Obadiah 1:9

Oba 1:9 And thy mighty [men], O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

Ver. 9. And thy mighty men, O Teman] Thy giants, thy champions, that dare to look death in the face upon great adventures in the field; these were now dismayed and dispirited; their courage was quailed, and even broken with fear, as the word signifieth; so that, as Saul, when the devil had preached his funeral, made haste and fell with the fulness of his stature all along on the earth, as being sore afraid, 1Sa 28:20; so shall it be with the mighties of Teman, that is, of Edom, for Teman was nephew to Esau and son to Eliphaz, Gen 36:11, and of him some city or part of the country took its denomination. The Chaldee and the Vulgate Latin take the word Teman appellatively, and render it thus, Thy mighty men shall perish from the South: or those that dwell to the southward of thy country, and so are more remote from the northern Chaldees; yet they shall no sooner hear of thy coming but they shall tremble and forget their prowess.

To the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter] Heb. every man, be he never so manly and magnanimous.

Of the mount of Esau] Of Idumea, which was mountainous, and therefore fitly called Seir, that is, rough and rugged.

May be cut off by slaughter] So that they shall live by fame only, and hardly that.

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.

cut off by slaughter--MAURER translates, "on account of the slaughter," namely, that inflicted on Judea by Edom (compare ). The Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate connect these words with , "for the slaughter, for the violence (of which thou art guilty) against thy brother Jacob." English Version, "cut off by slaughter" (that is, an utter cutting off), answers well to "cut off for ever" (). However, the arrangement of the Septuagint gives a better parallelism in . "For the slaughter" (1) being balanced in just retribution by "thou shalt be cut off for ever" (4); as "For thy violence (not so bad as slaughter) against thy brother Jacob" (2) is balanced by "shame (not so bad as being cut off) shall cover thee" (3). Shame and extinction shall repay violence and slaughter (; ). Compare as to Edom's violence, ; ; .

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 9. Thy mighty men, O Teman] This was one of the strongest places in Idumea; and is put here, as in Am 1:12, and elsewhere, for Idumea itself.

Mount of Esau] Mount Seir.

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

The Prophet, after having spoken of one kind of God’s vengeance, adds another, — that he would break whatever there was of strength in Idumea: and thus he shows that the courage and strength of men, no less than their understanding, are in the hand of God. As then God dissipates and destroys, whenever it pleases him, whatever wisdom there may be in men, so also he enervates and breaks down their hearts: in a word, he deprives them of all strength, so that they fail and come to nothing of themselves. Were they who are proud of their strength and counsels rightly to consider this, they would at length learn to submit themselves in true humility to God. But this truth is what the world cannot be made to believe: yet God shows to us here, as in a picture, that however men may flourish for a time, they would immediately vanish, were not he to sustain them, and to support his gifts in them, and keep them entire; and, especially, that empty smoke is everything, that seems to be understanding and strength in men; for the Lord can easily take away both, whensoever it may please him.

We ought therefore carefully to observe what he says here, Broken down shall be thy brave men, O Teman. Some think that a particular country is here pointed out; for Teman is the south, that is, with regard to Judea. But as Teman, we know, was one of the grandsons of Esau, (Genesis 36:15,) and as a part of Arabia was called by this name, it is the more probable, that the Prophet turns here his discourse to Idumea. But as to the word Teman, it is, a part taken for the whole.

For cut off, he says, shall be man: by saying, cut off shall man, he means, that all to a man would be destroyed. How? “by slaughter” . But קתל kothel means a slaughter in which no one remains alive. We hence see what the Prophet means, — that all the Idumeans would be so broken down, that all would fall, for there would be no heart nor strength to resist. It now follows —

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.

9. by slaughter] i.e. by slaughter inflicted on them by their enemies. This is the simplest and most natural meaning. It might be rendered, as the same preposition is at the beginning of the next verse, “for,” i.e. on account of and in retribution of the slaughter which the Edomites had inflicted on the Jews. This clause would then be an introduction to the following verses, in which the cause of their calamity is treated of at length. Ewald’s rendering, “without battle,” though grammatically possible, is contradicted by Eze_35:8.

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.

And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed,.... Teman was one part of the country of Edom, so called from Teman, a son of Eliphaz, and grandson of Esau, Gen 36:11; and which it seems had been famous for men of might and courage: it abounded with brave officers, and courageous soldiers, who should now be quite dispirited, and have no heart to go out against the enemy; and, instead of defending their country, should throw away their arms, and run away in a fright. The Targum and Vulgate Latin version render it,

"thy mighty men that inhabit the south;''

or are on the south, the southern part of Edom, and so lay farthest off from the Chaldeans, who came from the north; yet these should be at once intimidated upon the rumour of their approach and invasion:

to the end that even one of the mount of Esau may be cut by slaughter; that so there might be none to resist and stop the enemy, or defend their country; but that all might fall by the sword of the enemy, and none be left, even every mighty man, as Jarchi interprets it, through the greatness of the slaughter that should be made.

