AN ELEMENT NECESSARY for well-being, whether of an individual or a nation, is a feeling of safety and security. Even a developing newborn must learn trust before he or she can thrive. On the political level, a nation that fears for its national security, especially if that was compromised in the past, is in serious jeopardy. Its very existence feels threatened.
This is the situation facing Judah in the short prophecy of Obadiah. Her next door neighbor, Edom, whose inhabitants are related to the Judeans by blood, not only stood by when the Babylonian world power moved against Judah, she actively collaborated in that aggression. Edom, situated in a geographically superior position to Judah, and the vastly superior armies of Babylon were, to the eyes of Judah, invincible. In her ignorance, Judah’s doom was sealed.
What Judah needs to be reminded of, however, is that neither geographical nor military advantage is the sole deciding factor of international relations, especially when these involve the very people of God. The nation previously faced similar situations of strategic disadvantage. For example, the superior forces of Aram besieged them in the days of Elisha (2 Kings 6:8–25). Judah, through Obadiah, needs to hear the words that encouraged Israel at that time: “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (6:16b). For Elisha the help was in the form of the heavenly host (6:17), and Judah finds itself under the protection of the very “LORD of hosts,” the “Sovereign LORD” (Obad. 1).
Obadiah’s message is only secondarily a promise of hope to Judah, since it primarily presents itself as a threat to Edom and to all others who mistreat God’s people. When you see your enemies brought low, you expect that your own fortunes will rise, and God shows that this scenario lies in store for Judah. Pride in position or power is humbled by the God who is over all in both position and strength.
This small book is not just relevant to two small nations in a remote corner of the globe long ago, however. It is a reminder for larger nations much closer to us in time that they also can display arrogance and intimidate others, however unwittingly. Even today “national interest” can be too easily used as a politically correct euphemism for national greed. The best interest of neighbors cannot enter into consideration if we, at our neighbor’s expense, fatten either our own pocketbook or stomach. Who today stands beside the weak nations who are unable to withstand the encroachments of today’s superpowers? May it not be the same “Sovereign LORD”!
Obadiah the Person
UNLIKE SOME OLD TESTAMENT prophets who are well identified with lengthy genealogies (e.g., Zeph. 1:1; Zech. 1:1) or of whom we can determine much from detailed accounts of life events (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah), Obadiah is a shadowy figure. The only thing we can be certain of is that the person called Obadiah is a visionary on at least one occasion (v. 1). A special revelation of God has come to Obadiah as it had to others before (Isa. 1:1; Nah. 1:1; Hab. 2:2), an indication that he is included among the prophets.
Apart from that fact, we cannot be certain of much else concerning Obadiah, including his name. In Hebrew, the name means “servant or worshiper of Yahweh.” While all Israelites should have been able to carry this title, it is one often used of the prophets (“my servants the prophets,” e.g., 2 Kings 9:7, and sixteen further times in the Old Testament; also of individual prophets, e.g., Moses [Deut. 34:5; Josh. 1:1], Ahijah [1 Kings 14:18], Elijah [2 Kings 9:36], Jonah [2 Kings 14:25]). The name “Obadiah” could simply be a title, indicating the writer’s subservient position to his Lord. It is also used as the proper name of about a dozen people in the Old Testament,1 and this could also be the case for the writer of this book. We do not have sufficient information to argue convincingly either possibility.
Chronological Context
THE BOOK OF OBADIAH is also shy of information concerning its date. Neither links to kings (e.g., Isa. 1:1; Jer. 1:2–3; Hos. 1:1; Amos 1:1; Mic. 1:1; Zeph. 1:1; Hag. 1:1; Zech. 1:1; cf. Ezek. 1:1–2) nor natural phenomena (Amos 1:1) provide an easy handle by which to tie Obadiah’s prophecies to a particular period. Any dating suggestions thus come mainly from internal evidence within the book itself.
Suggesting the earliest (terminus a/ante quo, “the end from/after which”) and latest (terminus ad quem, “the end to which”) possible dates of a work is based on equal parts detective work and speculation, with the latter often gaining the upper hand. These can be suggested from seeing what is included and what is omitted. An event can only be referred to after its occurrence, so the earliest recorded event in a document serves as its terminus a quo. On the other side, a major incident that happens but is not mentioned in a text even though this event appears important enough to the interest of the book to be included suggests that a book was completed before that event happened. This provides a terminus ad quem. This dating method is particularly valuable in narrative texts. In prophetic texts such as Obadiah, however, historical allusions are at times of less relevance and are thus relatively infrequent. There is also the complicating factor of a predictive prophecy, raising the question as to whether an event is described has already happened or is predicted to happen.
