Verses 21-22 close the chapter with a warning to the people of Edom and Uz. Edom was situated to the southeast of Judah, and its people were thought to be descended from Esau and so were related to the people of Israel. The Book of Obadiah reflects the antagonism between the people of Judah and Edom and attacks Edom particularly for its unfriendly collaboration with Judah’s enemies at the time of the fall of Jerusalem. See also Psalm 137.7-9.
Rejoice and be glad is satire or irony because the poet means the opposite of what he says. Good News Translation is one of the few modern translations that has made any attempt to adjust this expression: “Laugh on … while you can.” Languages differ greatly in their handling of irony, and in many cases adjustments will be required; for example, “You think you can rejoice and be glad…,” “It is too late for you to be happy,” “Your rejoicing is about over….”
Daughter of Edom carries the sense of the people or inhabitants of Edom, as do “daughter of Zion” and “daughter of Jerusalem” for those places. Land of Uz is not necessarily the same as the place with that name which is given as the setting for the Book of Job in Job 1.1. It appears in verse 21 to be the name of a larger area of which Edom is a part. The introduction of the people of Edom and Uz at the end of the chapter may create some confusion for the reader if there is not more identification given than in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. For example, we can make clear that the people of these places are, if not the main enemy, at least enemies enough to gloat over the fall of Jerusalem. We may say, for example, “you unfriendly tribes of Edom and Uz…” or “you people of Edom and Uz who hate us….”
But to you also the cup shall pass: cup is used frequently in the Old Testament as a symbol of God’s anger, as in Jeremiah 25.15-29. The symbolism passed over into the New Testament in Revelation 14.10; 16.19. The effect of drinking this cup is to make Edom drunk. The cup shall pass and Good News Translation “Your disaster is coming” may be expressed in active terms, with God as the agent of the disaster which will strike them; for example, “God’s anger will strike you too” or “when God is angry he will destroy you too.” The sense of also is that Edom will suffer a similar fate to that which has just happened to Judah.
Edom is depicted as a woman. In her drunkenness she will strip herself naked and so make herself an object of ridicule. This parallels the picture of Jerusalem in 1.8. Good News Translation has shifted away from the figurative language of the cup but has retained the suggestion of drunkenness in “will stagger naked.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on Lamentations. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .