Obadiah 1:10

When we have read Edom's doom, no less than utter ruin, it is natural to ask, Why, what evil has he done? What is the ground of God's controversy with him? Many things, no doubt, were amiss in Edom; they were a sinful people, and a people laden with iniquity. But that one single crime which is laid to their charge, as filling their measure and bringing this ruin upon them, that for which they here stand indicted, of which they are convicted, and for which they are condemned, is the injury they had done to the people of God (Oba 1:10): "It is for thy violence against thy brother Jacob, that ancient and hereditary grudge which thou hast borne to the people of Israel, that all this shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off for ever." Note, Injuries to men are affronts to God, the righteous God, that loveth righteousness and hateth wickedness; and, as the Judge of all the earth, he will give redress to those that suffer wrong and take vengeance on those that do wrong. All violence, all unrighteousness, is sin; but it is a great aggravation of the violence if it be done either, 1. Against any of our own people; it is violence against thy brother, thy near relation, to whom thou shouldst be a goel - a redeemer, whom it is thy duty to right if others wronged him; how wicked is it then for thee thyself to wrong him! Thou slanderest and abusest thy own mother's son; this makes the sin exceedingly sinful, Psa 50:20. Or, 2. Much more if it be done against any of God's people; "it is thy brother Jacob that is in covenant with God, and dear to him. Thou hatest him whom God has loved, and because God espouses and will plead with jealousy, and in whose interests God is pleased so far to interest himself that he takes the violence done to him as done to himself. Whoso touches Jacob touches the apple of the eye of Jacob's God." So that it is crimen laesae majestatis - high treason, for which, as for high treason, let Edom expect an ignominious punishment: Shame shall cover thee, and a ruining one; thou shalt be cut off for ever.

In the following verses we are told more particularly,

I. What the violence was which Edom did against his brother Jacob, and what are the proofs of this charge. It does not appear that the Edomites did themselves invade Israel, but that was more for want of power than will; they had malice enough to do it, but were not a match for them. But that which is laid to their charge is their barbarous conduct towards Judah and Jerusalem when they were in distress, and ready to be destroyed, probably by the Chaldeans, or upon occasion of some other of the calamities of the Jews; for this seems to have been always their temper towards them. See this charged upon the Edomites (Psa 137:7), that in the day of Jerusalem they said, Rase it, rase it, and Eze 25:12. They are here told particularly what they did, by being told what they should not have done (Oba 1:12-14): "Thou shouldst not have looked, thou shouldst not have entered; but thou didst so." Note, In reflecting upon ourselves it is good to compare what we have done with what we should have done, our practice with the rule, that we may discover wherein we have done amiss, have done those things which we ought not to have done. We should not have been where we were at such a time, should not have been in such and such company, should not have said what we said, nor have taken the liberty that we took. Sin thus looked upon, in the glass of the commandment, will appear exceedingly sinful. Let us see,

1. What was the case of Judah and Jerusalem when the Edomites behaved themselves thus basely and insulted over them. (1.) It was a day of distress with them (Oba 1:12): It was the day of their calamity, so it is called three times, Oba 1:13. With the Edomites it was a day of prosperity and peace when with the Israelites it was a day of distress and calamity, for judgment commonly begins at the house of God. Children are corrected when strangers are let alone. (2.) It was the day of their destruction (Oba 1:12), when both city and country were laid waste, were laid in ruins. (3.) It was a day when foreigners entered into the gates of Jerusalem, when the city, after a long siege, was broken up, and the great officers of the king of Babylon's army came, and sat in the gates, as judges of the land; when they cast lots upon the spoils of Jerusalem, as the soldiers on Christ's garments, what shares each of the conquerors shall have, what shares of the lands, what shares of the goods; or they cast lots to determine when and where they should attack it. (4.) It was a day when the strangers carried away captive his forces (Oba 1:11), took the men of war prisoners of war, and carried them off, in poverty and shame, to their own country, or such a multitude of captives that they were as an army. (5.) "It was a day when thy brother himself, that had long been at home, at rest in his own land, became a stranger, an exile in a strange land." Now, when this was the woeful case of the Jews, the Edomites, their neighbours and brethren, should have pitied them and helped them, condoled with them and comforted them, and should have trembled to think that their own turn would come next; for, if this was done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? But,

2. See what was the conduct of the Edomites towards them when they were in this distress, for which they are here condemned. (1.) They looked with pleasure upon the affliction of God's people; they stood on the other side (Oba 1:11), afar off, when they should have come in to the relief of their distressed neighbours, and looked upon them, and their day, looked on their affliction (Oba 1:12, Oba 1:13), with a careless unconcerned eye, as the priest and Levite looked upon the wounded man, and passed by on the other side. Those have a great deal to answer for that are idle spectators of the troubles and afflictions of their neighbours, when they are capable of being their active helpers. But this was not all; they looked upon it with a scornful eye, with an eye of complacency and satisfaction; they looked and laughed to see Israel in distress, saying, Aha! so we would have it. They fed their eyes with the rueful spectacle of Jerusalem's ruin, and looked at it as those that had long looked for it and often wished to see it. Note, We must take heed with what eye we look upon the afflictions of our brethren; and, if we cannot look upon them with a gracious eye of sympathy and tenderness, it is better not to look upon them at all: Thou shouldst not have looked as thou didst upon the day of thy brother. (2.) They triumphed and insulted over them, upbraided their brethren with their sorrows, and made themselves and their companions merry with them. They rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. They had not the good manners to conceal the pleasure they took in Judah's destruction and to dissemble it, but openly declared it, and rudely and insolently declared it to them; they rejoiced over them, crowed, and hectored, and trampled upon them. Those have the spirit of Edomites that can rejoice over any, especially over Israelites, in the day of their calamity. (3.) They spoke proudly-magnified the mouth (so the word is), against Israel, talked with a great disdain of the suffering Israelites, and with an air of haughtiness of the present safety and prosperity of Edom, as it if might be inferred from their present different state that the tables were turned, and now Esau was beloved, and the favourite of heaven, and Jacob hated and rejected. Note, Those must expect to be in some way or other effectually humbled and mortified themselves that are puffed up and made proud by the humiliations and mortifications of others. (4.) They went further yet, for they entered into the gate of God's people in the day of their calamity, and laid hands on their substance. Though they did not help to conquer them, they helped to plunder them, and put in for a share in the prey, Oba 1:13. Jerusalem was thrown open, and then they entered in; its wealth was thrown about, and they seized it for themselves, excusing it with this, that they might as well take it as let it be lost; whereas it was taking what was not their own. Babylon lays Jerusalem waste, but Edom, by meddling with the spoil, becomes particeps criminis - partaker of the crime, and shall be reckoned with as an accessary ex post facto - after the fact. Note, Those do but impoverish themselves that think to enrich themselves by the ruins of the people of God; and those deceive themselves who think they may call all that substance their own which they can lay their hands on in a day of calamity. (5.) They did yet worse things; they not only robbed their brethren, but murdered them, in the day of their calamity; laid hands not only on their substance, but on their persons, Oba 1:14. When the victorious sword of the Chaldeans was making bloody work among the Jews many made their escape, and were in a fair way to save themselves by flight; but the Edomites basely intercepted them, stood in the cross-way where several roads met, by each of which the trembling Israelites were making the best of their way from the fury of the pursuers, and there they stopped them: some they barbarously and cowardlike cut off themselves; others they took prisoners, and delivered up to the pursuers, only to ingratiate themselves with them, because they were now the conquerors. They should not have been thus cruel to those that lay at their mercy, and never had done, nor were every likely to do, them any hurt; they should not have betrayed those whom they had such a fair opportunity to protect; but such are the tender mercies of the wicked. One cannot read this without a high degree of compassion towards those who were thus basely abused, who when they fled from the sword of an open enemy, and thought they had got out of the reach of it, fell upon and fell by the sword of a treacherous neighbour, whom they were not apprehensive of any danger from. Nor can one read this without a high degree of indignation towards those who were so perfectly lost to all humanity as to exercise such cruelty upon such proper objects of compassion. (6.) In all this they joined with the open enemies and persecutors of Israel: Even thou wast as one of them, an accessary equally guilty with the principals. He that joins in with the evil doers, and is aiding and abetting in their evil deeds, shall be reckoned, and shall be reckoned with, as one of them.

II. What the shame is that shall cover them for this violence of theirs. 1. They shall soon find that the cup is going round, even the cup of trembling; and, when they come to be in the same calamitous condition that the Israel of God is now in, they will be ashamed to remember how they triumphed over them (Oba 1:15): The day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen, when God will recompense tribulation to the troublers of his church. Though judgment begin at the house of God, it shall not end there. This should effectually restrain us from triumphing over others in their misery, that we know not how soon it may be our own case. 2. Their enmity to the people of God, and the injuries they had done them, shall be recompensed into their own bosoms: As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. The righteous God will render both to nations and to particular persons according to their works; and the punishment is often made exactly to answer to the sin, and those that have abused others come to be themselves abused in like manner. The just and jealous God will find out a time and way to avenge the wrongs done to his people on those that have been injurious to them. As you have drunk upon my holy mountain (Oba 1:16), that is, as God's professing people, who inhabit his holy mountain, have drunk deeply of the cup of affliction (and their being of the holy mountain would not excuse them), so shall all the heathen drink, in their turn, of the same bitter cup; for, if God bring evil on the city that is called by his name, shall those be unpunished that never knew his name? See Jer 25:29. And it is part of the burden of Edom (Jer 49:12), Those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup (who had reason to promise themselves an exemption from it) have assuredly drunken, and shall Edom that is the generation of God's wrath go unpunished? No, thou shalt surely drink of it; the cup of trembling shall be taken out of the hand of God's people, and put into the hand of those that afflict them, Isa 51:22, Isa 51:23. Nay, they may expect their case to be worse in the day of their distress than that of Israel was in their day; for, (1.) The afflictions of God's people were but for a moment, and soon had an end, but their enemies shall drink continually the wine of God's wrath, Rev 14:10. (2.) The dregs of the cup are reserved for the wicked of the earth (Psa 75:8); they shall drink and swallow down, or sup up (as the margin reads it), shall drink it to the bottom. (3.) The people of God, though they may be made to drink of the wine of astonishment for a while (Psa 60:3), shall yet recover, and come to themselves again; but the heathen shall drink and be as though they had not been; there shall be neither any remains nor any remembrance of them, but they shall be wholly extirpated and rooted out. So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord! so they shall perish, if the turn not.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10. Thy brother Jacob] This was the great aggravation of the violence. “Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother,” was the command of God to the Jews (Deu_23:7). Treachery from friends and allies was the meet punishment of such a sin.

thou shalt be cut off for ever] As the sin of Edom is concisely expressed in this verse by the one word violence, the details of that violence being afterwards given, so the punishment of Edom is here proclaimed in its ultimate completeness, the steps of his total extinction being in like manner afterwards described.

