Obadiah 1:11

Oba 1:11 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.

Ver. 11. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side] Over beside, curiously eyeing and maliciously promoting, by thy virulent tongue and violent hands, the downfal of Israel. Nemo curiosus quin malevolus, saith an ancient. These Edomites fed their eyes with their brethren’s miseries, as with a pleasant spectacle. At first perhaps they were only onlookers, but afterwards they "stood against them in battle" (when they saw them worsted) and took part with their enemies. See Est 8:2 Psa 9:6 Eph 6:11. The Samaritans afterwards served them in like sort, as Josephus reporteth; especially when Antiochus tormented the Jews, they wrote to him to excuse themselves as no Jews; and (offering him their service) basely styled him Antiochus, the mighty God.

In the day that the strangers carried away captive, &c.] Edom’s malice is here aggravated by the circumstance of time they took to express it; viz. when God’s people were at worst, and when their extreme misery should have moved pity. This was a dog-like, devil-like practice, to fall upon those that are down before; "to add affliction to the afflicted," Psa 69:26; to push the wounded out of the herd, as they say deer do. Of such barbarous and savage usage David often complaineth, and Job, and Jeremiah, and Jesus, Psa 22:1-31; such shall one day cry out at God’s bar, as Joseph’s brethren did, Gen 42:21, and find no mercy, Jas 2:21, no more than cruel Haman did, Est 7:10, it being just with God to set off all hearts from him who had been so unreasonably merciless. This Job well knew, and therefore so studiously purgeth himself of this heinous wickedness, Job 31:29. Ausonius also out of Pittacus Mytilenaeus affirmeth him to be a beast and worse that maketh himself merry in another man’s misery. The beastliest among brute creatures, even swine, seem to be affected with the outcries of their kind. Men only, more brutish than they, triumph in the calamities of each other, and are not moved with their outcries, albeit as bitter as that of Hezekiah, Isa 38:14, "O Lord, I am oppressed, help me." This Solomon calleth oppression of a high nature, Ecc 4:1; see Psa 142:4.

And foreigners entered into his gates] Having taken the city; then did the Edomites set fire to the temple, 1Esther 4:45. Citizens in a siege fortify their gates, and defend them to the utmost; for if the gates be gained the city is lost; as it was at Jerusalem, and as it had like to have been at the city of Coccinum, in the island of Lemnos, which the Turks had surprised suddenly, but that they were happily prevented by the courage of one Marulla, a maiden of that city, who seeing her father slain in the gate, took up the weapons that lay by him, and like a fierce Amazon, notably revenged his death, desperately fighting in defence of her country with those few that were in the gate at the first, and so kept the Turks out until the rest of the citizens, moved with the alarm, came to the gate.

And cast lots upon Jerusalem] i.e. upon the plunder of Jerusalem; according to the custom of old soldiers, Num 26:56. See this fulfilled 2Ki 24:13-14; 2Ki 25:13-17 See also more of this practice, Nah 3:10 Joe 3:3; and how grievous it is to the ingenuous, hear Andromache (Virg. Aeneid. III 323),

“ O foelix una ante alias Priameia virgo,

Hostilem ad tumulum, Troiae sub moenibus altis

Iussa mort, quae sortitus non pertulit ullos,

Nec victoris heri tetigit captiva cubile. ”

Even thou wast as one of them] The emphasis lieth in the word "thou"; as in that of Julius Caesar, beholding Brutus among the conspirators that took away his life, What? Thou my son Brutus? Kαι συ τεκνον βρουτε (Dio Cass.). Even thou, brother Edom, whom we spared in our passage through the wilderness, when we destroyed other nations, Deu 2:5; thou, who hast from David’s days, for the most part, been our vassal and tributary. Jerome applieth this to heretics; Mercer, to that arch-heretic antichrist, an utter opposite to Christ, yet a pretended friend, as was Judas; a servant of God’s servants (if you will believe him), but a most bloody persecutor of the Church, in whose ruins he yet revelleth, and will do, till Christ shall punish him, with "his sore, and great, and strong sword," Isa 27:2, and dung his vineyard with the flesh of that wild boar.

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.