Two series of events lead toward at least a broad indication of date for Obadiah. The first is the complicity of Edom/Esau in the destruction of Judah (vv. 10–14), an event pictured as already in the past (v. 15b). The clearest referent to a period of invasion, plundering, destruction, and betrayal of Jerusalem and Judah is their capture by the Babylonians under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.2 Judah and her neighbors, including Edom, were called by God to demonstrate their trust in his deliverance by submitting to Babylon (Jer. 27:3–11), but instead Edom turns against neighboring Judah (Ps. 137:7; Ezek. 35:5; 1 Esdras 4:45). Ironically, some of the Judeans dispossessed in this incident end up living in neighboring Edom (Jer. 40:11). Babylon captures the whole region at this time, including the Negev (40:20). Now, the entire nation of Israel is under foreign domination, including the northern nation of Israel who, under the Assyrians and their kings Shalmaneser and Sargon,3 had lost its territory, including Ephraim, Samaria, and Gilead (v. 19), in 722 B.C.
Others date the historical event of verse 15 earlier. Early Jewish tradition suggests that this Obadiah is the same one who supported Elijah against Ahab in the early ninth century B.C. (1 Kings 18:1–15).4 In the next century, Edom, conquered and placed under Israelite control by David (2 Sam. 8:12, 14; 1 Kings 11:15–16; 1 Chr. 18:11–13), rebelled against Jehoram (c. 845 B.C.; 2 Kings 8:20–22; 2 Chron. 21:8–10). Among reasons why neither of these seems to fit with the Obadiah context, however, are that there is no mention of Edomites entering Judah, as Obadiah 12–14 describes, and there is an implication that Israel has already been exiled (vv. 19–20.5 The vivid detail with which the events are portrayed suggests that the author is an eyewitness to them and that they are not too far past in his experience.
Obadiah pictures the destruction prophesied for Edom/Esau to lie in the future (vv. 6–10, 18, 19, 21), which happened under the Babylonian king Nabonidus in 553 B.C.6 While the name “Edom” continues even into the New Testament period (where it becomes the Greek “Idumea,” Mark 3:8; cf. 1 Macc. 4:29), this came to refer to an area southwest of the Dead Sea, in the Negev region, where the Edomites were displaced by the Arabs.7 These events fit Obadiah most comfortably into the thirty-year period 586–553 B.C., more probably toward the beginning of that period.
Geopolitical Context
OBADIAH’S PROPHECY CONCERNS a great number of peoples and places within its brief span. These include Edom (vv. 1, 8), Sela (“the rocks,” v. 3), Esau (vv. 6, 8, 9, 18[2x], 19, 21), Teman (v. 9), Jacob (vv. 10, 17, 18), Jerusalem (vv. 11, 20), Judah (v. 12), Mount Zion (vv. 17, 21), Joseph (v. 18), Negev (vv. 19, 20), Shephelah (“the foothills,” v. 19), Philistines (v. 19), Ephraim (v. 19), Samaria (v. 19), Benjamin (v. 19), Gilead (v. 19), Israel (v. 20), Canaan (v. 20), Zarephath (v. 20), and Sepharad (v. 20). This is a total of a possible twenty people or place names in a short twenty-one verses. Since these names are unfamiliar to most of us, we will discuss them here, placing them into two categories, depending on their relation to Obadiah and his fellow Israelites: those with whom he would have felt connected (“Us”) and the others from which he would have felt distinct (“Them”).
Us
IN OBADIAH, the broadest ethnic and geographic term for God’s people is “Israel,” denoting the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob/Israel (cf. Gen. 32:28; 34:7 and elsewhere). It is not only the most common self-designation for God’s people, it is also used of them outside the Bible by foreigners, such as the kings of Egypt, Assyria, and Moab.8 Later the name Israel is also used just for the northern kingdom in contrast to the southern kingdom of Judah, so we must be careful to determine exactly who is referred to. In Obadiah 20, the entire nation is meant. Jacob in Obadiah also had this broad meaning, at least in verses 17–18 (though the reference in v. 10 could also be to the southern kingdom of Judah, which is mentioned in v. 12).
