Obadiah means servant of the lord and occurs 20 times in the old testament, referring to many other old testament individuals. The short book of obadiah the shortest in the ot is an oracle against the nation of edom. Obadiah synonyms, obadiah pronunciation, obadiah translation, english dictionary definition of obadiah. They, and the word preached by them, are the means by which the good news of salvation is. The animosity between edom and the israelites, and edoms punishment because of that, is the literal theme of the book of obadiah.
There are obadiahs in the old testament, and one of these may the obadiah who wrote this book. Obadiah is a prophet of god who uses this opportunity to condemn edom for sins against both god and israel. Obadiah, the shortest book in the old testament, is only 21 verses long. The purpose of obadiah is to show that god will judge all those who are against his children, his chosen people. Edoms pride and downfall is disclosed in the book of. There are 12 other men with this same name in the old testament, none of whom can be identified with the author of this book.
But there will be a deliverance on mount zion, and it will be holy. Obadiah definition of obadiah by the free dictionary. Amid great spiritual degeneracy he maintained his fidelity to god, and interposed to protect the lords prophets, an hundred of whom he hid at great personal risk in a cave 4. Obadiah free bible commentary in easy english easyenglish bible. There are on record the account of four captures of jerusalem, 1 by shishak in the reign of rehoboam 1 kings 14. Nothing is known of the prophet except for his name, which means servant of. The book of obadiah is the only one chapter book in the old testament. Obadiah meaning of obadiah, what does obadiah mean. It is very difficult to know when obadiah was written because there is nothing in the heading or introduction of the book to pinpoint the date. The book begins by calling itself a vision which is an indication also shared by isaiah 1.
Book of obadiah, the fourth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of. Some have guessed that he was the earliest of the minor prophets, while others have said that he lived after the babylonians destruction of jerusalem. The smallest old testament account, the book of obadiah is a vision written by the lords prophet known as obadiah, who prophesied against israels relative nation edom. The new testament writers did not quote from or allude to the book of obadiah. This fact makes it difficult to date the time of writing. If the book is dated in the reign of jehoram, the author may be the obadiah of 2 chronicles 17. Obadiah 1, new international version niv the bible app.
Joel, obadiah, malachi the niv application commentary. In it they read the future of their own people and of christendom. Book of obadiah encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. Book of obadiah overview insight for living ministries. Watch our overview video on the book of obadiah, which breaks. Obadiah is the shortest book in the old testament and is not quoted in the new testament. The book of obadiah meaning servant of the lord, a minor prophet in the old testament, is a prophecy written to the southern kingdom of judah and alternates to the nation of edom. The book of obadiah is a favorite study of modern jews. A free bible version and commentary on the book of obadiah in easyenglish.
Obadiah is a particularly useful book of prophecy, since it summarizes the basic outline of most old testament prophets. Obadiah is the shortest book in the old testament but it covers such a significant portion of that historical period. An israelite who was chief in the household of king ahab 1 kings 18. Book of obadiah, the fourth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, in the jewish canon treated as one book, the twelve.
Proper usage and audio pronunciation plus ipa phonetic transcription of the word book of obadiah. People still chafe under injustices in this world, and yearn for a day when things will be as they should be. The book of obadiah is a book of prophetic oracles. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your.
Therefore, we must look in the text of the book for historical clues that point to the date. The book of obadiah is a sustained denunciation of the edomites, melting into a vision of the future glories of zion when the arm of the lord should have wrought her deliverance and have repaid double upon her enemies. Obadiahs name, meaning worshipper of yahweh, offers an interesting counterpoint to the message of judgment he pronounced on edom, judahs neighbor to. Obadiah is the shortest book of the old testament, and the fourthshortest book of the bible after third john, second john, and philemon. The final bit is, which is the abbreviated form of. The scriptures have that beautiful faculty of appearing to be one thing on the surface, but on a deeper level, yielding rich and mighty treasures. Obadiah, book of definition and meaning bible dictionary. The edomites are descendants of esau and the israelites are descendants of his twin brother, jacob. The book of obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of edom and the restoration of israel. Book of obadiah, the destruction of edom, judahs misfortune. Obadiah announces edoms downfall to babylon, which is an image of how god will bring down all arrogant and violent nations. Obadiah, book ofconsists of one chapter, concerning e. Human intervention, crucial though it is, is not the ultimate answer to this cry for justice. Meaning, origin and history of the name obadiah behind.