1:11 Outside of this book, nothing specific is known of Edom’s role during the various Babylonian invasions of Judah (in 605, 597, and 586 BC). Responsibility toward one’s neighbor is a specific requirement of God’s law (e.g., Deut 22:1-4; cp. Matt 25:41-46), especially when there is either a specific “treaty of brotherhood” (Amos 1:9) or a historical relationship that is regarded as fraternal (see study note on Obad 1:6).

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

When Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem, thou joinedest with him, and hadest part of the spoil, and so didst rejoice when my people, that is, thy brother were afflicted, whereas thou shouldest have pitied and helped thy brother.

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

thou stoodest on the other side--in an attitude of hostility, rather than the sympathy which became a brother, feasting thine eyes (see ) with the misery of Jacob, and eagerly watching for his destruction. So Messiah, the antitype to Jerusalem, abandoned by His kinsmen ().

strangers--the Philistines, Arabians in the reign of Jehoram, &c. (); the Syrians in the reign of Joash of Judah (); the Chaldeans (2Ch. 36:1-23).

carried . . . captive his forces--his "host" (): the multitude of Jerusalem's inhabitants.

cast lots upon Jerusalem-- (). So Messiah, Jerusalem's antitype, had lots cast for His only earthly possessions ().

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 11. Thou stoodest on the other side] Thou not only didst not help thy brother when thou mightest, but thou didst assist his foes against him.

And cast lots] When the Chaldeans cast lots on the spoils of Jerusalem, thou didst come in for a share of the booty; "thou wast as one of them."

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

In the day, he says, in which thou didst stand on the opposite side”. But the Idumeans might have made this objection, “Why dost thou accuse us for having violently oppressed our brother? for we were not the cause why they were destroyed: they had a quarrel with the Assyrians, we labored to protect our own interest in the midst of these disturbances; we sought peace with the Assyrians, and if necessity so compelled us, that ought not to be ascribed to us as a crime or blame.” In this way the Idumeans might have made a defense: but the Prophet dissipates all such pretenses by saying, In the day in which thou didst stand on the opposite side, in the day in which strangers took away his substance, and aliens entered his gates, and cast lots on Jerusalem — were not thou there? Even thou were as one of them. Now this is emphatically introduced — Even thou or, thou also; (Tu etiam) for the Prophet exhibits it here as a hateful omen: “It was no wonder that the Assyrians and Chaldeans shed the blood of thy brethren, for they were enemies, they were foreigners, they were a very distant people: but thou, who were of the same blood, thou, whom the bond of religion ought to have restrained, and further, even thou, who oughtest by the very claims of vicinity either to have helped thy brethren, or at least to have condoled with them — yea, thou were so cruel as to have been as one of his enemies: this surely can by no means be endured.”

We now perceive what the Prophet meant by saying, In the day in which thou didst stand on the opposite side: it is then as it were, an explanation of the former sentence, lest the Idumeans should make a false excuse by objecting that they had not been violent against their brethren. It was indeed the worst oppression, when they stood over against them; though they were not armed they yet took pleasure in a spectacle so mournful; besides they not only were idle spectators of the calamity of their brethren but were also as it were a part of their enemies. “Hast thou then not been as one of them?” I shall not proceed farther now.

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.

11. In the day that thou stoodest] lit. in the day of thy standing. Nothing can certainly be decided from the language of this and the following verses, as to whether the conduct here ascribed to the Edomites was a thing of the past when Obadiah wrote, or was still future. The phrase “in the day of thy standing” obviously determines nothing as to time; nor does the phrase at the end of this verse, “thou, as one of them,” in itself considered. In Oba_1:12 the only grammatical rendering is, “do not look,” instead of “thou shouldest not have looked,” and the same is true of all the similar expressions in Oba_1:12-14. In this 11th verse two past tenses do indeed occur: “foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem.” And the use of these might be held to favour what is the most natural and obvious impression conveyed by the whole passage, viz. that the prophet is describing a past event. But inasmuch as his description may relate to a prophetic vision which had been vouchsafed to him, and not to an actual scene which he had witnessed, the time indicated remains uncertain, and the question of date must be decided on other grounds. (See Introd. § II.)