10–14. The Cause of Edom’s Destruction

The scene changes. Another picture of violence and cruelty now rises before the prophet’s eyes. He sees Jerusalem encompassed by enemies and overcome. Strangers carry away captive her forces, foreigners enter into her gates. And there, not only standing aside in unbrotherly neutrality, but exulting with malicious joy, speaking words of proud scorn, doing acts of robbery and wrong, are seen the Edomites. The two pictures, one of the past, the other of the future, he is commissioned to portray before the eyes of men, and to reveal the hidden link that binds them together in the relationship of cause and effect. Oba_1:10 contains a general statement of the sin and its punishment. In Oba_1:11-14 the prophet writes in the impassioned strain of a spectator and describes at length the sin. The punishment is further described in Oba_1:15-16.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Oba 1:10 For [thy] violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

Ver. 10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob] For thine open violence. Hence tachmas, the vulture, who liveth by rapine, Lev 11:14. Thine iniquity, rapine, injury done by force and in public view, set upon the "top of a rock," that all might behold it, Eze 24:7.

Against thy brother] Thine own mother’s son, Psa 50:20. This is no small aggravation of thy sin, that is in germanum Iacob, thy nearest allies. Edom had other sins not a few; but this was the chief, and is therefore here and elsewhere chiefly alleged as the cause of their utter ruin, Eze 25:1-17 Eze 35:1-15 Amo 1:1-15 Mal 1:1-14. Nothing is more hateful to God than unnaturalness. "A brother is born for adversity," Pro 17:17; his birth binds him to it: and he must first offer violence to himself that is unkind to his distressed brother; he must tear the dictates of nature out of his own heart. And however at other times brethren may jar and jangle, yet at a strait, and in a stress good nature (if there be any remains of it) will work; and good blood will not belie itself. Israel was charged for this cause not to abhor an Edomite, because he was his brother, Deu 23:7; and yet the Edomites used them as discourteously in their passage to Canaan as the Moabites and Ammonites did, Num 20:20-21; they were also their perpetual enemies, and of a devilish, vindictive spirit toward them to the very last; hence their ensuing doom.

Shame shall cover thee] For thy violence covering thee as a garment, and for thy pride compassing thee as a chain, Psa 73:6. The face of such as are ashamed is wont to be covered with blushing, the blood flushing to the outward parts to relieve them, and, as it were, to hide their shame. Hence the Hebrews say, that those that blush for shame "are covered with shame," Mic 7:10 Psa 69:9; Psa 35:26; Psa 109:29 Job 18:20. Those that "shame the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge," Psa 14:6, shall themselves be covered with confusion here, and be raised up at the last day "to shame and everlasting contempt," Dan 12:2.

And thou shalt be cut off for ever]

“ Aeternuum, ex ima decisus stirpe, peribis. ”

Isaiah prophesieth the same irreparable ruin to Edom, Isa 34:10, and so doth Ezekiel, Eze 35:9. That which Jeremiah speaketh of seventy years’ continuance only of their serving the king of Babel, Jer 25:11, is not meant of an end of their captivity, but of the Babylonish monarchy.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Oba_1:10-14

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob.

An old sin

In two aspects.

I. Working in the history of posterity. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob. The spirit of envy that was kindled in the heart of Esau towards his brother Jacob glowed and flamed with more or less intensity for ages in the soul of Edom towards the descendants of Jacob. It was shown in the unbrotherly refusal of the request of Moses to allow the children of Israel to pass through the land (Num_20:14-21). Edom continued to be the inveterate foe of Israel. Neither a mans sinful passion nor deed stops with himself. Like a spring from the mountain, it runs down posterity, often gathering volume as it proceeds. No sinner liveth to himself. One mans sins may vibrate in the soul of another a thousand ages on. This fact should--

1. Impress us with the awfulness of our existence. It is true that in one sense we are little beings, occupying but a small space in the universe, and soon pass away and are forgotten; still, there goes forth from us an influence that shall never end. We throw seed into the mind of the world that will germinate, grow, and multiply indefinitely, and yield harvests of misery or joy. This fact should--

2. Impress us with the duty of every lover of the universe to protest against sin in individuals. A man may say, What does it matter to you that I sin? My reply is, It does matter to me as a benevolent citizen of the universe. Its pernicious influence on the universe is inconceivably great and calamitous.

II. Here is an old sin reprobated by God in the history of posterity. Gods eye traced it from Esau down. How does He treat it? He reprobates it. Delitzsch renders the words, Look not at the day of thy brother, and regards verses 12 to 14 as a prohibition; but we see not the authority for that. These Edomites, it would seem from the words, did stand on the other side without rendering help in the day when the stranger entered Jerusalem; they did rejoice over the children of Judah at that period; they did speak proudly in the day of distress; they did enter into the gate of Gods people in the day of calamity; they did lay hands on their substance on that day; they did stand on the crossway and cut those off that did escape. The Omniscient eye saw all this. The Jews appeal to Him for an account of the cruelty of these Edomites. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof (Psa_137:7). For all this God says shame should come on them, and shame did come. It may be asked, if it were the envy of Esau that thus came down from age to age in his posterity, and worked these deeds of crime, where is the justice of God in reprobating them? They only inherit the iniquities of their fathers. We answer--

(1) Sin is essentially abhorrent to Jehovah. It is the abominable thing which He hates.

(2) The very essence of sin is its freeness. Sin is not a forced act; no deed performed by a man against his will has any moral character, or can in a moral sense be either good or bad. The posterity of Esau were not compelled to cherish and develop the envy of their great progenitor. Each one could have quenched it. (Homilist.)

Social cruelty

I. As a sin against the Creator. The truth of this will appear from--

1. The constitution of the human soul.

(1) The existence of social love.

(2) The instinctive condemnation of cruel acts.

(3) Innate craving for social approbation.

2. The common relation of all to God. He is the Father of all men.

3. The common interest of Christ in the race.

4. The universal teaching of the Bible. The man who injures his fellow-creature is a rebel against the government of the universe.

II. As perpetuated against a brother (Oba_1:10-11). Why specially offensive?

1. Because the obligation to love is stronger.

2. Because the chief human institution is outraged.

3. Because the tenderest human loves are wounded.

III. As working in various forms from generation to generation.

1. Some forms are--

(1) The lack of sympathy when Judah was in distress.

(2) Positive rejoicing when Judah was in distress.

(3) Participation in the work of their enemies.

2. Omniscience observes it in all its forms. Gods eye was on the Edomites. Sin, in all its operations, is evermore under the eye of Omniscience. If we realise it, it will--

(1) Stimulate to great and spiritual activity.

(2) Restrain from the commission of sin.

(3) Excite the desire for pardon.

(4) Brace the soul in the performance of duty.

3. A just and terrible retribution awaits it in all its forms. Retribution is a settled law in the material universe. (Homilist.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Oba 1:10-11. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob — Because of the injury thou hast done to the people of Judea, who are descended from Jacob, the brother of Esau, your progenitor: see note on Amo 1:11. Shame shall cover thee — Contempt and reproach shall be cast upon thee by all that hear of thy conduct; and thou shalt be cut off for ever — So great a slaughter shall be made of thy inhabitants, that thou shalt never recover it; and at last thou shalt be quite dispossessed of thy country: see note on Eze 35:7-9. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side — Or, in the day that thou stoodest against him. That strangers carried away captive his forces — This may refer to the time when the Syrians spoiled Judea, overcame the Jewish forces, and made many captives of them. And foreigners entered into his gates — That is, into his cities. This seems to be spoken of the cities of Judea, which the Syrians took when they had spoiled the country, and laid siege to Jerusalem, as recorded in 2Ki 16:5. And cast lots upon Jerusalem — Either this means that the Syrians and Israelites, whose armies were joined together, cast lots which of them should make the first assault on that city: or else, they cast lots about the spoils of Jerusalem, before they had taken it, making themselves quite sure of it, though the event proved they were mistaken. Or, as many learned men think, the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar is here referred to; an event at which, as we learn from Psalms 137., the Edomites rejoiced: and then probably lots were cast what captives should fall to the share of each of the commanders. Thou wast as one of them — Thou, that wast a brother by birth, wast as cruel and injurious in thy actions as these strangers, and joined with them in every thing against thy brother.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Causes of the judgment, Oba_1:10-14.

In Oba_1:10 the prophet who gave to the book its present form begins to speak. In the contents of Oba_1:1-9 he saw a message suitable to his own age; and since it expressed his own thoughts in a vivid and forceful manner, he adopted it for his own use. But the causes responsible for the threat at the earlier period were probably not the same as those which led him to proclaim the same judgment. The latter grew out of his own present historical situation; hence he must set them forth in his own language. This he does in 10ff., beginning (verse Oba_1:10) with the general statement that the judgment is made necessary by the hostility of Edom toward Judah, which statement is followed by a reiteration of the previous threat. In Oba_1:11-14 he describes in greater detail the crimes of Edom.

10. Violence — As already stated (see on Oba_1:9), “slaughter” (Oba_1:9) should be connected with “violence”; the one referring to personal suffering, the other to the violence done to religious customs and institutions.

Thy brother Jacob — Throughout the entire Old Testament the ancestor of the Israelites, Jacob, and the ancestor of the Edomites, Esau, are regarded as brothers. The reference to this intimate relationship makes the crime appear in even more glaring colors (see on Amo_1:11). The origin of the hostility between the two is traced to the time of their birth (Gen_25:25-26; compare Gen_27:41). From the ancestors the hostility apparently descended upon their posterity; at any rate, the history of the two nations is marked by repeated outbreaks of hostility (for example, Numbers 20; Amo_1:11). The fact that the Israelites are urged repeatedly to observe a friendly and brotherly attitude toward Edom (Deu_2:4-5; Deu_23:7) may indicate that the natural tendency of Israel was not in the direction of returning good for evil.

Shame — Or, disgrace.

Cover — A picture of abundance. The disgrace will seem the greater because of the former boastfulness.

Shalt be cut off — The punishment is described here in its ultimate completeness; it is described more fully in Oba_1:15 ff.

In Oba_1:11-14 the prophet proceeds to describe in greater detail the crimes of Edom. In the calamity that befell the people of Jehovah the Edomites proved themselves as hostile as the more active enemies. They manifested their hostility by maliciously rejoicing in the misfortune of Judah (Oba_1:12), by committing acts of robbery (Oba_1:12), and by cutting down fugitive Jews (Oba_1:14).

In the day that thou stoodest on the other side — The next clause shows that this is the day of the calamity of Jerusalem. “Stoodest on the other side” might possibly refer to neutrality; they stood by idly when they should have rendered assistance to their brother. The context, however, favors a different interpretation; they stood on the side of the enemies, in a spirit of hostility, not neutrality (2Sa_18:13).

Even thou wast as one of them — Though, at least in the beginning, not taking an active part in destroying and plundering the city and the people, the Edomites manifested the same hostile spirit, and therefore were as culpable as the “strangers” who did the actual work.

Strangers… foreigners — The Chaldeans and their allies in the expedition against Judah in 588-586.

Carried away… his forces — R.V., “his substance”; the forces or substance of Jacob. Since the verb is literally, carry into exile, and is used but rarely of the carrying away of booty, the reference may be to the carrying into exile of the military forces and of the inhabitants of the land, rather than to the carrying away of the spoil.

Entered into his gates — The gates of Jacob, which cannot be limited to the gates of Jerusalem. The prophet means the gates of all the cities of Jacob; the enemies overran the whole land. The next sentence speaks of the calamity that befell Jerusalem.

Cast lots upon Jerusalem — The city and its inhabitants and contents. The lots were cast for the purpose of dividing the spoil among the captors (see on Joe_3:3; compare Amo_7:17).

If A.V. could be followed in the translation of the tenses in Oba_1:12-14 the interpretation of these verses would be an easy task; the verses would then be an expansion of the condemnation contained in Oba_1:11. R.V., however, changes the translation, following more closely the Hebrew, so that Oba_1:12-14 are made to contain a series of warnings addressed to the Edomites. These warnings have created much difficulty for interpreters (see, for example, p. 290); however, if the verses are assigned to the proper historical situation the case becomes less complicated. Oba_1:11 evidently speaks of events connected with the destruction of Jerusalem, probably events of the recent past. But the humiliation of Judah was not the work of a single day. Jeremiah 41 makes it plain that for several months there were outbreaks of hostility against the small community left behind under Gedaliah. If the delivery of the oracle is placed in the period following the sack of the city by the Chaldeans, during the months or even years in which the Ammonites and other surrounding nations continued to harass the Jews, the interpretation becomes less difficult. In deep emotion the prophet beholds the continued hostility of Edom; the reference to past crimes (Oba_1:11) rouses him still more; and moved by righteous indignation he warns the Edomites to abstain from further crimes, giving as one reason the fact that by persisting in wrongdoing they will only increase the severity of their judgment (Oba_1:15-16).

Marti, who dates the verses in the fifth century, explains the warnings by saying that the author transposed himself in thought in the midst of the calamity, though in reality it was a thing of the past; and he holds that the practical force of the warnings is similar to that implied in the rendering of the A.V. This interpretation, however, seems less natural than the one suggested above.

The comments on Oba_1:12-14 are based upon the translation of R.V. The warnings in these verses proceed from the lower to the higher. The prophet warns Edom “not to rejoice in Judah’s troubles (Oba_1:12), nor to make common cause with the conquerors (Oba_1:13), nor to outdo and complete the work of the enemy (Oba_1:14).” A climax may be noticed also within Oba_1:12.

Look not — The Hebrew construction implies the idea of looking with pleasure and satisfaction — take delight in.

Rejoice not — An advance over the preceding; to give expression to the delight.

Speak proudly — Literally, make thy mouth great, in contempt and derision. This marks the climax. It “may refer either to proud, boastful words, or to mocking grimaces and contortions of the mouth.”

The day of thy brother — The day when the calamities mentioned in Oba_1:11 fell upon Jerusalem (compare Psa_137:7, “the day of Jerusalem”). The other three clauses describe the day more definitely.

The day of his disaster — The Hebrew word translated disaster occurs only here; a similar word is used in Job_31:3, in the same sense. Both come from the same root from which is derived the word foreigner (Oba_1:11); hence the primary meaning of the word would seem to be “treatment such as is accorded to a stranger,” which in many cases would be cruel and unjust, or “treatment which makes of a person a stranger.” The expression used here may mean either “the day on which he received cruel treatment” or “the day on which he was made a stranger by being carried into exile.”

The day of their destruction — Or, undoing. A stronger term than the preceding.

Distress — The deplorable condition subsequent to the fall of the city.

In Oba_1:13 the prophet warns Edom not to make common cause with the conquerors who are plundering the city and state. Again the prophet presents the warning in the form of a climax, to enter in, to look upon, to seize.

The gate of my people — Gate — city (Mic_1:9); here evidently Jerusalem.

In the day of their calamity — Repeated three times for the sake of emphasis, to indicate the greatness of the calamity, and at the same time to call attention to the greater crime of Edom, “since it is precisely at the time of a brother’s calamity that such treachery and malicious joy is doubly culpable.”

Yea, look not thou — Literally, look not thou, even thou. The emphasis is on the pronoun. “A brother should be the last to gloat over the misfortunes of a brother” (see on Amo_1:11).

Neither lay ye hands on their substance — Do not join the foreign robbers in plundering the city (compare Oba_1:11, where the same noun is used).

In Oba_1:14 the prophet reaches the climax. He warns them against seizing Jewish fugitives to murder them or deliver them up to their enemies.

Stand thou not in the crossway — The place where one or more roads meet, or where one road divides into two or more. There the greatest number of fugitives could be seized.

To cut off — Not merely to cut off their escape, but to murder them after they had escaped from the general slaughter.

Deliver not up — To the enemy from whom they had escaped. The allusion may be to fugitives who took refuge in Edom.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES.]

Oba_1:10. Cause of ruin] Violence against the seed of Jacob. In different ways.

Oba_1:11.] For taking a position. Stoodest] not as a looker-on, but as an enemy; an attitude of hostility, not sympathy.

Oba_1:12.] For malicious pleasure in three forms—looking on with delight; rejoiced without reserve; boasting, spoken proudly, lit. to make the mouth broad or open; a gesture of contempt and derision (Psa_35:21, Isa_57:4 : cf. Eze_35:13, and Rev_13:6).

Oba_1:13.] For plundering Jerusalem. Gato] Citv (Mic_1:9).

Oba_1:14] For seizing Judean captives, to murder them or deliver them up to the enemy.

HOMILETICS

UNBROTHERLY CONDUCT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.—Oba_1:10-11

The prophet shows the equity and the cause of the judgment pronounced against Edom. The sentence increases in severity as special sins are more aggravated in their quality. Edom was guilty of many sins, but none so great as unnatural conduct and vindictive spirit towards his brother Jacob. This violence is mentioned in general terms (Oba_1:10), and in particular descriptions (Oba_1:11-14). In Oba_1:10-11 we have—

I. A brother in circumstances of distress. It was a day of calamity with Judah, calamity mentioned three times to indicate its depth (Oba_1:13). All are exposed to danger and distress, require sympathy and aid. “A brother is born for adversity.” Three clauses form a climax.

1. Judah’s possessions were taken. “Strangers carried away his forces,” or substance. The country was probably cleared of its produce, cattle, and treasures.

2. Judah’s cities were destroyed. “Foreigners entered into his gates.” The gates were fortified and defended; yet they were carried by the enemy. The capital was taken and the temple destroyed by the Edomites (2Es_4:45).

3. Judah’s population were made captives. “And cast lots upon Jerusalem.” When the city was taken, the conquerors divided the booty, slew some of the prisoners, and took the others captive. Such distress should have excited the pity and prompted the help of the Edomites: but “in the day of Jerusalem they cried, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.”

II. Unnatural conduct towards a brother in distress. “Thy violence against thy brother Jacob.” “Violence includes all sorts of ill-treatment, from one with whom might is right.”

1. They took up hostile attitude towards their brother. “Thou stoodest on the other side.” Not mere spectators of the calamities of Jacob, but intensely opposed to him. There was lack of sympathy and positive cruelty. All this towards a brother, and a twin brother! Edom acted with the enemy, and took the contrary side to the dictates of nature; feasted his eyes with the misery, and eagerly sought the destruction of Jacob. “Thou wast as one of them.” A man should be more affectionate towards a brother than a stranger. But often the closer the relationship the greater the cruelty. Ingratitude is always black, but doubly black in a brother. “Love as brethren.” This conduct is—

(1) Most reprehensible;

(2) Most inhuman;

(3) Most guilty.

