them and getting them involved beyond what they are prepared to do. His allies will secretly plan to destroy him. Any confederacy Esau has with others will be short-lived, and this is especially true knowing the deceitful character of his associates! They, too, are untrustworthy bedfellows.
Yet, they are unified in their hatred of Israel, and particularly of the people of Joseph. However, their united hatred will fail to overcome the descendants of Jacob. Ultimately, says verse 18, "The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame," suggesting that God will direct the nations of Joseph to take the lead in punishing Edom. The result will be that "the house of Esau shall be stubble; they shall kindle them and devour them. And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau." What a dire fate!
This is quite grim. Edom will not just be defeated but annihilated. Normally, if a thief enters a home, he takes only those things of value and interest; he does not take every item in the house. He takes only those things he can either fence or use himself. Similarly, when grape gatherers go through a vineyard, they take the best for their purposes, leaving the rest on the vine. Some of the clusters might not have ripened, or some might simply be missed. Biblically, a farmer was supposed to leave some of his crop behind for the poor to glean (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 24:19-22).
Obadiah 1:5-6 indicates that such selectivity will not be the case when Edom is punished. It will be as if the thieves came and stole everything—to the bare walls! Nothing will be left—even the hidden things will be searched out and taken. God lays out the terrible consequences for Edom's rebellions; He is serious about punishing this people for what they have done. This is what Edom will reap—and what he has sown will shortly be revealed.
The New King James soft-peddles some of the Hebrew verbiage. For instance, in verse 6, "Oh, how Esau shall be searched out!" should be, "Oh, how Esau shall be ransacked!" a much more aggressive and violent expression. "His hidden treasures shall be sought after" suggests a functionary making a thorough search for valuables. The Hebrew, however, describes a pillaging army invading and taking everything of value and destroying the rest. Edom will be completely sacked.
Conversely, one of these two phrases and another in verse 5 also hint at Obadiah's empathetic attitude. "Oh, how you will be cut off!" (verse 5) is a typical Hebrew expression of grief. Obadiah repeats his heartache in verse 6, "Oh, how Esau will be searched out!" The prophet laments that this people must come to such a horrible end.
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