on the other side] comp. Psa_38:11 [Hebrews 12]. “My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore,” where the Hebrew expression is the same. It may however be a charge of direct opposition rather than of culpable neutrality. The same expression occurs in this sense in 2Sa_18:13, “Thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.” Comp. Dan_10:13, “withstood me,” lit. “stood over against me,” where the Hebrew phrase is similar.

strangers, foreigners] This therefore cannot refer to the defeat of Amaziah by Jehoash. (See Introd. § II.)

his forces] If this rendering be adopted it will mean, not so much the army which fled with the king and was overtaken and scattered (2Ki_25:4-5), as the bulk of the people, who formed the strength of the nation and who were carried captive, leaving only the “poor of the land” behind. (2Ki_25:11-12; Jer_39:9-10.) In this sense the same Hebrew word is rendered “host” in Oba_1:20 below. The rendering of the margin, and of R.V., “carried away his substance,” is supported by Oba_1:13, where the word evidently means substance or wealth.

cast lots upon Jerusalem] i. e. divided its spoil and captives by lot. Comp. Joe_3:3 [Heb_4:3]; Nah_3:10.

thou, as one of them] “thou,” the brother, and that too in dark contrast to Samaria the alien. “In the remains of the population of the Samaritan kingdom it is affecting to see that all sense of ancient rivalry was lost in the grief of the common calamity. Pilgrims from the ancient capitals of Ephraim, Samaria, Shechem, and Shiloh came flocking with shorn beards, gashed faces, torn clothes, and loud wailings, to offer incense on the ruined Temple, which was not their own.” Stanley. (Jer_41:5).

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.

In the day thou stoodest on the other side,.... Aloof off, as a spectator of the ruin of Jerusalem, and that with delight and pleasure; when they should, as brethren and neighbours, have assisted against the common enemy; but instead of this they stood at a distance; or they went over to the other side, and joined the enemy, and stood in opposition to their brethren the Jews:

in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces; that is, at the time that the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and carried captive as many of the forces of the Jews as fell into their hands; or when

"the people spoiled his substance,''

as the Targum; plundered the city of all its wealth and riches:

and foreigners entered into his gates; the gates of their cities, particularly Jerusalem; even such who came from a far country, the Babylonians, who were aliens and strangers from the commonwealth of Israel; whereas the Edomites were their near neighbours, and allied to them by blood, though not of the same religion; and by whom they helped against a foreign enemy, instead of being used by them as they were:

and cast lots upon Jerusalem; either to know when they should make their attack upon it; or else, having taken it, the generals of the Chaldean army cast lots upon the captives, to divide them among them, so Kimchi; see Joe 3:3; or rather, the soldiers cast lots for the division of the plunder of the city, as was usual at such times:

even thou wast as one of them; the Edomites joined the Chaldeans, entered into the city with them, showed as much wrath, spite, and malice, as they did, and were as busy in dividing the spoil. So Aben Ezra interprets these and the following verses of the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; but Kimchi expounds them of the destruction of them by the Romans, at which he supposes many Edomites to be present, and rejoiced at it: could this be supported, the connection would be more clear and close between these words and those that follow, which respect the Gospel dispensation, beginning at Oba 1:17; but the Edomites were not in being then; and that there were many of them in the Roman army, and that Titus himself was one, is all fabulous.

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

In the day that thou stoodest on the other side - The time when they so stood, is not defined in itself, as a past or future. It is literally; “In the day of thy standing over against,” i. e., to gaze on the calamities of God’s people; “in the day of strangers carrying away his strength,” i. e., “the strength of thy brother Jacob,” of whom he had just spoken, “and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots on Jerusalem, thou too as one of them. One of them” they were not. Edom was no stranger, no alien, no part of the invading army; he whose strength they carried away, was, he had just said, his “brother Jacob.” Edom burst the bonds of nature, to become what he was not, “as one of them.” He purposely does not say, “thou too wast (הית hayı̂tha) as of them;” as he would have said, had he wished to express what was past. Obadiah seeing, in prophetic vision, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the share which the Edomites took there at, describes it as it is before his eyes, as past.