Obadiah’s audience most naturally would understand the designation Jacob/Israel as referring to the southern kingdom alone, since by his time the northern tribes of Israel had already been exiled by Assyria (722 B.C.). To indicate that the prophet indeed had in mind the people of both kingdoms, in verse 18 “the house of Jacob” is paralleled to “the house of Joseph.” Joseph is the father of Manasseh and Ephraim (Gen. 41:51–52). Tribes descending from both sons settled in what becomes the northern kingdom (Josh. 16–17), and Ephraim rose to such a position of prestige that at times its name is used to refer to the entire northern kingdom (e.g., Isa. 7), as it does in Obadiah 19. Samaria, the city built by Omri as the northern capital (1 Kings 16:24), is also mentioned in Obadiah 19.
One further northern reference is to Gilead (v. 19). This is the area of Transjordan occupied by the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh lying north and east of the Dead Sea (Num. 32:1–3; 2 Kings 10:33).9 It later became an Assyrian province (2 Kings 15:29).
In addition to Judah, the south is represented by several peoples and places as well. While lying on the geographical border between Judah and Ephraim, Benjamin becomes most closely associated with the south (e.g., 1 Kings 12:21; 2 Chron. 11). Two other geographical areas of Judah were not identified by tribal names. The Negev (Obad. 19) refers to the arid land in the south (Josh. 15:21–32), and the “foothills” (Shephelah; so NASB, NRSV) lay between the coastal plain and the more mountainous central highlands.10 Jerusalem, the city established as the national capital by David (2 Sam. 5:6–10; 1 Chron. 11:4–7), was later the capital of Judah, while Israel’s capital is Samaria. It is also at times called by one of its topographical features, Zion (2 Sam. 5:7).
In sum, by the time of Obadiah, the northern tribes had been exiled by Assyria, and only the southern tribes remain in the land. The prophecy, however, concerns locations indicating that both parts of the original had a future role to play in the plans of their God.
Them
THE MAJOR POWER of the period was Babylonia, but it is not explicitly mentioned in Obadiah. Judah’s major antagonist here is Edom, the geographical area of Transjordan stretching from the Wadi Zered at the southern extreme of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqabah, part of what is present-day Jordan. The area had several names throughout history, even in the short prophecy of Obadiah itself. The most common alternative, Esau (vv. 6, 8, 9, 18, 19, 21), reflects the history of the area and its people. Esau, the elder twin of Jacob (Gen. 25:24–26), is nicknamed Edom (“red”), purportedly after the red stew of which he was fond (v. 30), but also a logical choice because of the color of his hair (v. 25).
There was conflict between the two brothers from even before their birth (vv. 22–23), and this continued as they grew (vv. 27–34; 27:1–28:9), finally forcing the younger brother to flee. Though they were reconciled later in life (Gen. 33), Esau eventually was dispossessed to the east to accommodate their growing livestock holdings (36:6) and ended up in the area of Seir (36:8), a synonym for Edom (not used in Obadiah; see Num. 24:18; Ezek. 25:8; 35:2, 3, 7, 15).11
The Israel-Edom/Esau national relationship is fraught with as much tension as occurred between the brothers from whom they were descended. Though biologically “family,” blood did not preclude bickering. When Israel attempted to pass through their territory in Transjordan on the way from Egypt to Canaan, the Edomites refused passage (Num. 20:14–21). David conquered Edom (2 Sam. 8:12, 14; 1 Kings 11:15–16; 1 Chron. 18:11, 13), but only after Saul’s inability to do so (1 Sam. 14:47). Solomon controlled Ezion Geber long enough to build ships in that Edomite seaport (1 Kings 9:26; 2 Chron. 8:17), but Hadad, a member of its royal house, rebelled against him (1 Kings 11:14–22).
Judah seems to have regained control by the time of King Jehoshaphat (871–848 B.C.), who also built trading ships associated with Ezion Geber (1 Kings 22:47). He had apparently set up a puppet ruler in place of the Edomite king (“deputy”; v. 48).12 Soon thereafter, Jehoshaphat sallied forth in battle against Moab and his allies, including King Jehoram of Israel and “the king of Edom” (2 Kings 3:9). This is probably still the Judean puppet rather than a newly enthroned ethnic Edomite, since Edom did not enjoy such self-rule until the reign of Jehoram/Joram, the son of Jehoshaphat (848–841 B.C.; 2 Kings 8:20–22; 2 Chron. 21:8–10).
King Amaziah of Judah (800–783 B.C.) regained control of Edom with the slaughter of ten thousand of its inhabitants and the capture of its capital, Sela (2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chron. 25:11–12, 19–20). This city, mentioned in Obadiah 3, was renamed Joktheel as a sign of total control over it (2 Kings 14:7). This longstanding, antagonistic relationship between sibling groups makes it easy to understand why Edom is grouped among Israel’s, and God’s, perpetual enemies in poetry (Ps. 60:8, 9; 83:3; 108:9, 10) and prophecy (e.g., Isa. 11:14; 63:1–6; Jer. 25:21; 49:7–22; Ezek. 25:12–14; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:6, 9, 11; Mal. 1:4).
A synonym to Edom is Teman (Obad. 9), the name of one of the tribes comprising Edom (cf. Gen. 36:11, 15).13 Teman is also used as a geographical term, but it is unclear whether it stood for a specific place or an area within Edom.14 It is used as a variant of the other national designations, Edom and Esau. This is a similar usage to that of the name Sela, translated “rocks” in the NIV (Obad. 3; cf. text note). The name is also that of the capital of Edom captured by Amaziah (2 Kings 14:7; see also Judg. 1:36; Isa. 16:1; 42:11; Jer. 49:16), an appropriate name since Sela is identified by the LXX with the Nabataean city of Petra, which was literally carved from the rock. Petra is best known to people today from its depiction in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. While this identification of Petra as the location mentioned in Obadiah 3 is romantic, it is probably not correct, since no remains have been discovered in Petra that predate the fourth century B.C.15
Other geographical terms refer to places having a history of opposition against Israel. The Philistines (v. 19) were part of the Sea People who originated in the Aegean. They invaded the eastern Mediterranean coast from Egypt to Syria in the late second millennium B.C., and so were vying for the same territory as Israel during this period, with the Philistines settling in five cities in the coastal and lowland areas of Palestine: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron.16 The two nations had several military encounters (see Judges; 1 Sam. 4, 13, 31), with David defeating them, breaking their strength but not wiping them out (1 Sam. 17; 18:6–9, 25–27, 30; 19:8).
Canaan (Obad. 20) is the name of the Promised Land prior to Israelite occupation (Gen. 50:11), from part of Syria in the north through what is now Lebanon as well as Israel east of the Mediterranean and west of the Jordan River. Remnants of this population in the land after Israelite occupation caused theological problems, since Israel was constantly tempted by the Canaanite religious practices.17
Zarephath (Obad. 20) is one of the northern Canaanite cities, located equidistantly between Tyre and Sidon. Even though a pagan city, it is the place to which Elijah escaped from both famine and the Israelite king Ahab (1 Kings 17:8–24; Luke 4:26). The irony of this incident is that this is the area from which Ahab’s Phoenician wife Jezebel had come (1 Kings 16:31).
The last named location, Sepharad (Obad. 20), has been difficult to identify, since its name is unique here. Suggestions in Spain (Tg. Jon.; contemporary Jewish identification of Spanish-speaking Jews as “Sephardic” comes from this identification), Asia Minor (Sardis, capital of the Lydians c. 685–547 B.C.), and Media (based on an Assyrian text; cf. 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11) have been suggested.18
Literary Context
OBADIAH, WITH ONLY twenty-one verses, is the shortest Old Testament book. It occurs fourth among the Minor Prophets, but any reason for its placement there is uncertain, since the Twelve are not arranged either by size or by date. A word tie with Edom in Amos 9:12 could explain why Obadiah immediately follows that book.19
Literary Form
THOUGH BRIEF, Obadiah consists of several different literary genres. The two main types are prose and poetry. The main body of the book (vv. 1a–18) is poetry, as shown by the Hebrew poetic devices of parallelism of ideas and syllable or stress patterns.20 This is “sandwiched” between two prose passages, the brief superscript or title and messenger formula (1a-b), and a brief statement at the end of verse 18.