III. Righteous punishment for unnatural conduct towards a brother in distress. Edom helped the Babylonians in the overthrow of Jerusalem, exulted in the downfall of Jacob, and thought to secure his own safety and prosperity. They were disappointed. God in righteous retribution visited them with the punishment they inflicted on others. Two periods of ignominy are mentioned in their history. They would suffer as a conquered people, and at length be utterly extinct.

1. They would suffer as a conquered people. “Shame shall cover thee.” Not the shame of penitence, but the shame of dishonour. Jacob was not ruined as they expected. They were humbled and made contemptible, and the judgment of God confounded them for taking part against those whom they should have loved. Shame will ever be the robe and the result of social cruelty. “Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.”

2. They would be cut off as a nation. The sentence was centuries in fulfilment; but after repeated trials the end came and God cut them off. Justice without mitigation, and ruin without recovery, will come upon nations and individuals, who rejoice in a brother’s affliction, and do what they can to increase it (Lev_22:3). Ages abate not the force of God’s word, and years change not the sinner’s doom. “I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”

ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE CHAPTER

Oba_1:10-14. Neither shouldest thou. There is a debt of mercy and pity, of charity and compassion, of relief and succour, due to human nature, and payable from one man to another; and such as deny to pay it the distressed in the time of their abundance may justly expect it will be denied themselves in time of want [Burkitt]. “Be more glad to see a man’s amendment than his punishment.” He that is not concerned that his brother should perish, is in great danger of perishing himself [Bp Wilson].

VIOLATION OF SOCIAL DUTY.—Oba_1:12-14

These words describe what the conduct of Edom towards his brother ought to have been; and by implied contrast with his actual conduct condemns his violence, rapacity, and murder. They not only neglected social duty, but acted with inveterate cruelty

I. In taking malicious pleasure at a brother’s misfortune. The various ways are minutely specified.

1. With insolent looks. “Thou shouldest not have looked,” (a) With a look of total indifference. Distressed neighbours require relief, and we should not be unconcerned in their sorrows. The priest and the Levite looked on the wounded Samaritan and passed by. Forgetfulness of our common origin and our constant exposure to evil is another form of human hatred. (b) With a look of malignant joy. They looked with scornful eye. They looked and delighted in the affliction of Jacob. The Saviour was pained by the impudent gaze of the multitude. “They look and stare upon me.” Those who make mirth at other men’s misery, dishonour their nature and insult their God. This selfish cruelty is a fearful provocation (Pro_17:5). “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth.”

2. In blasphemous words. “Neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly.” They enlarged the mouth (margin) with a flow of haughty words. They magnified themselves against God’s people (Job_19:5); and mocked them in sorrow. This spirit of Edom exists yet; men add insolence to pride, and affliction to affliction. Mockery of God’s people is mockery to God himself. “Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.”

3. In cruel acts, (a) Acts of selfishness, (b) Acts of robbery. “Nor have laid hands on their substance.” They were drawn into the cities, “entering the gate of God’s people to share the conqueror’s triumphant gaze on his calamity.” Then they laid violent hands upon the spoil. Keep away from sin if you wish to escape it. Enter no place to enrich yourself by the prey of another, lest you be ruined yourself. Wealth, so gained, will prove like the gold of Toulouse, an evil to all that meddle with it—“A burdensome stone for all people; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces.”

II. In making common cause with the enemy. Instead of helping their brother, they aided the enemy.

1. By secret ambush. They stood in the cross-way, the fork where the roads met, or narrow mountain passes, to intercept the fugitives (2Ki_25:4). The Chaldeans were not so well acquainted with the ways and passes as the Edomites. Hence they took the cruel part to help the foe and seek the complete destruction of their brethren.

2. By cruel murder. They cut off those that escaped and delivered up all that they caught. Every association with thieves and robbers is a breach of the commandment; and those who join with others in seeking the life of man are not mere accessaries, but murderers. Paul charged the murder of Stephen upon himself. Malice in any form contains the seeds of all evil, and if not overcome by grace, will reign and ripen for destruction. Edom did not commence the war, but aided those who did, and hence were guilty of making common cause with the enemy. “Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord?”

III. This neglect of duty was at a time when there was every inducement to perform it. “In the day of their calamity” (Oba_1:13). “In the day of distress.” Such a time should awaken sympathy and tender feeling for our brother. To increase the burdens and conspire against the interests of men is bloodthirsty. If you cannot relieve the distressed, do not display your insolence and satiate your vengeance by increasing their misery. This is fratricidal and will bring down the judgment of Heaven. One burns with indignation at such inhumanity. God will turn the current of his wrath upon such offenders (Pro_24:18).

“This deep disgrace of brotherhood

Touches me deeper than you can imagine” [Shakespeare].

HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES

Oba_1:12-14. Cruelty. They were charged with cruelty.

1. Cruelty of the eye.

2. Cruelty of heart.

3. Cruelty of tongue.

(1) In their anger they spake cruelly, instigating their enemies to destroy them.

(2) In their pride they spake insolently, expressing inward joy at their ruin, by speeches of scorn and disdain, and of triumph over them.

4. Cruelty of hands. Two things aggravate this cruelty of Edom.

(1) Against a brother.

(2) And in the time in which it was done. For a Turk to oppress a Christian, an infidel a believer, is but a trespass against humanity; for Hebrews to strive, and one Christian to afflict another, woundeth religion. Brethren by nation, brethren by religion, should live as brethren by nature; live as brethren, and our Father will be angry if we do not, and the God of peace will fight against us [Adapted from Marbury].

Nothing is more hateful to God than unnaturalness. “A brother is born to adversity” (Pro_17:17); his birth binds him to it; and he must first offer violence to himself that is unkind to his distressed brother; he must tear the dictates of nature out of his own heart [Trapp].

Violence, bloodshed, unrelenting deadly hatred against the whole people, a longing for their extermination, had been inveterate characteristics of Esau. Joel and Amos had already denounced God’s judgments against them for two forms of this hatred—the murder of settlers in their own land, or of those who were sold to them (Joe_3:19; Amo_1:6; Amo_9:11). Obadiah warns them against yet a third—intercepting their fugitives in their escape from the more powerful enemy. Stand not in the cross way. Whoso puts himself in the situation to commit an old sin, does, in fact, will to renew it, and will, unless hindered from without, certainly do it. Probably he will, through sin’s inherent power of growth, do worse [Pusey].

Sin proceeds by degrees; neither is any man at his worst at first. First they looked at the Church’s calamity, and then they laughed, and then they insulted, and spoke big words, and then they plundered, and lastly they butchered some and imprisoned some [Trapp].

Oba_1:12. The day that he became a stranger.

1. Judah (the Christian Church) chastised. Not treated as a privileged people, but as strangers, and exercised with strange lots.

(1) Chastised by God.

(2) Persecuted by men.

2. Judah defended. The Church may be deeply fallen and deserve to be chastised; but God undertakes for her, checks the cruelty, and punishes the insolence of the enemy. God is faithful, though men are unfaithful.

However wicked men walk after the lusts and passions of their own hearts, and stick at nothing which they will, and have power to effect, yet the Lord will let them know, that they stand obliged by a law to duty, the violation whereof he will remark, aggravate, and punish; for, though Edom satisfied himself and his passion in what he did against Jacob, yet the Lord tells him, thou shouldest not have done thus and thus, but wast obliged by the law to do otherwise, being both a brother and a neighbour [Hutcheson].

“So many laws argue so many sins” [Milton].

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cause of the Ruin of the Edomites is their wickedness towards the brother nation Jacob (Oba 1:10 and Oba 1:11), which is still further exhibited in Oba 1:12-14 in the form of a warning, accompanied by an announcement of righteous retribution in the day of the Lord upon all nations (Oba 1:15, Oba 1:16). Oba 1:10. "For the wickedness towards thy brother Jacob shame will cover thee, and thou wilt be cut off for ever. Oba 1:11. In the day that thou stoodest opposite, in the day when enemies carried away his goods, and strangers came into his gates, and cast the lot upon Jerusalem, then even thou (wast) like one of them." Chămas 'âchı̄khâ, wickedness, violent wrong towards (upon) thy brother (genit. obj. as in Joe 3:19; Gen 16:5, etc.). Drusius has already pointed out the peculiar emphasis on these words. Wrong, or violence, is all the more reprehensible, when it is committed against a brother. The fraternal relation in which Edom stood towards Judah is still more sharply defined by the name Jacob, since Esau and Jacob were twin brothers. The consciousness that the Israelites were their brethren, ought to have impelled the Edomites to render helpful support to the oppressed Judaeans. Instead of this, they not only revelled with scornful and malignant pleasure in the misfortune of the brother nation, but endeavored to increase it still further by rendering active support to the enemy. This hostile behaviour of Edom arose from envy at the election of Israel, like the hatred of Esau towards Jacob (Gen 27:41), which was transmitted to his descendants, and came out openly in the time of Moses, in the unbrotherly refusal to allow the Israelites to pass in a peaceable manner through their land (Numbers 20). On the other hand, the Israelites are always commanded in the law to preserve a friendly and brotherly attitude towards Edom (Deu 2:4-5); and in Deu 23:7 it is enjoined upon them not to abhor the Edomite, because he is their brother. תּכסּך בוּשׁה (as in Mic 7:10), shame will cover thee, i.e., come upon thee in full measure, - namely, the shame of everlasting destruction, as the following explanatory clause clearly shows. ונכרתּ with Vav consec., but with the tone upon the penultima, contrary to the rule (cf. Ges. 49, 3; Ewald, 234, b and c). In the more precise account of Edom's sins given in Oba 1:11, the last clause does not answer exactly to the first. After the words "in the day that thou stoodest opposite," we should expect the apodosis "thou didst this or that." But Obadiah is led away from the sentence which he has already begun, by the enumeration of hostilities displayed towards Judah by its enemies, so that he observes with regard to Edom's behaviour: Then even thou wast as one of them, that is to say, thou didst act just like the enemy. עמד מנּגד, to stand opposite (compare Psa 38:12), used here to denote a hostile intention, as in Sa2 18:13. They showed this at first by looking on with pleasure at the misfortunes of the Judaeans (Oba 1:12), still more by stretching out their hand after their possessions (Oba 1:13), but most of all by taking part in the conflict with Judah (Oba 1:14). In the clauses which follow, the day when Edom acted thus is described as a day on which Judah had fallen into the power of hostile nations, who carried off its possessions, and disposed of Jerusalem as their booty. Zȧrı̄m and nokhrı̄m are synonymous epithets applied to heathen foes. שׁבה generally denotes the carrying away of captives; but it is sometimes applied to booty in cattle and goods, or treasures (Ch1 5:21; Ch2 14:14; Ch2 21:17). חיל is not used here either for the army, or for the strength, i.e., the kernel of the nation, but, as חילו in Oba 1:13 clearly shows, for its possessions, as in Isa 8:4; Isa 10:14; Eze 26:12, etc. שׁערו, his (Judah's) gates, used rhetorically for his cities.