We see before us, the enemy carrying off all in which the human strength of Judah lay, his forces and his substance, and casting lots on Jerusalem its people and its possessions. He describes it as past, yet, not more so, than the visitation itself which was to follow, some centuries afterward. Of both, he speaks alike as past; of both, as future. He speaks of them as past, as being so beheld in “His” mind in whose name he speaks. God’s certain knowledge does not interfere with our free agency. “God compelleth no one to sin; yet, foreseeth all who shall sin of their own will. How then should He not justly avenge what, foreknowing, He does not compel them to do? For as no one, by his memory, compelleth to be done things which pass, so God, by His foreknowledge, doth not compel to be done things which will be. And as man remembereth some things which he hath done, and yet, hath not done all which he remembereth; so God foreknoweth all things whereof He is Himself the Author, and yet, is not Himself the Author of all which He foreknoweth. Of those things then, of which He is no evil Author, He is the just Avenger.

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

Captive. He alludes to the taking of Sedecias. --- Lots, for the booty, or whether they should burn the city or not. All was regulated by lots. (Calmet)

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).

In the day; during the war which the Babylonians made upon Judea, or in the day of battle when Jews fought with Chaldeans.

That thou stoodest on the other side; tookest up thy stand over-right them, observing with delight how they were worsted, slaughtered. and routed; or didst set thyself in battle-array against thy brother Jacob. The strangers; the Babylonians. and the mixed nations which joined with them.

Carried away captive; first mastered the Jews, and then made them captives. and sent them away out of their own land, a sight which should have moved compassions in thee.

His forces; his strength, his troops, or multitudes that survived and were taken, and their wealth and riches too.

Foreigners entered into his gates; that invaded, slew the inhabitants, and forced the besieged places to open their gates; or took the fortresses by assault.

Cast lots; so robbers divided their prey, and conquerors, Pro 1:14; Joe 3:3, which see.

Upon Jerusalem; upon the citizens and their goods, which were found in Jerusalem when it was taken by the Chaldeans.

Even thou, a neighbour, who wast not molested by Israel when they marched through other nations from Egypt to Canaan, who wast a brother by descent, Oba 1:10,

wast as one of them, as merciless and insolent as any of those barbarous foreigners.

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

The injuries complained of were committed lately, and the prophet could speak of them as well known (see note on ver. 10). In the day that thou stoodest; literally, in the day of thy standing, without note of time, but implying a past event here. On the other side. The words may denote either malicious unconcern, as Psa_38:11, or hostile opposition, as 2Sa_18:13. Besides the direct application to recent events, the clause intimates the usual attitude of the Edomites toward Israel. In the day that the strangers Philistines and Arabians (2Ch_21:16) carried away captive his forces; rather, carried array his substance, as ver. 13; Gen_34:29 Deu_8:17 Isa_8:4. Foreigners. The same as "strangers." Both words are usually applied to heathen enemies. Cast lots upon Jerusalem. Divided the captives and spoil of Jerusalem by lot. (2Ch_21:17; comp. Joe_3:3 Nah_3:10) Nothing is said of the total destruction of Jerusalem or the wholesale deportation of the inhabitants to Babylon, So that Obadiah cannot be referring to the Chaldean conquest. Thou wast as one of them; literally, thou, too, as one of them. In this expression the past is set before the mind as present.

Edom as Babylon.

"Even thou wast as one of them." Edom, although claiming Abraham and Isaac for his forefathers, was so unfraternal to Israel that when Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians, he shared in the hostility. His cry was, "Rase it, rase it, even to the ground!" To this our text makes reference, "Even thou wast as one of them." And what Obadiah thus says to Edom, he might often stand and say to some of us. How many who have been nursed in privileges and taken a place as servants of the God of Abraham, have been found, like Balaam, amongst the enemies of the Lord! "Even thou wast as one of them." How often the inquiry might come to those who ought to be bearing holy witness for God, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" The words may well convey a warning to us, for even the most godly have often fallen from their steadfastness. Let us note some examples by way of fixing this warning upon our hearts.

I WE ALL DENOUNCE DRUNKENNESS. We all sadly mourn the condition of inebriates. Alas! there was a time when Obadiah might have stood in attitude of condemnation before the Patriarch Noah, and said, "Even thou wast as one of them.

II WE SCORN THE LIAR. But there was a time when Abraham became untruthful. Obadiah might have appeared before him, and said, "Even thou wast as one of them.