Nelsons compact illustrated bible dictionary, thomas nelson publishers, 1978, p. It consists of 7 letters and 4 syllables and is pronounced obadiah. If obadiah used jeremiahs text, then verse 11 would mean that time. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the hebrew bible. Practice using everyday, one word, and every day, two words, in this fun quiz with everyday example sentences. The book of the prophet obadiah is the shortest book of the ot with 21 verses only. Because of what this book says of edom and jerusalem, we can gather a date for obadiahs ministry.
Like a number of prophetic books, it is both a book of judgment and a book of hope. The animosity between the edomites and the israelites is one of the oldest examples of a discord in human relationships. Yahweh will judge edom both historically through the nations and eschatologically through israel. The book of obadiah was likely written between 848 and 840 b. In judaism, obadiah is considered a later prophet, one of the twelve prophets in the final sec. Assyria is also the subject of the book of jonah, but jonah focuses on the capital city, nineveh, more than on the whole nation of assyria.
Obadiah verse 1 identifies the author of the book of obadiah as the prophet obadiah. The book of obadiah begins with a promise to bring edom down from their mountain sier, and ends with the deliverers of israel ascending mount zion to judge edom. Obadiah means servant of the lord and occurs 20 times in the old testament, referring. Since the date of the book is disputed, it is impossible to fix its authorship. The book is named after the prophet who received the vision 1. Means serving yahweh in hebrew, derived from meaning to serve and referring to the hebrew god. In the old testament this is the name of one of the twelve minor prophets, the author of the book of obadiah, which predicts the downfall of the nation of edom. The hebrew name obadiah means worshipper of yahweh or servant of yahweh. Obadiah was a common ot name, meaning worshiper of yahweh. Watch our overview video on the book of obadiah, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought.
The form of obadiahs name used in the septuagint is obdios. The first part of the name obadiah comes from the root abad, meaning servant or to serve. Obadiah probably lived in the southern kingdom of judah. In their concluding comments on the book of obadiah, authors william lasor, david hubbard and frederic bush state.
An envoy was sent to the nations to say,rise, let us go. Frank shallieu in 1992 and circa 1970 before actually commencing the study, we would like to consider some historical background that is essential for understanding verse 1. Obadiah with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. Some believe obadiah may have been a contemporary of. This was one of the most common names in the hebrew bible. An obadiah was an officer in king ahab of israels court and hid gods prophets in a. About obadiah we know only that his name means servant of the lord. Its authorship is difficult to date but was possibly written about 853841 b.
Joel, obadiah, malachi the niv application commentary baker, david w. Obadiah the lords message about edom and what edom represents in the end times the book has only this one chapter. Because the writer of the record is not giving his but gods point of view, it is history with divine commentary explaining not just what happened but why it happened that way. More than ten persons of the ot bear the same name but none of them is identical with the prophet. Edom will be humbled thus says the lord god concerning edom. We have heard a rumour from the lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. We do not know anything of the books author but his name obadiah servant or worshipper of jehovah. Just as mount esau and mount seir are metaphors for edom, mount zion is a metaphor for israel, specifically jerusalem.
Obadiahs name, meaning worshipper of yahweh, offers an interesting counterpoint to the message of judgment he pronounced on edom, judahs neighbor to the southeast. In judaism, obadiah is considered a later prophet, one of the twelve prophets in the final section of neviim, the. In judaism and christianity, its authorship is attributed to a prophet who lived in the assyrian period and named himself in the first verse, obadiah. Information and translations of book of obadiah in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Consequent upon the overthrow of edom is the enlargement of the borders of judah and the establishment of the kingship of yahweh. Edom is the subject of the little book of obadiah as assyria is of the larger book of nahum. The book of obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of edom and the restoration. Obadiah, the shortest book in the old testament, is the pronouncement of doom against an ancient and longforgotten nation, the land of edom. Study obadiah 1 using matthew henrys bible commentary concise to better understand scripture with full outline and verse meaning.
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