Lastly, Jerusalem is also mentioned as the capital, upon which the enemies cast lots. The three clauses form a climax: first, the carrying away of Judah's possessions, that is to say, probably those of the open country; then the forcing of a way into the cities; and lastly, arbitrary proceedings both in and with the capital. ידּוּ גורל (perf. kal of ידד = ידה, not piel for יידּוּ, because the Yod praef. of the imperfect piel is never dropped in verbs פי), to cast the lot upon booty (things) and prisoners, to divide them among them (compare Joe 3:3 and Nah 3:10). Caspari, Hitzig, and others understand it here as in Joe 3:3, as denoting the distribution of the captive inhabitants of Jerusalem, and found upon this one of their leading arguments, that the description given here refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, which Obadiah either foresaw in the Spirit, or depicts as something already experienced. But this by no means follows from the fact that in Joel we have עמּי instead of ירוּשׁלם, since it is generally acknowledged that, when the prophets made use of their predecessors, they frequently modified their expressions, or gave them a different turn. But if we look at our passage simply as its stands, there is not the slightest indication that Jerusalem is mentioned in the place of the people. As שׁבות חילו does not express the carrying away of the inhabitants, there is not a single syllable which refers to the carrying away captive of either the whole nation or the whole of the population of Jerusalem. On the contrary, in Oba 1:13 we read of the perishing of the children of Judah, and in Oba 1:14 of fugitives of Judah, and those that have escaped. From this it is very obvious that Obadiah had simply a conquest of Jerusalem in his eye, when part of the population was slain in battle and part taken captive, and the possessions of the city were plundered; so that the casting of the lot upon Jerusalem has reference not only to the prisoners, but also to the things taken as plunder in the city, which the conquerors divided among them. גּם אתּה, even thou, the brother of Jacob, art like one of them, makest common cause with the enemy. The verb הייתה, thou wast, is omitted, to bring the event before the mind as something even then occurring. For this reason Obadiah also clothes the further description of the hostilities of the Edomites in the form of a warning against such conduct.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

1:10-14 Because of the violence you did . . . in Israel: The basis for Esau’s condemnation is stated in 1:10 (cp. Isa 34; Jer 49:7-22; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11-12) and amplified in Obad 1:11-14, where Edom’s treachery is described. In legal terms, the evidence of these verses supports the charge of covenant breaking.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He showeth the cause why the Edomites were so sharply punished: to wit, because they were enemies to his Church, whom he now comforteth by punishing their enemies.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

against thy brother--This aggravates the sin of Esau, that it was against him who was his brother by birth and by circumcision. The posterity of Esau followed in the steps of their father's hatred to Jacob by violence against Jacob's seed ().

Jacob--not merely his own brother, but his twin brother; hence the name Jacob, not Israel, is here put emphatically. Compare for the opposite feeling which Jacob's seed was commanded to entertain towards Edom's.

shame . . . cover thee-- (; ).

for ever-- (; ; ). Idumea, as a nation, should be "cut off for ever," though the land should be again inhabited.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob] By this term the Israelites in general are understood; for the two brothers, - Jacob, from whom sprang the Jews, and Esau, from whom sprang the Idumeans or Edomites, - are here put for the whole people or descendants of both. We need not look for particular cases of the violence of the Edomites against the Jews. Esau, their founder, was not more inimical to his brother Jacob, who deprived him of his birthright, than the Edomites uniformly were to the Jews. See 2Ch 28:17-18. They had even stimulated the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, to destroy the temple, and level it with the ground. See Ps 137:7.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Prophet here sets forth the reason why God would deal so severely and dreadfully with the Idumeans. Had he simply prophesied of their destruction, it would have been an important matter; for the Jews might have thereby known that their ruin was not chance, but the scourge of God; they might have known that they themselves were with others chastised by God, and this would have been a useful instruction to them: but what brought them the chief consolation was to hear, that they were so dear to God that he would undertake the defense of their wrongs and avenge them, that he would have a regard for their safety. Hence, when they heard that God, because he loved them, would punish the Idumeans, it was doubtless an invaluable comfort to them in their calamities. To this subject the Prophet now comes.

For the unjust oppression of thy brother Jacob, etc. The word חמס chemes, violence, is to be taken passively; as though he said, “See, how thou hast acted towards thy brother Jacob.” And he calls him his brother, not for honor’s sake, but, on the contrary, for the purpose of showing forth more fully the cruelty of the Idumeans; for consanguinity had had no effect in preventing them from raging against their own brethren, and as it were against their own bowels. It was therefore a proof of barbarous inhumanity, that the Idumeans, forgetting their common nature, had been so inflamed with hatred against their own brethren: for, as it is well known, they had descended from the same common father, Abraham, and also from Isaac, and had the symbol of circumcision. The Idumeans indeed professed that they were the descendants of Abraham, and were God’s peculiar people. Since then God had made his covenant with their common father Isaac, and since they had equally retained circumcision, which was the seal of that covenant, how did it happen, that the Idumeans conducted themselves so cruelly towards their brethren? We hence see, that the name of brother in this clause — for the oppression of thy brother Jacob, is mentioned for the purpose of enhancing their crime.

As then, he says, thou hast been so violent against thy brother, cover thee shall reproach, and forever shalt thou be cut off. He intimates that the calamity would not be only for a time as in the case of Israel, but that the Lord would execute such a punishment as would prove that the Idumeans were aliens to him; for God in chastising his Church ever observes certain limits, as he never forgets his covenant. He proves indeed that the Idumeans were not his people, however much they might falsely boast that they were the children of Abraham, and make claim to the sign of circumcision; for they were professedly enemies, and had entirely departed from all godliness: it was then no wonder that their circumcision, which they had impiously profaned, was made no account of. But he afterwards more fully and largely unfolds the same thing.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

10-16.—THE DIVINE SENTENCE JUSTIFIED BY EDOM’S GUILT.

This justification takes the form of a warning against a repetition of the crimes which have already called forth the sentence of Divine wrath against Edom. Various acts of hostility and treachery towards Israel are specified by the prophet, in a manner to lead to the feeling that though his tone is prohibitory, he is recalling instances of past malignity on Edom’s part, as types of what might be found in the future.

(10) For thy violence . . .—Literally, for injury of thy brother Jacob, &c.; the genitive of the object, as in Joe_3:19. The crime was the more heinous because against the brother tribe. Probably the birth-name, Jacob, of the twin brother of Esau is used purposely to bring out the full wickedness of the descendants of Esau. In spite of all provocations, Israel long maintained the duty of a friendly feeling for the kindred race—maintained it as a religious duty (Deu_2:5; Deu_23:7). On the other hand, Edom from the first assumed a jealous and hostile attitude (Num_20:14, seqq.), never imitating the generous disposition of their great ancestor (Gen_33:4).

Shame shall cover thee.—Comp. Mic_7:10; Jer_3:25.

(11) In the day . . .—Literally, In the day of thy standing over against, as if to particularise some one occasion; but instead of proceeding to state it, the prophet recalls other events of the same time, and sums up Edom’s offence in the charge, “thou, too, as one of them,” acting the part of an enemy instead of that of a friend, though probably in the base character of a neutral (comp. “My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore,” Psa_38:11), ready to take the winning side.

Forces.—It is difficult to choose between this and the marginal reading, substance. Shâvah is usually “to take prisoner,” but there are many instances of its use in the sense of carrying off booty (1Ch_5:21; 2Ch_21:17, where see marg., and 2Ch_14:14). And chayil, whose root-meaning is strength, while often meaning forces, has eleven times the meaning riches (Isa_8:4, &c.), and eight times substance (Job_5:5, &c.).

The three clauses in this verse form a climax:—(1) The plunder of the open country; (2) entry into the gates of the cities; (3) casting lots for the spoil in the very capital itself. It is natural to regard this latter event as identical with that in Joe_3:3, the final destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion of its inhabitants into captivity. But for the question of the event intended and its connection with the date of the prophecy, see Excursus.

