The introduction to this book is very brief, with no details of Obadiah’s home or ancestors and no indication of the date of his activity. Since the content of the book is not expressed in the form of a “vision” (Revised Standard Version [Revised Standard Version]), Today’s English Version (Good News Translation) uses the more general term prophecy. The basic meaning is that God has given Obadiah a special message or revelation that Obadiah is to tell to others. The word “vision” could suggest that Obadiah received this message while in a trance or some similar state, but it is not necessary for a translator to emphasize this, as it is not important here.
The origin of Obadiah’s message is the Sovereign LORD himself. Sovereign LORD represents the Hebrew words ʾadonay YHWH. YHWH is the personal name of God. The traditional English transliteration is Jehovah. Its meaning is probably something like “the Eternal,” and it is sometimes translated in this way (for example, by Moffatt [Moffatt] in English and Segond in French). The Jews considered the name YHWH too holy to be pronounced, so when they read the Scriptures, they said the word ʾadonay instead. ʾAdonay means “lord” or “master,” and because of this the Jews translated YHWH as kurios, which is the Greek word for “Lord,” when they translated the Old Testament in the Greek version called the Septuagint. The majority of translations in English and many other languages follow this example, and this is usually the best solution for translators to adopt in other languages. Where the English word “Lord” is used as a translation for YHWH, it is spelled in Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most English translations with capital letters, “LORD.” Where it represents ʾadonay it is spelled with only a capital L, “Lord.”
There are many places in the Old Testament where the Hebrew words ʾadonay YHWH come together, as in Obadiah verse 1. In this case the Jews pronounced YHWH as ʾelohim, the word for God. In such places Revised Standard Version and many others translate ʾadonay YHWH as “Lord GOD,” spelling “GOD” with capital letters. Good News Translation translates ʾadonay YHWH as Sovereign LORD. Sovereign means “almighty” or “all-powerful,” and many translators will find it best to translate as “Almighty Lord” here and in other such passages. If translators wish to spell “LORD” or “GOD” with capital letters in their languages when these terms translate the Hebrew name YHWH, they may of course do so. But there is no need for them to adopt this custom if they do not want to. However, if they do wish to do so, they should be very careful to do it consistently.
The main subject of the message given to Obadiah is the nation of Edom. According to the Bible, the Edomites were descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob (Gen 25.19-26; Gen 36). Their traditional homeland was the area south of the Dead Sea and east of the rift valley called the Arabah; this valley continues south from the Jordan Valley to the Gulf of Aqaba.
The nations of Israel and Edom, though closely related, had been hostile to each other for centuries. According to the tradition of Num 20.14-21, the Israelites were on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. When they asked the King of Edom for permission to pass through his territory, he refused permission. This refusal was the beginning of a lasting enmity between the two nations. Their mutual hatred reached its peak when Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians (587 or 586 B.C.). The Edomites joined in the destruction (1 Esdras 4.45), encouraged the attackers (Psa 137.7), and even helped to catch Judean fugitives (Obadiah 14). For such terrible cruelty against his people, God was bound to punish Edom, and this is the main point of Obadiah’s message (compare Isa 34.5-15; 63.1-6; Ezek 25.12-14; 35.1-15; Amos 1.11-12; Mal 1.2-4).
We are not told who Obadiah’s audience was when he spoke this prophecy. Even though much of the book seems to address the Edomites directly, calling them “you,” the prophecy was spoken to the people of Israel and not to the Edomites themselves. This information may be helpful to the translator, but it does not need to be mentioned unless his language requires it.
The first part of the sentence is often considered to be a title for the book, as in Revised Standard Version, and it can be translated that way if this is natural in a particular language. In some languages, however, it may be necessary to explain the meaning of prophecy more precisely. If so, it may seem quite repetitious to keep the two parts of the sentence separate. They can be combined in some way such as “This is what the Sovereign Lord told Obadiah to say about the nation of Edom.”
The LORD has sent his messenger to the nations: here the order of the clauses in Revised Standard Version follows that of the Hebrew, but Good News Translation reverses the order of the first two clauses so as to present the information in a more logical sequence. Clearly, the messenger has to be sent before anyone hears the message. Good News Translation also mentions The LORD as the one who has sent the messenger. It is known that the sender is the LORD because of the statement that the tidings are “from the LORD” (Revised Standard Version). Making The LORD the subject of the sentence avoids the passive construction “has been sent” that would cause difficulty in many languages.
The messenger was no doubt a representative from one nation who was going around to neighboring nations urging them to create a military alliance against Edom. This is the meaning of the message “Get ready! Let us go to war against Edom!”
The prophet heard this message and realized that the Lord had sent it. The prophet says we have heard this message. He is speaking to the people of Judah, and the pronoun we means that they have heard it as well as himself. In languages that distinguish between inclusive and exclusive forms in the first person plural, this form would therefore be inclusive. The pronoun his in his message refers primarily to the messenger, not the Lord, although since Obadiah calls this man the Lord’s messenger (Good News Translation), it is in a sense the Lord’s message.
Some would understand this passage rather differently from Good News Translation. They would take the “tidings from the LORD” (Revised Standard Version) to refer to the Lord’s words that begin at verse 2 (see the New English Bible). Sending a messenger among the nations is then a separate but related event that is going on at the same time, and it would not be necessary to say that the Lord himself sent the messenger. He would presumably have been sent by the leaders of his own country, though from Obadiah’s point of view, this is still evidence of the Lord’s work. A literal translation like Revised Standard Version could be interpreted as having either this sense or the sense of Good News Translation, but a translator should not try to be ambiguous in this way. He should choose one or the other of these meanings. In this case, the Good News Translation meaning is probably preferable. If the meaning not chosen is felt to be important enough, it can be put in a footnote.
The pronoun us in Let us go to war refers to the people of the country that this man represents, along with the people of the countries he is speaking to, so again an inclusive form is required in languages that make this distinction.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on the Book of Obadiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .