This verse continues the theme of expansion and reconquest and speaks of the activities of two main groups, The army of exiles from northern Israel and The exiles from Jerusalem. Revised Standard Version, as its footnote indicates, understands a place name “Halah” instead of the Hebrew word hahel, meaning “this army.” 2 Kgs 17.6 mentioned Halah as a place in Assyria where some of the exiles from the northern kingdom were resettled. New English Bible omits the phrase altogether, but as Jerusalem Bible and Good News Translation show, it can make acceptable sense as it stands. Revised Standard Version says that these exiles are from “Israel.” Israel can be used in two senses. Sometimes it means the old northern kingdom, and sometimes it means the whole country, including both northern and southern kingdoms. In this place it refers to the northern kingdom and contrasts with the group of exiles from Jerusalem in the former southern kingdom of Judah. The translator must decide which meaning of Israel his readers will be most likely to understand in this verse. Good News Translation assumes that English readers will most probably understand Israel to mean the whole country, so they have referred here to northern Israel, thus limiting the meaning to the former northern kingdom.

When Good News Translation speaks of exiles from these places, it means people whose ancestors used to live in these places before those ancestors were exiled. These people are still called exiles, even though they themselves had probably never lived in the land of Israel. These people will now return.

The group who originally came from the north will form an army when they have returned, and will naturally expand northward from their traditional territory. They will conquer Phoenicia as far north as Zarephath, a town on the coast between Tyre and Sidon. North here is made explicit by Good News Translation to help readers unfamiliar with these place names to appreciate at least the direction involved. Zarephath was a town where the prophet Elijah lived for a while (1 Kgs 17.9-10; Luke 4.26). This area around Tyre is described as part of the northern border of Israel in Josh 19.28-29. This region is called “Canaan” in the Hebrew and in some translations, but the word refers to the area known as Phoenicia and should be translated in this way.

The exiles from Jerusalem are said to be “in Sepharad” (Revised Standard Version). The identification of this place is uncertain, and a number or possible locations have been suggested, including Spain, Media, and Libya. Modern scholarly opinion tends to agree that Sepharad is another name for the town of Sardis, the capital city of Lydia in Asia Minor. Good News Translation accepts this view and translates Sepharad as Sardis. An inscription from the fifth century B.C. found in Sardis suggests the presence of a Jewish community there at that time.

Wherever The exiles from Jerusalem had been, they would return to their own area in southern Palestine and would expand southward from there to capture the towns of southern Judah (“the Negeb,” as at the beginning of verse 19 in Revised Standard Version). The geographical description thus ends in the place where it began, with the recovery of the territory occupied by the people of Edom. In this way it contributes to the main theme of the prophecy, the punishment of Edom.

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 .

Verse 10 is the first place where a reason is given for all of the things that God will do in verses 1-9. Therefore it may be good in some languages to make the connection clearer. This can be done by starting verse 10 with an extra line saying “All of this will happen because you robbed and killed…” or “I will punish you because….” If this is done, then the second part of the verse will have to be a separate statement, mentioning again how God will punish them, but this should not cause problems for most translators.

In place of the nouns of Revised Standard Version that really represent events, “slaughter” (from verse 9) and “violence,” Good News Translation uses verbs and makes the subject explicit as you. Thus the opening clause becomes Because you robbed and killed your brothers.

The people of Edom and the people of Judah were called brothers because they were descendants of Esau and his twin brother Jacob respectively. Good News Translation helps to make this clearer by expanding the simple “Jacob” of the Hebrew and Revised Standard Version to the descendants of Jacob. Many translators will need to do the same.

In many languages it is quite natural to call people brothers if they are descendants from a brother of one’s own ancestors. In other languages there may be a different term for this type of relationship, and the appropriate term should be used here. The important thing in this passage is the assumption that people who are related in this way should help each other in times of trouble. If this idea will not be automatically implied by the term used in a language, the translator should perhaps make it explicit and say something like “they were your relatives, and therefore you should have helped them.”

In the second part of the verse, two consequences of Edom’s actions are mentioned in clauses with different subjects, “shame shall cover you” and “you shall be cut off” (Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation has made the Edomites the subject of both verbs by saying you will be destroyed and dishonored forever. It is not clear why Good News Translation has changed the order of the two verbs, and there is no need for translators to do so unless this will be better style in their own languages. The dishonor (Revised Standard Version “shame”) that will come upon Edom is a just reward for their dishonorable conduct against Judah. The Edomite conduct was considered dishonorable because the peoples of Edom and Judah were brothers. Such a relationship should have prevented the Edomites from behaving as they did. Failure to respect blood relationships was considered particularly disgraceful in the ancient world.

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 .

The book is rounded off by this final statement of victory over Edom, not merely as a nationalistic revival by Israel, but also as a symbol of the ultimate triumph of Israel’s God.

The victorious men of Jerusalem: the word translated “Saviors” (Revised Standard Version) was understood by ancient translators as a passive form, equivalent to “those saved.” This understanding has been accepted by some modern translators, and is expressed for instance by New English Bible as “Those who find safety on Mount Zion.” If the verse is taken this way, it is probably a reference back to “those that escape” (Revised Standard Version, New English Bible) on Mount Zion in verse 17.

However, many modern translations do not feel it necessary to follow this understanding, since the Hebrew makes acceptable sense as it stands. The “saviors” (Revised Standard Version) are understood to be military leaders in the same manner as the judges had been in the days before the establishment of the monarchy. Their distinguishing mark was that they led the Lord’s people to victory over their enemies. Thus Jerusalem Bible translates “Victorious, they will climb Mount Zion.” Here as elsewhere, Mount Zion stands for Jerusalem and for its Temple site in particular, and Good News Translation renders this plainly as The victorious men of Jerusalem. When understood in this way, the people referred to in this verse are the same people mentioned in the last part of verse 20, who have just captured the towns in southern Judah. It is because of these victories that they are called victorious. In some languages it may be easier to begin this sentence, “After the men of Jerusalem have won all these victories….”

In the Hebrew the reference to Jerusalem as “Mount Zion” is paralleled by the reference to Edom as “Mount Esau” (Revised Standard Version), an echo of verses 8 and 19. Good News Translation translates plainly as Edom. The word translated “to rule” in Revised Standard Version is the same Hebrew verb that is frequently used to describe the activities of the Judges in the Book of Judges (Judges 10.2, 3; 12.7-14; 15.20; 16.31). Jerusalem Bible emphasizes this link by saying here “to judge the Mount of Esau.” Good News Translation gives more emphasis to the meaning in the particular context of Obadiah and translates will attack Edom and rule over it.

Neither Revised Standard Version nor Jerusalem Bible seem to suggest that these victorious people will go to Edom itself. Rather they “go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau” (Revised Standard Version). However, since Mount Esau is not on Mount Zion, commentators assume that this means that Mount Zion becomes the base for an attack on Edom. Another possible understanding of these words is “Victorious leaders will make their headquarters in Jerusalem and will rule over the land of Edom.” Verse 18 has of course already described the final attack on Edom, so verse 21 must be understood as a summary or as a restatement of the main point.

The final clause is expressed impersonally in Hebrew, and this structure is retained in many modern translations, as for instance Revised Standard Version, with its “the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” Good News Translation and some other modern versions such as Moffatt keep the emphasis of the Hebrew more accurately by using a personal construction and saying the LORD himself will be king. If a translator feels that he should make clear what the Lord is king of, he may add “king of his people,” or even “the real (or, true) king of his people.” This statement gives the theological justification for the prophet’s whole message. The sovereignty of the Lord is the basis for both the restoration of his people and the punishment of their enemies. When the boundaries of the Promised Land are restored to be as they were when David was king (verses 19-20), then the Lord himself will again be the true king of his people, as he was in David’s day.

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 .

Revised Standard Version here retains the order of the Hebrew clauses. There are four subordinate clauses building up to the final main clause, in which as a climax the accusation is made that “you were like one of them.” That is, Edom was like the foreigners who were capturing Jerusalem. This order is effective in Hebrew but may be rather difficult to follow in other languages. Good News Translation has split the verse into two sentences, with the main accusation at the beginning of the second one: You were as bad as those strangers. Good News Translation has also reordered the other clauses so as to present the events described in the sequence in which they occurred. Thus the clause when enemies broke down their gates comes before the clause carried off Jerusalem’s wealth, since the enemies had to enter the city before they could plunder it.

This reordering certainly makes the description easier to follow, but probably loses something of the poetic force of the passage, and something of the intense emotional involvement of the prophet. Translators do, of course, need to make their translation clear, but they should also try to retain as much of the emotional impact of the original as possible. The devices by which this may be achieved vary widely from one language to another. Translators should try to ensure that the main emphasis of the verse falls on the main accusation, You were as bad as those strangers. Since emphasis is often related to the order of presentation, this clause should be placed in a position that shows its importance as the climax of the verse. Good News Translation is not a helpful model here, but Jerusalem Bible catches the mood of the Hebrew quite well, concluding the verse with the words “you behaved like the rest of them.”

Another aspect of the poetic and emotional force of this passage is the constant repetition of the phrase “on the day” or “in the day” in verses 11-14. Revised Standard Version includes this phrase every time it occurs in the Hebrew. Good News Translation has used a similar phrase only once in each verse, in the interests of English style. Translators will need to consider the effect that repetition will have on the reader in their own language before deciding how often to use the same or similar phrases.

You stood aside implies that the Edomites refused to help the people of Judah.

The expression that day (or “the day,” as it appears in the following verses) does not necessarily mean a single day, but rather a period of time during which something happens. In this case it refers to the enemies’ victory over Jerusalem and to all of the things they did at that time. This use of the word is of course similar to the use of “the day” when referring to the time when God will judge the nations and punish those who have done wrong (see verse 15). It was used in a similar way in verse 8.

Good News Translation says that enemies broke down their gates. This is literally “foreigners entered his gates” (Revised Standard Version). These foreigners are the ones who had come to attack Jerusalem, so Good News Translation is right to call them enemies. However, it may not be so clear why Good News Translation says that they broke down the gates. The Babylonians took Jerusalem only after a long siege, when they finally broke through the walls (Jer 39.2; 52.7; 2 Kgs 25.4). If we say simply that they entered the gates, it may imply that the enemies walked through without a struggle, so Good News Translation has tried to give a more precise picture of what happened.

The main accusation this verse makes against the Edomites has already been discussed, that they “were like one of” the enemies (Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation makes clear that the way in which they were like the enemies is a bad thing, and says You were as bad as the enemies. In some languages this type of comparison is quite difficult to make, and it may be much easier to use a form more like Revised Standard Version. Other languages will have different ways of expressing the same idea.

Wealth here includes all kinds of moveable possessions, not just money. The way the enemy divided it among themselves was by casting lots, a procedure that was basically religious, since the result was supposed to be controlled by the gods. Revised Standard Version says that they “cast lots for Jerusalem,” but this refers to the wealth that they found there, as Good News Translation makes clear. It may be more likely that the wealth was divided in Jerusalem and carried off afterward, so that Good News Translation‘s ordering of the clauses may still not correspond exactly to the order in which the events took place.

The method of casting lots in these cases is not definitely known, but it may have involved small stones that stood for different possible answers. A method was used for choosing one of the stones by chance, and this showed what the answer was. One method of choosing was to shake the stones in a cup until one of them fell out.

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 .

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 .