III WE ABOMINATE IMPURITY. But there was a time when Obadiah might have stood before David, as did the Prophet Nathan, and said, "Thou art the man!" "Even thou wast as one of them.

IV WE DEPLORE RASH SPEAKING AND HOT AND HASTY WORDS. Time was when Obadiah might have come to the meek and holy Moses, and said, "Even thou wast as one of them.

V WE OFTEN LOOK WITH FEELINGS OF DISDAIN UPON THE PROUD. And yet there was a time when Obadiah might have said to the good King Hezekiah, "Even thou wast as one of them.

VI WE ARE EVER READY TO ADMIT THE TURPITUDE OF DENYING CHRIST. But see Obadiah standing before Simon Peter, and we catch his awful words, "Even thou wast as one of them.

VII CONTENTION AMONGST BRETHREN IS ANOTHER EVIL WHICH WE DEPRECATE. Obadiah might have pointed to Barnabas, the "son of consolation," and said to him, "Even thou wast as one of them.

VIII THE SIN OF UNBELIEF IS ANOTHER FEARFUL EVIL. But all the early disciples fell for a time into this sin. Obadiah might have said first to one, then another, "Even thou wast as one of them.

IX A MURMURING SPIRIT IS ANOTHER EVIL WHICH THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD AVOID. St. Paul learned in whatsoever state he was, therewith to be content. The psalmist says his soul was as a weaned child. But we turn to the prophet of fire. We find the great Elijah under a juniper tree, murmuring at his lot. "Even thou wast as one of them.

Enough. We see plainly that the Scriptures warn us of the frailty of our nature and the deceitfulness of our hearts. And, if we reflect at all, we must see that repeatedly Christian professors lack consistency. Christian principle and Christian practice should never be at variance. But what is the fact? How often the Christian in business walks so unworthy of his high calling that our prophet seems to speak to him, "Even thou wast as one of them." Or we look into society, and we find in some Christians so much worldly conformity, that to one after another Obadiah might come, and exclaim, "Even thou wast as one of them" Let me ask those Christians who spend several afternoons in the week in visiting, and yet scarcely ever drop a word for their Lord and Master Do you think that Obadiah"s expostulation is not for you: "Even thou wast as one of them"?

Let us learn, therefore, these three lessons.

1. First, to live watchfully, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Snares and dangers will beset us as long as we are in the world. What some may call only the shadows upon the mountains may prove conquering foes. (Jud_1:9:36) We all need the restraining grace of Christ. "Hold thou me up in my goings, that my footsteps slip not.

2. Secondly, to be careful about companionship. Edom"s unfraternal antagonism was fed by the company he kept, till he was even "as one of them." Those who "mingle with the heathen" will not be slow to "learn their works." "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly... but his delight is in the Law of the Lord.

3. Lastly, to walk holily before God. St. Peter"s exhortation should be kept in mind, "Giving all diligence, add to your faith faith is the root add to the root heroic, manly courage; and to courage knowledge selfknowledge, Bible knowledge, the knowledge of Christ; for knowledge is power for working and for waiting, for doing and for suffering; and to knowledge temperance temperance, or self-control, is an urgently needed grace; and to temperance patience we are all called to endure; we must not expect that we can be Christians without any trouble; Christ"s soldiers must learn to endure hardness; and to patience godliness piety, devotion; and to godliness brotherly kindness Edom knew nothing of brotherly kindness; this brotherly kindness is love to the brethren love to the godly." And one more grace is enjoined, "Add to brotherly kindness charity love to everybody." Thus, in walking holily before God, we shall, by the power of his Spirit, keep from the sin of Edom, "Even thou wast as one of them one of the Babylonians; and all will take knowledge of us that we are the God-Man"s disciples. The ointment of the right hand bewrayeth itself. We are Christ"s. His we are, and him we serve. He was as one of us (sin only excepted), that we might be one with him forever. A.C.T.

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

In the day - During the war which the Babylonians made upon Judea. Stoodest - Didst set thyself in battle array against thy brother. Jerusalem - Upon the citizens and their goods. As one of them - As merciless and insolent as any of them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

On the day you stood from afar—that you did not come to aid him.

you, too, are like one of them—I account it for you as though you were one of their attackers.

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.