It is set in the land of Edom, which has been retained as the background, and in the prologue and epilogue, the name of God is YHWH, a name that even the Edomites used.

The canonical Book of Obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of Edom and the restoration of Israel.

The book of Obadiah is based on a prophetic vision concerning the fall of Edom, a mountain dwelling nation whose Founding Father was Esau.

Edom is to be destroyed due to its lack of defense for its brother nation, Israel, when it was under attack.

So, according to Obadiah there will not remain even a remnant after Edom ’ s judgment ; This is in contrast to Amos 9: 12, where Amos refers to such a remnant, however, it is stated that their possession will be given to Israel.

Some scholars have suggested that Amos ’ s reference to Edom is symbolic of all nations who were once enemies of Israel and not meant to literally mean Edomites in the flesh.

Moreover, Frederick A. Tatford in Prophet of Edom ’ s Doom says that Obadiah ’ s prophecy is fulfilled today as there is currently no trace of anyone who may be identified as an Edomite.

In relating to theme of Obadiah, it is important to underscore the “ punishment ” theme this book outlines against Edom.

Deane and J. R. Thomson write this valid conclusion, “ The Book of Obadiah is occupied with one subject – the punishment of Edom for its cruel and unbrotherly love conduct towards Judah ...” One can link this idea of punishment to one of the major prophets “ Ezekiel ” who “... interprets the exile to Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalem as deserved punishments for the sins of those who themselves committed them .” Verses 3-7 in Obadiah explain to the reader the reason for the punishment theme, “ Confidence in one ’ s power, intelligence, allies, or the topographical features of one ’ s territory is often mentioned as an attribute of those who foolishly confront the Lord and are consequently punished .” Although destruction is vital to understanding Obadiah, it is of note to understand the destruction being a consequence of action.

According to the Talmud, Obadiah is said to have been a convert to Judaism from Edom, a descendant of Eliphaz, the friend of Job.

He is identified with the Obadiah who was the servant of Ahab, and it is said that he was chosen to prophesy against Edom because he was himself an Edomite.

The first probable record of his name is in two Egyptian inscriptions from the 14th and 13th centuries, as a place-name, Yhw in the region of Edom associated with Shashu-Bedouins ".

It is often supposed that the name given for a king of Edom, Bela, son of Beor, is a corruption of Balaam, and that, therefore, this reference actually points to Balaam as having once been an Edomite king.

In the King Lists in the books of Genesis and 1 Chronicles Achbor is the father of Baal-hanan, a King of Edom, but is not actually listed as being king himself although some commentaries assume that he was.

This valley ( the Arabah ) is between Judah and Edom on the south of the Dead Sea.

Here also Amaziah " slew of Edom ten thousand men " ( 2 Kings 14: 7 ; comp.

And as to Horonaim, the men of Edom dwelt therein, on the descent from old.

Obadiah describes an encounter with God who addresses Edom ’ s arrogance and charges them for their violent actions against their brother nation, the House of Jacob.

Moreover, having lived with two such godless persons as Ahab and Jezebel without learning to act as they did, he seemed the most suitable person to prophesy against Esau ( Edom ), who, having been brought up by two pious persons, Isaac and Rebekah, had not learned to imitate their good deeds.

Near the end of his life Solomon was forced to contend with several enemies including Hadad of Edom, Rezon of Zobah, and one of his officials named Jeroboam who was from the tribe of Ephraim.

* The fourth, Numbers 24: 14 – 19, prophesies the coming of a king who will conquer Edom and Moab

It is conjectured that while David was leading his army against the Ammonites and Syrians, the Edomites invaded the south of Judah, and that David sent Joab or Abishai against them, who drove them back and finally subdued Edom.

Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the country of Moab, was the fourth king of Edom and Hadad was also the seventh of the twelve sons of Ishmael.

LaPorte Church of Christ is an independent church in Laporte, Colorado, led until 2011 by Pastor Peter J. Peters, who proclaimed that Europeans comprise the ten lost tribes of Israel and that contemporary Jews are satanic impostors ( based on and ) and the descendants of the Biblical Esau ( Edom ) -- the brother and nemesis of Jacob ( Israel ).

:" And these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before the reigning of a king over the sons of Israel ... And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah, from Bozrah, reigned in his place ".

The best-known is probably Herod Archelaus, son of Herod the Great, who was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea ( Biblical Judah ), and Idumea ( Biblical Edom ), from the death of his father in 4 BC to AD 6.

The city was possibly constructed by King Amaziah of Judah, an 8th century BCE ruler who fortified the Judean kingdom and went to war with neighbouring Edom in the northern Arabah, or his son Uzziah whose construction of towers in the desert is mentioned by the second Book of Chronicles.

According to the Sages, this was a prophetic reference to the End of Days, when Jacob's descendants will come to Mount Seir, the home of Edom, to deliver judgment against Esau's descendants for persecuting them throughout the millennia ( see Obadiah 1: 21 ).

According to Isaiah 63: 1-6, the Lord will come from Edom ( modern-day Jordan ) and Bozrah on the day of vengeance and the year of redemption ( cf.

The demonym ' Israel ' can reasonably be referred to a Shasu enclave, and it can be concluded that the Shasu originated from Moab and northern Edom and eventually helped to constitute the nation of ' Israel ' which later established the Kingdom of Israel.

The vision then embraces the fall of Jerusalem to the hands of foreign invaders and God ’ s anger against Edom for taking advantage of the Jews of Judah during their plight, thus sealing their doom.

Obadiah shows that judgment falls even within the family of God, as Israel and Edom descended from twin brothers, Jacob and Esau.

His purpose was to make it known that according to his God, if members of the same family were to treat each other in the same manner as Edom treated the Israelites, they too may be subject to the wrath of God.

Jacob feared that his children would never be free of Esau's domination, but God assured him that at the End of Days, Edom too would come falling down.

Jacob feared that his children would never be free of Esau's domination, but God assured him that at the End of Days, Edom too would come falling down.

Christian Knorr von Rosenroth's Latin Kabbala denudata ( 1684 ) ( translated The Kabbalah Unveiled by MacGregor Mathers ) equates these forces with the Kings of Edom and also offers the suggestion they are the result of an imbalance towards Gedulah, the Pillar of Mercy or the merciful aspect of God, and have since been destroyed.

287, 94 ) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Her Hittite name was also used to name a mountainous district in Edom, probably near Mount Hor.

He makes references to Israel, Urartu, ( also called Armenia ), Edom, Damascus, Media, Babylon, Arpad, Umlias, the plains of Central Asia, and the Greeks ; the family name refers to their descent from Atreus.

A native of Idumaea, southeast of Judea between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, which during the time of the Hebrew Bible had been known as the land of Edom, Antipater became a powerful official under the later Hasmonean kings and subsequently became a client of the Roman general Pompey the Great when Pompey conquered Judea in the name of Roman Republic.

Lordship of Oultrejordain or Oultrejourdain ( Old French for " beyond the Jordan ", also called lordship of Montreal ) was the name used during the Crusades for an extensive and partly undefined region to the east of the Jordan river, an area known in ancient times as Edom and Moab.