Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, Vol. 1

by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg

In Obadiah, we find a fulness of remarkable glances into the future compressed within a narrow space. The chief events are the following:—1. The capture of Jerusalem, the total carrying away of the entire people, both of Judah and Israel, to a far distance, vers. 20, 21. 2. The return of Israel, the cessation of the separation of the two kingdoms, ver. 18 (compare Hos. ii. 2 [i. 11]; Amos ix. 11, 12), and his elevation to the dominion of the world by the "Saviours," ver. 21. 3. The judgment upon Edom by heathen nations, vers. 1-9. Jeremiah, in xxvii. 2 ff., compared with xxv., more distinctly points out the Chaldeans as the heathen instruments of the judgment upon Edom and all the people round about; and Matt. i. 3, 4, shows the weight of the sufferings which were inflicted by them upon Edom. 4. The occupation of the land of Edom by Judah. One realization of this prophecy took place in the time of the Maccabees; but we must not confine ourselves to this. As, in the main, Edom is only a type of the God-hating heathen world, the true and real fulfilment can be sought in Christ alone. Compare the remarks, p. 98, with reference to Moab in Balaam's prophecy.

The prophecy of Obadiah is divided into three parts:—the destruction of Edom by heathen nations summoned by Jehovah, vers. 1-9; the cause of it, his wickedness against Judah, vers. 10-16; Judah, on the contrary, rises with Joseph from this humiliation, and becomes a conqueror of the world, vers. 17-21. This last part claims our closer consideration.

Ver. 17. "And upon Mount Zion shall be they that have escaped, and it is holy (compare Joel iii. 5, iv. 17 [ii. 32, iii. 17]), and the house of Jacob occupies their possessions."

The suffix in מורשיהם refers to all the heathen in ver. 16. The kingdom shall be the Lord's, according to ver. 16, and the dominion of His people extends as far as His own. We have here the general prophecy; and in what immediately follows, the application to Edom. The first two clauses serve as a foundation for the third. The holiness has, so to speak, not only a defensive, but also an offensive character. Its consequence is the dominion of the world.

Ver. 18. "And the house of Jacob becomes a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble, and they kindle them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau; for the Lord has spoken."

Besides the whole of the people, that part of them (the house of Joseph, the people of the ten tribes) is specially mentioned which one might have expected to be excluded. That there is none remaining to the house of Esau (and to all who are like him) agrees with the declaration uttered by Joel in iii. 5 (ii. 32): "Amongst those who are spared, is whomsoever the Lord calleth." They, however, whom the Lord calls, are, according to the same verse, they who call on the name of the Lord. But the characteristic of Edom is his hatred against the kingdom of God,—and that excludes both the calling on the Lord, and the being called by the Lord. The single individual, however, may come out of the community of his people, and enter into the territory of saving grace, as is shown by the example of Rahab. In the further description of the conquering power, which the people of God shall, in future, exercise, we are, in ver. 19, first met by Judah and Benjamin.

Ver. 19. "And they of the south possess the Mount of Esau, and they from the low region, the Philistines; and they (i.e., they of Judah, the whole, of whom they of the South and of the low region are parts only) possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria, and Benjamin—Gilead."

It is obvious that we have here before us only an individualized representation of the thought already expressed in Gen. xxviii. 14: "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt break forth to the East and to the West, to the North and to the South; and in thee, and in thy seed, all the families of the earth are blessed;" compare also Is. liv. 3: "Thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles."—נגב is the south part of Judea, at the borders of Edom; שפלה the low region on the West, at the borders of the Philistines. As, according to the vision of the prophet, the exaltation of Judah is preceded by his total overthrow and captivity (compare vers. 11-14, 20, 21), the tribe of Judah, which, before the catastrophe, was settled in the South and low region, is here meant. That את can be taken only as the sign of the Accus., and "Mount of Esau," accordingly, as the object only, appears from ver. 20, according to which the South is vacant. Judah thus extends in the South, over Edom, in the West, over Philistia, in the North, over the former territory of the ten tribes, and hence also over the territory of Benjamin, which formerly lay betwixt Judah and Joseph. Benjamin is indemnified by Gilead. The whole of Canaan comes thus to Judah and Benjamin. Joseph, to whose damage, according to ver. 18, this enlargement of Judah's territory must lead, must be transferred altogether to heathenish territory. We expect to find, in ver. 20, how he is indemnified.

Ver. 20. "And the exiles of this host of the children of Israel (shall possess) what are Canaanites unto Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem that are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South."

The circumstance that the Athnach stands below ספרד indicates that ירשו implies the common property of the exiles of this host, and of the exiles of Jerusalem. The "Sons of Israel," in this context, can only be the ten tribes; for they are here indemnified for their former territory, which, according to ver. 19, has become the possession of Judah. "The exiles of this host" is equivalent to: "This whole host of exiles,"—the whole mass of the ten tribes, carried away according to prophetic foresight (compare Amos v. 27: "And I carry you away beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, the God of hosts"), as opposed to a piecemeal carrying away, such as had once already taken place before the time of the prophet in respect to Judah, but not in respect to the children of Israel; compare Joel iv. (iii.) 6. That the "Canaanites unto Zarephath"—i.e., the Phœnicians, whose territory formed part of the promised land, but had never, in former times, come into the real possession of Israel—are the objects of conquest, and that, hence, we cannot explain as Caspari does, "Who are among the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath," is evident from the circumstance, that all the neighbouring nations appear as objects of the conquering activity;—that the great mass of the Israelitish exiles were not among the Canaanites;—that the ב could, in that case, not have been omitted;—and that the South country is too small a space for the children of Israel, and of Jerusalem together. Sepharad, the very name of which is scarcely known, is mentioned as a particularizing designation of the utmost distance. The description becomes complete by its returning to the South country, from which it had proceeded. The South country penetrates to Edom; the inhabitants of Jerusalem extend beyond the South country.