Featured texts all books all texts latest this just in smithsonian libraries fedlink us genealogy lincoln collection. Edoms pride and downfall is disclosed in the book of. Obadiah means servant of the lord and occurs 20 times in the old testament, referring to many other old testament individuals. Overview of the book of obadiah reformed answers to. Obadiah verse 1 identifies the author of the book of obadiah as the prophet obadiah. Because its so short, it doesnt contain as much data as other books, and that means we. Dating the prophecy is mainly a matter of relatingvv. Courtesy of the historical society of cheshire county dr. Its authorship is difficult to date but was possibly written about 853841 b. Book of obadiah, the fourth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the hebrew bible in judaism and christianity, its authorship is attributed to a prophet who lived in the assyrian period and named himself in the first verse, obadiah.
Obadiah s name means servant of yahweh, and he delivered a message regarding the edomites who had helped the babylonians in their conquest of jerusalem in. This relationship began with the two sons of isaac and rebecca, jacob and esau gen. Watch our overview video on the book of obadiah, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Obadiah, with only one chapter consisting of 21 verses, is the shortest of all old testament books and purports to be a record of the vision of obadiah. The prophecy is largely concerned with the condemnation of edom descendants of esau for treachery toward their brother israel descendants of jacob and the resultant punishment. Book of obadiah overview insight for living ministries. The edomites are accused of cruelty and supporting israels enemies.
The book closes with the promise of deliverance for zion. Their fortified cities included sela petra, teman and. Summary of the book of obadiah the story of the bible. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet.
Obadiah is a biblical theophorical name, meaning servant or slave of god or worshiper of. Lost somewhere in the dark corner of your bible is a brief, but largely unfamiliar book called obadiah. The book of the prophet obadiah is the shortest book of the ot with 21 verses only. As brief as this book is, scholars raise many questions about it. The chief difficulty with the prophecy of obadiah is where to fit it into the history. There are obadiahs in the old testament, and one of these may the obadiah who wrote this book. The minor prophets obadiah gods message to edom youtube. Thats because, although obadiah is an easy read only 21 verses long, it is in the running for the most forgotten book in our bibles. The righteous power of god, not the evil plans of the nations, determines the course of history. This relationship began with the two sons of isaac and rebecca. Obadiah blakes leather saddle bags were passed on to his son when blake himself passed on.
The scriptures have that beautiful faculty of appearing to be one thing on the surface, but on a deeper level, yielding rich and mighty treasures. The book is named after the prophet who received the vision. Throughout most of the history of judah, edom was controlled absolutely from jerusalem as a vassal state. The form of obadiah s name used in the septuagint is obdios.
In 1667 his name appears with that of his eldest son, jonathan, among the organizers of. New testament overview general survey of the new testament. The smallest book in the old testament may also be one of the least known prophecies. I must point out that there is doubt surrounding this date as there is dispute over whether obadiah is referring to the sacking of jerusalem by nebuchadnezzar in 586 bc or in fact referring to 845 bc when jerusalem was attacked by the philistines and the arabs. They debate its author and date of composition, and they point to the striking similarity between passages in obadiah and jeremiah to question whether obadiah. The book begins by calling itself a vision which is an indication also shared by isaiah 1. Because of this they will suffer gods wrath at the day of the lord that comes on all nations. Obadiah s prophecy closely follows the pattern of a covenantlawsuit address. Obadiah is the shortest book in the ot and is not quoted in the nt. Furthermore, since many other writing prophets recorded several oracles, it is reasonable to assume that one prophet named obadiah did the same in this book if, indeed, it consists of more than one oracle. The town book of old middletown in its first entry dated 30 december 1667 shows that the house lots laid out in middletown were 36 in number. Our choice must be between a very early date circa 845 and a date shortly after 587, with the scales almost evenly balanced. The purpose of obadiah is to show that god will judge all those who are against his children, his chosen people. Author and date nothing is known for certain about the author.
More than ten persons of the ot bear the same name but none of them is identical with the prophet. History old testament overview general survey of the old testament. Obadiah, the shortest book in the old testament, is the pronouncement of doom against an ancient and longforgotten nation, the land of edom. We do not know anything of the book s author but his name obadiah servant or worshipper of jehovah. The problem of the date of obadiah has not been solved to the satisfaction of biblical students. The book of obadiah was likely written between 848 and 840 b. The book of obadiah contains only one chapter and is the shortest book of the whole old testament.
Some believe obadiah may have been a contemporary of elisha. Obadiah announces edoms downfall to babylon, which is an image of how god will bring down all arrogant and violent nations. The date of composition is disputed among scholars and is difficult to determine due to the lack of personal. The date of his ministry is unclear due to certain historical ambiguities in the book bearing his name, but is believed to be around 586 b. The book itself does not directly tell us what was going on, but there are good historical and literary reasons to believe that obadiah was written in the aftermath of the philistinearabian invasion of jerusalem around 850 b. This fact makes it difficult to date the time of writing. Obadiah probably lived in the southern kingdom of judah. In general, the background for the book of obadiah is the relationship between israel and. The invasion of jerusalem by philistines and rabs during the reigh of jehoram 853841 b. Nothing is known historically about the author from the book or from other background materials. The book is named after the prophet who received the vision 1.
Intro to obadiah biblica the international bible society. Welcome to the study of the shortest book in the word. Obadiah is to be interpreted as prediction rather than history. Obadiah is a little book, but it is an example of an atomic bomb in the bible.
The book of obadiah is a book of prophetic oracles. The smallest old testament account, the book of obadiah is a vision written by the lords prophet known as obadiah, who prophesied against israels relative nation edom. Obadiah 17 the first step in the future successes of the jews is the recovery of what was previously their own speakers commentary. To understand this future judgment on the edomites we. God gave these children to rebecca and told her before they were born that the elder shall serve the younger. Obadiah holmes descendants of founders of new jersey. Some have thought that this is the same obadiah that was ahabs steward in 2 chronicles 17. The author was obadiah, whose name means the servant of the eternal. The global message of obadiah obadiah in redemptive history. Original bible history online visit the original site 19992016. Book of obadiah encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. The book of obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of edom and the restoration. And the house of jacob shall possess their possessions.
The hebrew name obadiah means worshipper of yahweh or servant of yahweh. Book of obadiah, also spelled abdias, the fourth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, in the jewish canon treated as one book, the twelve. Obadiah is only 21 verses long, which makes it the shortest book of the old testament. The book of obadiah meaning servant of the lord, a minor prophet in the old testament, is a prophecy written to the southern kingdom of judah and alternates to the nation of edom. Obadiah, book of international standard bible encyclopedia. Obadiah is not only the shortest prophecy, but also the shortest book of the old testament. The book of obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of edom and the restoration of israel. Pastor paul leboutiller of calvary chapel ontario oregon teaches through the book of obadiah.
Obadiah, the shortest book in the old testament, is only 21 verses long. The book of obadiah is the only one chapter book in the old testament. Introduction the author the author of the book is named obadiah which means servant of yahweh. Obadiah predicts the coming of the day of the lord and the establishment of. Obadiah meansservant of the lord and occurs 20 times in the ot, referring to at least 20 other ot individuals. The purpose of the book of obadiah, therefore, was not to warn edom of imminent judgment but to reassure gods people of his triumphant justice at work for them. A harmony of the life of jesus four gospel accounts in harmony.
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