(12) Thou shouldest not . . .—Here, and in Oba_1:13-14, correctly as in marg., Do not, &c. Al with the apoc. pres. or fut. must be prohibitory. Calasio’s Concordance supplies 207 instances (see Pusey’s note). But the warning against these particular offences undoubtedly springs from the reminiscence of such conduct in former times. The passage is neither definitely historical nor definitely prophetic. What has happened in the past becomes a type of what will happen in the future. For look (raah), with the sense of disdain or scorn, comp. Son_1:6; Job_40:11; Job_41:34 (Heb. 26). The word is repeated with the same sense in Oba_1:13. Pusey remarks: “Malicious gazing on human calamity, forgetful of man’s common origin and common liability to ill, is the worst form of human hate. It was one of the contumelies of the Cross.”

In the day that he became a stranger.—Literally, in the day of his strangeness. The form nokher is only found here, and in Job_31:3 (nekher) with different pointing, where it is translated “strange punishment.” The adjective nokhri, also, has always the sense of strange, though the root-verb seems to have the signification to recognise. From to recognise an apparent stranger to treat as a stranger (which the derived conjugations, that alone are used, sometimes mean) is a natural transition. Perhaps here, “unheard of calamity.”

Spoken proudly.—Literally, as in marg., made thy mouth great (comp. Psa_35:21; Isa_57:4). The mention of grimaces adds to the graphic character of the picture. Again we are reminded of the wanton and savage insolence around the Cross.

(13) The day of their calamity.—Thrice repeated, to bring into prominence the malignity of Edom’s conduct. The same expression used by Ezekiel (Eze_35:5), in the same connection, probably with reference to the same occasion.

Calamity.—Heb., êyd. Variously derived and explained, either as load of trouble or dark gloomy time.

(14) Crossway.—Heb., perek = separated (English, fork). It only occurs here and in Nah_3:1, where it is translated robbery—i.e., that which is torn or divided. Or it may mean at the division of the prey, but “crossway” is better.

Delivered.—Margin, shut up—i e., either made prisoners of them, or cut them off at the cross-roads from any chance of escape.

For the open violence assumed by the Edomites when they saw their chance was come, comp. Psa_137:7; Joe_3:19; Amo_1:11; Ezekiel 35

(15) The day of the Lord.—Whether this phrase first makes its appearance in written prophecy in Joel or Obadiah depends, of course, on the question of the relative date of the two. But probably it had become a recognised prophetic expression long before it was committed to writing. The primary meaning is not the day of judgment, but the day on which Jehovah reveals His majesty and omnipotence in a glorious manner, to overthrow all ungodly powers and to complete His kingdom. As the misfortunes of Israel increased, and the hostility of surrounding nations gathered to a successful head, it was natural that the idea of retribution upon them for their violence to the chosen race should usurp the prominent place in prophecy. The “day of Jehovah” became the day of Jehovah’s wrath (Zep_1:18) and Jehovah’s vengeance (Isa_34:8). The fading of the temporal hopes implied in the expression naturally led to its higher religious use; and the various phrases for the same idea—“the day,” “the great day,” “the day of judgment,” “the last day”—passed first into Jewish, and afterwards into Christian, eschatology, taking with them all the prophetic imagery which painted the expectancy of Israel: imagery of the splendour of victory and triumph on the one side, of terrible overthrow and slaughter on the other, but rich as well with its infinite spiritual suggestiveness.

As thou hast done . . .—For this stern announcement of the lex talionis on the offending nation, comp. (in addition to the reference in marg.) Joe_3:7; Psa_137:8.

(16) As ye have drunk . . .—For the figure, so common in prophecy and so expressive, comp. Jer_25:27-28; Psa_75:8; Isa_51:17; Rev_18:3-6. But who are addressed, the people of Jerusalem or the Edomites? The question is perplexed. If we keep the tropical sense of drink in both clauses, which is the most natural way, understanding by it the cup of suffering, since it is said to have been drunk on Mount Zion, it must have been drained by Israelites, as Ewald and others take the passage. On the other hand, it seems awkward to make the prophet turn from addressing Edom to Judah, not else addressed in his prophecy. If taken in a literal sense, the drinking on Mount Zion would, of course, refer to the carousing and revelry which always followed heathen victory, and sometimes with terrible aggravation (Joe_3:3). Taking the passage in this sense, we must understand the prophet to take Edom as a type of all heathen in their attitude towards Israel, so that what he says of one nation applies to all. But it is quite possible that our text embodies an old oracular saying addressed to Israel. This is Ewald’s view.

Swallow down.—Margin, sup up. The substantive loa’ signifies a throat. (Comp. Job_6:3 : “Therefore my words are swallowed up.”)

Shall be as though they had not been.—For the expression, comp. Job_10:19. Here, totally insensible from the effects of the draughty, therefore dead, destroyed.

The word continually offers some difficulty. Ewald translates immediately, but this is not the natural sense of tamîd, which seems rather to express that continuous display of the Divine purpose and judgment in the overthrow overtaking successively the proud monarchies of the heathen. “God employs each nation in turn to give that cup to the other. So Edom drank it at the hand of Babylon, and Babylon from the Medes, and the Medes and Persians from the Macedonians, and the Macedonians from the Romans, and they from the barbarians.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob,.... Which is aggravated: by being against Jacob, an honest plain hearted man, and whom the Lord loved; his brother, his own brother, a twin brother, yea, his only brother; yet this is to be understood, not so much of the violence of Esau against Jacob personally, though there is an allusion to that; as of the violence of the posterity of the one against the posterity of the other; and not singly of the violence shown at the destruction of Jerusalem, but in general of the anger they bore, the wrath they showed, and the injuries they did to their brethren the Jews, on all occasions, whenever they had an opportunity, of which the following is a notorious instance; and for which more especially, as well as for the above things, they are threatened with ruin:

shame shall cover thee; as a garment; they shall be filled with blushing, and covered with confusion, when convicted of their sin, and punished for it:

and thou shalt be cut off for ever; from being a nation; either by Nebuchadnezzar; or in the times of the Maccabees by Hyrcanus, when they were subdued by the Jews, and were incorporated among them, and never since was a separate people or kingdom.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob - To Israel God had commanded: (Deu 23:7-8 (Deu 23:8, Deu 23:9 in the Hebrew text)), “Thou shalt not abbor an Edomite, for he is thy brother. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation.” Edom did the contrary to all this. “Violence” includes all sorts of ill treatment, from one with whom “might is right,” “because it is in the power of their hand” Mic 2:2. to do it. This they had done to the descendants of their brother, and him, their twin brother, Jacob. They helped the Chaldaeans in his overthrow, rejoiced in his calamity, thought that, by this cooperation, they had secured themselves. What, when from those same Chaldees, those same calamities, which they had aided to inflict on their brother, came on themselves, when, as they had betrayed him, they were themselves betrayed; as they had exulted in his overthrow, so their allies exulted in their’s! The “shame” of which the prophet spoke, is not the healthful distress at the evil of sin, but at its evils and disappointments. Shame at the evil which sin is, works repentance and turns aside the anger of God. Shame at the evils which sin brings, in itself leads to further sins, and endless, fruitless, shame. Edom had laid his plans, had succeeded; the wheel, in God’s Providence, turned around and he was crushed.

So Hosea said Hos 10:6, “they shall be ashamed through their own counsels;” and Jeremiah Jer 3:25, “we lie down in our shame and our confusion covereth us;” and David Psa 109:29, “let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion as with a mantle.” As one, covered and involved in a cloak, can find no way to emerge; as one, whom the waters cover Exo 15:10, is buried under them inextricably, so, wherever they went, whatever they did, shame covered them. So the lost shall “rise to shame and everlasting contempt” Dan 12:2.

Thou shalt be cut off forever - One word expressed the sin, “violence;” four words, over against it, express the sentence; shame encompassing, everlasting excision. God’s sentences are not completed at once in this life. The branches are lopped off; the tree decays; the axe is laid to the root; at last it is cut down. As the sentence on Adam, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” was fulfilled, although Adam did not die, until he had completed 930 years Gen 5:5, so was this on Edom, although fulfilled in stages and by degrees. Adam bore the sentence of death about him. The 930 years wore out at last that frame, which, but for sin, had been immortal. So Edom received this sentence of excision, which was, on his final impenitence, completed, although centuries witnessed the first earnest only of its execution. Judah and Edom stood over against each other, Edom ever bent on the extirpation of Judah. At that first destruction of Jerusalem, Edom triumphed, “Raze her! Raze her, even to the ground!” Yet, though it tarried long, the sentence was fulfilled. Judah, the banished, survived; Edom, the triumphant, was, in God’s time and after repeated trials, “cut off forever.” Do we marvel at the slowness of God’s sentence? Rather, marvel we, with wondering thankfulness, that His sentences, on nations or individuals, are slow, yet, stand we in awe, because, if unrepealed, they are sure. Centuries, to Edom, abated not their force or certainty; length of life changes not the sinner’s doom.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Slaughter. They invaded the dominions of Achaz, and incited the enemy to destroy all, 2 Paralipomenon xxviii. 17., and Psalm cxxxvi. 7.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For thy violence: though Idumeans were guilty of many other and great sins, they are here charged with this as the great crying sin, inhuman cruelty and perfidiousness; they did mercilessly spoil and basely betray the Jews, which will be particularly mentioned in the following verses. Against thy brother: Edomites, the posterity of Esau, and the Jews, the posterity of Jacob, are here called brothers, for that the fathers of both people were brothers, twins; and this nearness of blood should have been remembered, and kindness should have still run through the blood and kindred. It is a great sin to be cruel and false to any, but greatest sin to be so to a brother. Jacob; put for his children.

Shame shall cover thee; contempt and reproaches shall by all men be cast upon thee, and cover thee as a garment, or swallow thee up. God and man shall pour shame upon thee, thy memory shall be retained with condemnation to shame, and thy end shall be in shame too.

Thou shalt be cut off for ever; never more be a nation or kingdom; which was in a very great degree fulfilled in the cutting them off by the sword of Nebuchadnezzar. See Isa 34:5,10; Eze 35:9, threatens the like desolation.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 10-14. The cause of Edom"s destruction. This punishment falls upon her as the result of the malice and unfriendliness which she has displayed to wards Israel in the time of calamity, in that she rejoiced at her sister"s disaster and took part with her enemies.