The superscript identifies the entire book as a vision report (Heb. ḥazôn). While the Hebrew term ḥzh at times relates to natural, physical sight (e.g., Ps. 58:8; Prov. 24:32; Isa. 33:20), it could be used of seeing God (e.g., Job 19:26–27; Ps. 17:15), and it most commonly describes the content of the message received upon seeing God in the context of prophecy.21 This divine source is reiterated in the second prose note in verse 18b.
The poetic section starts with a divine summons to battle (Obad. 1c), followed by a direct divine speech of judgment directed to a single nation (Edom, vv. 2–14, 15b), which is interrupted by a declaration of divine speech (v. 8b). Then follows a reported judgment speech directed to all the nations (vv. 15a, 16–18a-f), which concludes with a divine speech marker (v. 18g). The entire prophecy concludes with a promise of salvation (vv. 19–21).
Composition
FOR SUCH A small book, Obadiah is brimming with questions regarding the process of its composition. The mixtures of prose and poetry, Edom and the nations, judgment and hope, and second and third person sections contribute to the discussion. Raabe describes no less than nine different views as to the history of the composition of the book, ranging from it being completely from the hand of a single author, whether on one occasion or several, to coming from eight originally separate fragments.22
Whatever the prehistory of the work, there are clear uniting elements across its present form. The pervading presence of geographical terms has already been discussed, and Yahweh (“the LORD”) both opens (v. 1[2x]) and closes (v. 21) the book (see also vv. 4, 8, 15, 18). It is significant that God is only identified in it by this personal name, not by the more general description “God” (ʾ elōhîm; see “Theology,” below). Two other words used throughout the book are “the nations” (vv. 1, 2, 15, 16) and “day” (vv. 8, 11[2x], 12[4x], 13[3x], 14, 15). While these unifying points could be the work of an editor, to my mind there is no compelling reason to deny it to the hand of one author, especially since with this kind of literary artistry, the distinction between author and editor becomes problematic. A mixture of prose and poetry is not at all a rare phenomenon in Hebrew prophecy (cf. Isa. 36–37:22a, 36–38:9, 21–39:8; Amos 7:12–17 as only several examples of many prose passages sandwiched within poetic material).
Obadiah and the Old Testament
SINCE OBADIAH IS part of a national literature, one expects themes and concepts to be shared with other literary pieces from the culture. There were some parallels, however, that point to more than simply a common culture. The closest of these are between Obadiah and Jeremiah. Note Obadiah 1–4 and Jeremiah 49:14–16 below, with exact Hebrew verbal parallels in bold face and differences within these in italics, so that the parallels can be more readily seen:
Jeremiah 49 | |
1 We have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Rise, and let us go against her for battle”— | 14 I have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Assemble yourselves to attack it! Rise up [against her] for battle!” |
2 “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. | 15 “Now I will make you small among the nations, despised among men. |
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ | 16 The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. |
4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. | Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. |
Jeremiah provides further parallels, such as Jeremiah 49:9–10c with Obadiah 5–6.
Obadiah | Jeremiah 49 |
5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night—Oh, what a disaster awaits you—would they not steal only as much as they wanted? | 9cIf thieves came during the night, would they not steal only as much as they wanted? |
If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? 6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! | 9a If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? 10 But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, |
Parallels between Obadiah 7–8 and Jeremiah 49:7 are subtler and less sustained, as well as being hidden in English translation, as shown below.
Jeremiah 49 | |
7 but you will not detect it.8 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, men of understanding in the mountains of Esau? | 7 Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed? |
Obadiah 7 contains a sentence found almost verbatim in Jeremiah 38:22, with only three consonants differing between the two.