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

And thy mighty, O Teman, shall be dismayed - The pagan, more religiously than we, ascribed panic to the immediate action of one of their gods, or to Nature deified, Pan, i. e., the Universe: wrong as to the being whom they “ignorantly worshiped;” right, in ascribing it to what they thought a divine agency. Holy Scripture at times discovers the hidden agency, that we may acknowledge God’s Hand in those terrors which we cannot account for. So it relates, on occasion of Jonathan’s slaughter of the Philistine garrison 1Sa 14:15, “there was a trembling in the host and in the field, and among all the people: the garrison and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked, so it became a trembling from God,” or (in our common word,) a panic from God. All then failed Edom. Their allies and friends betrayed them; God took away their wisdom. Wisdom was turned into witlessness, and courage into cowardice; “to the end that every one from mount Esau may be cut off by slaughter.” The prophet sums up briefly God’s end in all this. The immediate means were man’s treachery, man’s violence, the failure of wisdom in the wise, and of courage in the brave. The end of all, in God’s will, was their destruction Rom 8:28.

By slaughter - , literally “from slaughter,” may mean either the immediate or the distant cause of their being “cut off,” either the means which God employed , “All things work together for good to those who love God,” and for evil to those who hate Him, that Edom was cut off by one great slaughter by the enemy; or that which moved God to give them over to destruction, their own “slaughter” of their brethren, the Jews, as it follows;

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

South. Hebrew, "Theman," (Calmet) where the Romans kept a garrison, fifteen miles south of Petra. (St. Jerome)

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).

Mighty men; valiant commanders and soldiers, who were never blemished with cowardice, who formerly durst adventure on greatest dangers and encounter most formidable enemies, and were never daunted with a slow-approaching enemy, how much soever over number to them, nor with any sudden surprising accidents; men of invincible courage, and most ready minds.

Teman; a principal city and munition of Idumea. See Eze 25:13; Hab 3:3; Amo 1:12.

Dismayed; astonished and surprised with such fear as disableth from action and counsel, shall neither dare to resist, nor hope to escape, but tamely give up all to the enemy.

To the end that every one may be cut off by slaughter; thus all shall be exposed to slaughter when they dare not fight, who should have saved themselves and defended others. Deplorable is their condition, who, surrounded every way with enemies, have neither strength nor counsel to resist their power or defeat their malice!

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

9. Mighty men — Warriors. When they realize at last that they have been entrapped, that wisdom and discernment have taken their flight, the warriors will lose heart, and the result will be the complete undoing of Edom.

O Teman — The change to the direct address adds force and intensity to the threat. On Teman see comment on Amo_1:12.

By slaughter — Ordinarily this is taken to refer to the slaughter to be inflicted upon Edom by her enemies; but according to the above interpretation there is nothing in this section (compare 17ff.) to indicate that the overthrow of Edom will be wrought by her enemies — Jehovah himself will strike the blow. Hence Ewald suggested the translation “without battle,” which is grammatically possible but makes an extremely weak conclusion of the threat. It seems better to carry the word over to Oba_1:10 (so LXX., Peshitto, Vulgate). The preposition is the same as that before “violence” in Oba_1:10, so that “for slaughter” might be read instead of “by slaughter,” the two together “for slaughter, for the violence done… ,” or even “for the slaughter and violence done”; the two words indicating two causes of the judgment to come. Keil objects to this change on the ground that, if adopted, the stronger and more specific term would precede the weaker and more general. In this Nowack agrees with Keil, and he gets out of the difficulty by rejecting “for slaughter” as a marginal gloss to “for violence,” “originating with a reader to whom the latter expression did not appear pointed enough” (so also Marti). However, the objection of Keil is not well founded, and the omissions suggested by the other two commentators mentioned are arbitrary. It is not true that the stronger and more specific term precedes the weaker and more general; the two words refer to two distinct crimes, of which the second, according to Jewish conceptions, was the more serious. Oba_1:10-14 evidently refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 (see p. 288). In this calamity the afflictions of Israel were twofold: on the one hand, they suffered personal losses; on the other, their sanctuary was desecrated and destroyed. The author of Psalms 137 seems to be concerned with the religious afflictions; and the deep feeling manifesting itself in his imprecations was undoubtedly due to the fact that the religious losses were to him of far greater consequence than any temporal privations. Of the two expressions in this passage “slaughter” may well stand for the personal wrongs suffered, “violence” for the wrongs done to the religious life and institutions. Of these the second was felt more keenly than the former; therefore the order of the words is perfectly natural.

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

O Teman; Septuagint, oi ek Yaiman , "those from Thaeman;" Vulgate, a meridic, taking the word as an appellative; so the Chaldee. The southern district of Idumea was so called. (see note on Amo_1:12) One of Job"s friends, and the cleverest of them, was a Temanite. (Job_2:11) To the end that. This judicial blindness is inflicted in order that all may perish. By slaughter. Murder at the hands of the enemy. The LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac connect these words with the following verse. But the Masoretic punctuation, as in the Anglican Version, is doubtless correct (see Keil).

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

Teman - A principal city of Idumea.

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

And your mighty men shall be dismayed—They shall be dismayed and frightened to flee to the land of Israel [Malbim: to the land of Edom]. And Jonathan rendered: And your mighty men shall be dismayed, dwellers of the southland.

in order that every man be cut off—I.e, every mighty man. [from Targum Jonathan]

from the mountain of Esau by slaughter—By the great slaughter that will come upon them.

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.