In this verse the main clause, I will pull you down, is the answer that the Lord gives to the rhetorical question in the previous verse. The Edomites may seem to be strongly defended, but they are not beyond the reach of divine justice.
The strength of the Edomites’ position is pictured by a comparison with an eagle (not in this context a vulture, as in New English Bible). In structure the comparison is a double one, speaking both of soaring (that is, flying high; see Revised Standard Version) and of building a nest in high and inaccessible places. It is not certain whether the soaring and the building are two separate comparisons that are parallel with each other, or whether the building is simply an expansion or result of the soaring. Revised Standard Version and Jerusalem Bible make them parallel, while New English Bible can be taken either way; Moffatt seems to support Good News Translation in making the second an expansion.
In the second part of the comparison there is a further figure of speech called a hyperbole, or exaggeration. This is the reference to the “nest … set among the stars” (Revised Standard Version). No one supposed that eagles actually nested among the stars, but here the stars stand for places that are too high for men to climb to. Since this hyperbole could be misunderstood, Good News Translation has tried to show that it is not to be taken literally; therefore it translates so that it seems to be among the stars. Some translators will wish to follow this example.
On the other hand, in other languages it may be quite effective to keep the hyperbole of the Hebrew. This helps to stress how great God is in comparison to man, even when man thinks he is very powerful. The Edomites believed that their high fortress made them safe. But even if the Edomites could fly like eagles or go among the stars, God would still be able to bring them down. So of course he will have no trouble defeating them in their mountain fortress.
Eagles are referred to in this passage primarily because they are able to fly so high, and because they build their nests in high places. But they are also large birds that prey on other creatures. This habit may also be part of the comparison, since Edom is condemned for preying on Israel (verse 13). In areas where eagles are not known, the translator should try to find a bird that has one or all of these characteristics, the most important of which is the ability to fly very high.
The final words “says the LORD” (Revised Standard Version) have been transferred to the beginning of the paragraph in Good News Translation and appear as “The LORD says to Edom” in verse 2. These words are meant to remind people that what Obadiah is saying is God’s own message. In English it is a bit awkward to interrupt a speech with this sort of statement, and it may be best to put it only at the beginning, as Good News Translation has done. In other languages, however, it may be quite natural to follow the Hebrew and keep these words here (note that they are repeated in verse 8, and similar words are used in verse 18). Another possibility is to make the words part of God’s own speech, and to say something like “I, the Lord, am speaking to you.”
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 .