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob. The special action to which Obadiah alludes, and which he particularizes in the following verses, occurred at the time of the invasion of Judaea by Philistines and Arabians during the reign of Jehoram, when the Edomites sided with the enemy, and acted as the prophet intimates. (2Ch_21:16, etc.; see Introduction, The iniquity of such conduct is aggravated by the fact that the victim was the "brother Jacob," who was commanded not to hate the Edomites. (Deu_23:7) This enjoined friendship was not reciprocated by the descendants of Esau. Whether from envy at the superior privileges of Israel, or from other causes, the Edomites, from the time of Moses, had always been actively hostile to the Israelites. They had been subdued by David, but had lately rebelled and scoured their independence, and were always looking for an opportunity of revenging themselves on their conquerors. (comp. Eze_25:12 Eze_35:5) Shame shall cover thee. Shame for the destruction that hath overtaken thee. (Mic_7:10) Thou shalt be cut off forever. (comp. Mal_1:4; see Introduction, Terrible retribution fell on Idumea in the time of the Maccabees (see RAPC 1Ma 5:3 2Ma 10:15, etc.; Josephus, "Ant.," 12:8. 1), Before that time they had been dispossessed of Petra by the Nabathaeans.

Vers. 10-14. A neighbour"s cruelty.

The prophet deeply feels the injury which Esau has inflicted upon Israel, and the language of this passage gives evidence of a heart deeply aggrieved and wronged and distressed. We have, indeed, in these verses an example of the length to which the cruelty of man can go.

I THE DETAILS OF THIS CRUELTY.

1. Edom is charged with siding with foreigners against Jerusalem in the day when the city was assaulted and taken.

2. And with rejoicing over Judah"s misfortunes, and mocking at her calamities.

3. And with sharing in the spoils of the city when the capture took place.

4. And even with cutting off the retreat of the wretched fugitives.

II THE AGGRAVATION OF THIS CRUELTY. If a stranger, a "natural enemy" (as men say), had done this, it would have been bad enough. But the Edomites were of the same descent with the Jews; these being sons of Jacob, those of Esau. The point is given to the sting by this fact. It is with "violence against thy brother Jacob" that Edom is charged. "Man"s inhumanity to man" is the most sad and depressing spectacle that earth affords. When natural kindred and affinity bind men together, those who snap those ties and assail their brethren are monsters of iniquity.

III THE PENALTY OF THIS CRUELTY. This was plainly published by Obadiah. "Thou," said he to Edom shalt be cut off forever." The laws of God cannot be violated with impunity. The relations which God has fashioned cannot be outraged without involving the guilty in the awful consequences of their sin. "The way of transgressors is hard.

Vers. 10-14. Edom"s cruelty.

Here one of the great sins of Edom is denounced in very forcible language. Notice the succession of pointed sentences. "Thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother." The eyes were in the transgression. Hagar, we read, could not look upon Ishmael in his distress. But Edom could look on afflicted Jacob. "Thou shouldest not have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction." The emotions were in the transgression. "Love rejoiceth not in iniquity." "Thou shouldest not have spoken proudly in the day of distress." The tongue was in the transgression. We are told in Ps 137, how the children of Edom cried, "Down with it, down with it, even to the ground!" "Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity." Their feet were in the transgression. Like those whose picture the psalmist drew, "their feet were swift to shed blood." And as their thoughts, their emotions, and their words were evil, so were their deeds. They were all wrong. "Thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction. Thou shouldest not have laid hand on their substance. Thou shouldest not have stood in the crossway, to cut off their escape. Thou shouldest not have delivered up thy brother a captive to his enemies." A solemn series of charges. One unbrotherly act after another. "Thou shouldest not;" "Thou shouldest not;" "Thou shouldest not." Contrast all these condemning words, "Thou shouldest not;" "Thou shouldest not," with the reiterated words of St. John in his First Epistle, "Let us love one another, for love is of God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." We must surely feel that we want more of the spirit that St. John inculcates. Love does not flourish in the Church"s garden as it ought. Envy, hatred, and malice are ever springing up, marring the plants of the Lord"s own planting. What shall we think of the elder brother whose character is described in Lu 15? Is not that unfraternal, unsympathetic, unloving elder brother yet alive? Or the priest and Levite of Lu 10, are they not still amongst us? And where wounded misery lies bleeding, are not the priest and Levite found passing away on the other side? Nay, is not Edom Edom red with blood, Edom cruel as the grave, Edom fierce and untamed as a leopard is not Edom still alive? Who will say that the religion of Christ would not make more progress in heathendom were the whole of Christendom more under its beneficent power? We read in Numbers 20 of Edom withstanding Israel in their march to Canaan. There is much of this antagonism to the progress of truth now. Then comes the reminder of relationship, and its consequent obligations: "Thus saith thy brother Israel, Let us pass to Canaan through thy borders." But Edom opposes: "Thou shalt not pass through." Hatred instead of good will, resistance instead of assistance, antipathy instead of sympathy, the spirit of Edom instead of the spirit of love, these are the baleful hindrances to the Church"s progress. Contrast this character of Edom with that of Christ. In Heb_4:15 we are told of the fraternal sympathy of our High Priest sympathy with our infirmities, sympathy with our sorrows, sympathy with our conflicts, sympathy with our struggles, loving, tender, brotherly sympathy. In Pr 17 he is called "the Brother born for adversity born for it. The gospel is throughout a story of a Brother born to sympathize with adversity. Young man, he has sympathy with you. Child of poverty, he has sympathy with you. Bereaved one, he has sympathy with you. Tempted one, he has sympathy with you. He is the great Sympathizer. In the ages past he was "afflicted in all their afflictions;" and now we have not a High Priest who cannot sympathize with us. See how he is presented to us in the Gospels. See him going about doing good; see him drying the widows" tears; see him healing poor lepers; see him blessing little children; see him opening blind eyes; see him raising the fallen; see him feeding the hungry; see him teaching the ignorant; see him casting out devils; see him blessing the wretched; see him saving the lost. Oh, what sympathy! Oh, what a "Brother born for adversity"! Let us follow in his steps. It must not be enough that we are unlike Nero, who sent Christians to the lions. It must not be enough that we are unlike Edom, who hated his brother Jacob. It must not be enough that we are unlike persecuting Rome in the time when God"s faithful martyrs were made to seal their testimony in fire and blood. We are to be Christ-like. We are to take as our example the loving, the forgiving, the tender, the compassionate, the meek, the long suffering Christ. instead of being like Edom, whose every power went out in unfraternal cruelty, we must bring our powers, our faculties, our emotions, our hearts, our lives, to be sanctified, controlled, and governed by the Holy Spirit of Christ. A.C.T.

Vers. 10-16. Social cruelty: 1. A sin against the Creator.

"For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever," etc. Social cruelty is the grand subject of these verses, and the cruelty is that which one brother perpetrates on another Esau on Jacob. "Wrong or violence is all the more reprehensible when it is committed against a brother. The fraternal relation in which Edom stood towards Judah is still more sharply defined by the name Jacob, since Esau and Jacob were twin brothers. The consciousness that the Israelites were their brethren ought to have impelled the Edomites to render helpful support to the oppressed Judaeans. Instead of this, they not only revelled with scornful and malignant pleasure in the misfortune of the brother nation, but endeavoured to increase it still further by rendering active support to the enemy. This hostile behaviour of Edom arose from envy at the election of Israel, like the hatred of Esau toward Jacob, (Gen_27:41) which was transmitted to his descendants and came out openly in the time of Moses in the unbrotherly refusal to allow the Israelites to pass in a peaceable manner through their land" (Nu 20) (Delitzsch). These verses present to us social cruelty in three different features as a sin against the Creator; perpetrated against a brother, specially offensive to God; as working in various forms from generation to generation. We shall devote a brief homiletical sketch to each of these. This passage implies, first, that social cruelty is a sin against the Creator; and the truth of this will appear from four subjects of thought.

I THE CONSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN SOUL. Social cruelty is opposed to the normal condition of the human spirit. He who will study his own spiritual constitution will not fall to observe three great facts in relation to this subject.

1. The existence of social love. Social sympathy is one of the primary elements of our nature: its instinct is to render service to others and to seek their good will and fellowship. The malign is not inherent in man. Cruelty in him is not innate, as in the tiger and the bear. We are made to love and to be loved.

2. The instinctive condemnation of cruel acts. Never in the history of a soul has it instinctively approved of acts of cruelty as perpetrated either by itself or others. Conscience thunders against all such deeds: on the benevolent, and on the benevolent only, it smiles.

3. Innate craving for social approbation. The soul not only deprecates the ill will and loathing of society, but yearns deeply and always for its approbation. But this can only be attained by benevolent deeds. Now, inasmuch as the constitution of the soul is an expression of the Divine will, and that constitution is against cruelty, cruelty is an outrage on the Divine order.

II THE COMMON RELATION OF ALL TO GOD. He is the Father of all men. No one of the human race is nearer to him than another. Each is his offspring and bears his image. And between all there is, therefore, the relationship of brotherhood. It cannot be the will of the great Father that his children should act as wild beasts, inflicting cruelty on each other, and thus harass his benevolent ears with the groans and shrieks of his offspring. What human father does not deprecate one of his children inflicting an injury on another, and does not ardently desire that each should work for the other? Are we more loving than he who made us? Does the brooklet contain more than the ocean?

III THE COMMON INTEREST OF CHRIST IN THE RACE. Christ took on him the nature of man. He was the Son of man, not the Son of Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, bend or free, but the Son of man. The nature of all men was in him. He wore the nature of every man, he propounded doctrines for every man, he enacted laws for every man, he tasted death for every man. He was not ashamed to call us brethren. He loved the world, and gave himself for it. How abhorrent, then, must it he to him and to his blessed Father for one man to inflict cruelty upon another!