Obadiah | Jeremiah 49 |
7your friends will deceive and overpower you; | 22They misled you and overcame you—those trusted friends of yours. |
The cumulative evidence indicates that there is some dependence between Obadiah and Jeremiah. There are three possible relationships here: (1) Jeremiah borrows from Obadiah, (2) Obadiah borrows from Jeremiah, or (3) both Jeremiah and Obadiah borrow from a third source. There is no compelling evidence leading to any of these three alternatives, though Jeremiah’s activities, if not the penning of his prophecies, were in the late seventh to early sixth centuries B.C., prior to the date for Obadiah adopted here (though the dating of the material in Jeremiah is not without its own complications).23 This argues against option 1. Option 3 cannot be ruled out, even though there is no known copy of the possible third source. The fact that the two writers differ from each other in such significant ways in spite of the numerous parallels could indicate that both freely adapt a third source. Alternatively, if one borrows from the other, they did not do so slavishly, but show their own literary creativity in their adaptations.24
Yahweh
JUDAH AS A NATION is vulnerable, since those to whom they might turn for support based on fraternal ties repeatedly turn against her. The prophet shows her that she is not without trustworthy support, however, since she is cared for by Yahweh, who is the Creator of heaven and earth (Gen. 2:4). Rather than using the more distant title “God” (ʾ elōhîm), Israel’s deity speaks to them using his personal, covenant name (“the LORD” [yhwh, Yahweh]).
While intimate, Yahweh is also powerful, the king of nations (v. 21) who engages in battle (v. 2) against both warrior and sage (vv. 9, 8), allowing neither human brilliance nor might to thwart his aims. This stark contrast to the powerless state in which Judah finds herself convincingly points her, and her enemies, to the necessity to turn beyond natural national resources for real aid. Yahweh is also the God of the ages. He takes his people, whom he established at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19–24), in their present difficulties with their lifelong fraternal rivals, and he offers them hope. He will restore his kingdom on Zion, the site captured by David (2 Sam. 5:7; 1 Chron. 11:5). There he had chosen to erect his temple (1 Kings 8:1; 2 Chron. 5:2), but allowed it to be destroyed because of Israel’s sin (Mic. 3:12).
Responsibility and Justice
ACTIONS DO AND must have consequences. Choices, whether for good or ill, have results, and part of the maturation process is learning this, whether as a child or as a nation. Neither can attain independence if protected from understanding this. The lack of a punishment for a willfully wrong action cheapens one’s humanity.25 This being so, the punishment meted out on Edom is an indication of their responsibility for their choice to harass rather than assist their brothers in their national plight.
“Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25), Abraham reminded the Judge himself. Obadiah is not simply a nationalistic diatribe by Judah against her enemies and thus something below a true theology of compassion and forgiveness, as some claim.26
MEANING DERIVES FROM context, and the historical context of this prophecy is vital in order to understand the grace of Yahweh in it. Judah was destroyed and taken into captivity in 586 B.C. because they had broken covenant loyalty. Her sister, Israel, had suffered the same fate for the same reasons in 722 B.C. The Babylonians and Assyrians do not take to vassals defying their authority by ignoring the obligations laid on them, which include fealty to the overlord accompanied by material donations of tribute to keep the overlord’s coffers full. Breach of covenant leads to swift and severe retaliation, including destruction, deportation, and barbaric cruelty.27 This is what Judah and Israel have received from their secular overlords (2 Kings 15:19–20, 29; 17:1–18:12; 18:13–19:37; 24:10–17, 20b–25:22; 1 Chron. 5:6, 26; 2 Chron. 32:1–23; 33:11; 36:10, 15–21; Ezra 4:2; Isa. 36–37; Jer. 52:3b–30).
This is also the just response to turning their back on obligations to the “Great King,” Yahweh, with whom Israel also entered into a covenant. The curses brought for breaking this relationship involved exile and suffering, though not the barbarity imposed by humans (e.g., Lev. 26:14–39; Deut. 29:28; 1 Kings 8:33–46; 14:16). The destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the Davidic monarchy, at least its enthronement in Zion, should not, therefore, be surprising. What is surprising, and unique among ancient Near Eastern covenants, is that forgiveness, the possibility of a second chance, is incorporated into the covenant document itself (e.g., Deut. 30, esp. 1–5). The very fact of the continued existence of the recipients of the prophecy, even after they earn annihilation, is itself an aspect of God’s grace. The punishment, which is wholly justified, serves its disciplinary purpose of driving the people back to a relationship with their God. Even pain can be a grace.28
God’s grace to his people extends beyond their basic survival in Obadiah. Judah receives blessing in that their tormenters will be punished. But it does not even stop there. While a mortally wounded soldier might feel some reward in seeing that his enemy is also doomed, it is much more beneficial to know that he himself will survive. In Judah’s case, they are assured not only of survival, but they will even flourish, being not only delivered but restored.