IV THE UNIVERSAL TEACHING OF THE BIBLE. The whole Decalogue, as reduced and enforced by Christ, consists in loving God with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves. And everywhere in the New Testament are we exhorted to "be kindly affectioned one to another," to "recompense to no man evil for evil.

CONCLUSION. How obvious it is, then, that social cruelty in all its forms is a sin against the Creator! The man who injures his fellow creature is a rebel against the government of the universe. D.T.

Vers. 10-14. An old sin.

"For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them," etc. These words present to us an old sin in one or two aspects.

I HERE IS AN OLD SIN WORKING IN THE HISTORY OF POSTERITY. "For thy violence against thy brother Jacob," etc. What was the sin? "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob". (Gen_27:41)

Envy was the sin; and this envy towards Jacob, or Israel, was transmitted from generation to generation. The spirit of envy that was kindled in the heart of Esau towards his brother Jacob glowed and flamed with more or less intensity for ages in the soul of Edom towards the descendants of Jacob. Edom continued to be the inveterate foe of Israel Neither a man"s sinful passion nor his deed stops with himself. Like a spring from the mountain, it runs down posterity, often gathering volume as it proceeds. No sinner liveth to himself. One man"s sins may vibrate in the soul of another a thousand ages on. This is shown in almost every chapter of the history of nations. The fire of vengeance which the cruelty of one nation kindles in its victim will not expire at the conquest. It will burn on until it breaks out in fury, and wreaks vengeance upon its own conqueror. Hence he that taketh the sword always perishes by the sword. This fact should:

1. Impress us with the awfulness of our existence. It is true that in one sense we are little beings, occupying but a small space in the universe, and soon pass away and are forgotten; still there goes forth from us an influence that shall never end. We throw seed into the mind of the world that will germinate, grow, and multiply indefinitely, and yield harvests of misery or joy.

2. Impress us with the duty of every lover of the universe to protest against sin in individuals. A man may say, "What does it matter to you that I sin?" My reply is, "It does matter to me as a benevolent citizen of the universe. If your sin merely damned yourself, it is sad enough; but it does not end there; its pernicious influence on the universe is inconceivably great and calamitous.

II HERE IS AN OLD SIN REPROBATED BY GOD IN THE HISTORY OF POSTERITY. God"s eye traced it from Esau down. How does he treat it? He reprobates it. "For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of brother," etc. Delitzsch renders the words, "Look not at the day of thy brother," and regards vers. 12-14 as a prohibition; others do not acknowledge the authority for that rendering. These Edomites, it would seem from the words, did stand on the other side without rendering help in the day when the stranger entered Jerusalem; they did "rejoice" over the children of Judah at that period; they did "speak proudly" in the day of distress; they did "enter into the gate" of God"s people in the "day of calamity;" they did "lay hands on their substance" on that day; they did stand in the "crossway" and "cut" those off "that did escape." The omniscient eye saw all this. The Jews appeal to him to recompense the cruelty of these Edomites. "Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof!". (Psa_137:7) For all this God says shame should come on them, and shame did come. They are blotted from the history of the living. God condemns sin wherever it is, however it comes, and whatever its pedigree. It may be asked If it were the envy of Esau that thus came down from age to age in his posterity, and worked these deeds of crime, where is the justice of God in reprobating them? They only inherit the iniquities of their fathers. We answer:

1. Sin is essentially abhorrent to Jehovah. It is the "abominable thing" which he hates:

2. The very essence of sin is its freeness. Sin is not a forced act; no deed performed by a man against his will has any moral character, or can in a moral sense be either good or bad. The posterity of Esau were not compelled to cherish and develop the envy of their great progenitor. Each one could have quenched it. Each, no doubt, felt it to be contrary to his moral nature, and that it ought to be expelled. The Almighty knew that each man was free; hence his reprobation of sin wherever found. D.T.

Vers. 10, 11. Social cruelty: 2. Perpetrated against a brother specially offensive to God.

"For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever," etc. The cruelty here is not the cruelty merely of one man against another, but of one who is in close natural relationship to the other children of the same parents. Strange as it may be, it is nevertheless a fact that a Brother"s enmity is often the most savage and unrelenting. How can this fact be accounted for? From the greater amount of his natural love. True, the greater amount of love a man has in him, the greater capacity he has for wrath. Wrath is but love in flames. The measure of a creature"s love determines his power of anger. The little shallow lake cannot yield that amount of boiling steam which the ocean can produce. No love, no hatred; small love, small hatred; large love, large hatred. A brother is supposed naturally to have more love in him towards his brother than any other. Hence, when this love is kindled into wrath, it is often terribly furious. But the truth contained in the text is this, that a brother"s cruelty is specially offensive to Jehovah. It is for "thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever." But why should it be specially offensive?

I BECAUSE THE OBLIGATION TO LOVE IS STRONGER. It is the duty of all men to love one another, but more especially the duty of a brother to love his brother. Children of the same parents are specially bound by nature to be one in sympathy and in heart.

II BECAUSE THE CHIEF HUMAN INSTITUTION IS OUTRAGED. What is the chief human institution? That of a family. Schools, governments, Churches, are not to be compared to the family institution. The government of the family is the model government; the school of the family is the model school; the Church of the family is the model Church. But when the members of this family become cruel to each other, this human institution is outraged.

III BECAUSE THE TENDEREST HUMAN LOVES ARE WOUNDED. When brother inflicts injury on brother, parental hearts bleed, and sisters are struck with an agony of grief.

CONCLUSION. We wonder not, then, that cruelty towards brothers is more offensive to God than any other cruelty. Solomon has said that a "brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle". (Pro_18:19) The closer the relationship, in case of dispute, the wider the breach and the more difficult the reconciliation. A really offended brother is often harder to win back to friendship than the taking of a strong city or the breaking of the bars of a castle. Take the case of Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brethren, Absalom and Amnon. In all these cases nothing less than death was plotted and sought. Why is this? Why is a brother"s anger so implacable?

1. Great love has been wounded. The more love, the greater capability of indignation. How strong the love of a real brother!

2. Great services have been ill requited. What attentions a true brother shows! how numerous, delicate, and self-sacrificing! If the object of all has proved utterly unworthy of them, how intense his chagrin, how poignant his distress!

3. Great hopes are frustrated. The offended brother anticipated a brother" sympathy, counsel, friendship, through all the checkered scenes of life. These hopes are shattered, and the wreck is vexations beyond measure.

4. Great reluctance on the offender"s side to acknowledge the fault and seek reconciliation. Strange as it may seem, it is yet true a man would sooner offer an apology to any one than to his relations, especially to brothers. D.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Punishment a Consequence of Idumea’s Hostility

v. 10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, the two nations being so closely related through their common ancestor, but the Edomites having continued the family feud practically from the time of Esau, shame shall cover thee, so that Idumea would be disgraced before the eyes of the world, and thou shalt be cut off forever, in an extermination demanded by God’s will and Law.

v. 11. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, opposed to his brother Jacob, to the children of Israel, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, probably when the Philistines and Arabians made a raid against Jerusalem, 2Ki 8:20-22, and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem, upon its inhabitants, whom they distributed among them by lot, to sell into slavery, Joe 3:3, even thou wast as one of them, taking the part of the enemies of the Lord’s people.

v. 12. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger, namely, when Edom feasted his eyes upon the misfortunes which befell Judah; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction, when calamity came upon the Lord’s people as a result of their estrangement from the Lord; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly, literally, "made great thy mouth," in utter mockeries, in the day of distress.

v. 13. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of My people in the day of their calamity, with a feeling of satisfaction over their misfortune; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, with a malicious delight, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity, when the enemies plundered the city;

v. 14. neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, at the crossroads, where everybody was obliged to pass, to cut off those of his that did escape, either to slay them or to deliver them to the enemies; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. As a brother of Israel, Edom had the duty of standing by him, and this duty he had not performed.

v. 15. For the day of the Lord, when His punishment would descend upon all His enemies, is near upon all the heathen; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy reward, what he had earned by his wicked behavior, shall return upon thine own head.

v. 16. For as ye have drunk upon My holy mountain, in the desecration of a drunken orgy, so shall all the heathen, of whom Edom was a type, drink continually, being obliged to drink the cup of the Lord’s wrath; yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, compelled to bear His punishment; and they shall be as though they had not been, exterminated by the Lord’s judgment. All enemies of the Lord and of His holy Church will eventually feel the heavy hand of His wrath on account of their hostility against that which He has ordained.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues giving Obadiah his message to Edom.

your brother Jacob

Here "Jacob" represents his descendants. Because Jacob was the brother of Esau, the people of Edom are spoken of as if they were the brothers of the descendants of Jacob. AT: "your relatives who are the descendants of Jacob" (See: Metonymy)

you will be covered with shame

To be covered with something is an idiom for fully experiencing it. AT: "you will be completely ashamed" (See: Idiom)

will be cut off forever

This can be stated in active form. AT: "will never exist again" (See: Active or Passive)

stood aloof

"watched and did nothing to help"

strangers

people from other nations

his wealth

The word "his" refers to "Jacob," which is another way of referring to the people of Israel.

cast lots for Jerusalem

This phrase means "they cast lots to decide who would get the valuable things that they took from Jerusalem." (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

you were like one of them

"it was as though you were one of these strangers and foreigners." This implies that they did not help the Israelites. This can be made explicit. AT: "you were like one of the enemies and did not help Israel" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

brother

Jacob

shame

cut off

eternity

alien

gate

lots

Jerusalem

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Because of the violence of your brother Jacob—Because of the violence you inflicted upon Jacob.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.