Obadiah 1

Isaac’s son Esau, who was Jacob’s older twin, moved away from Canaan and into the land that became known as Edom, and as Mount Seir or the hills of Seir (Genesis 36:8).

The word in Hebrew is “Teman,” the name of one of Esau’s grandsons. The writer seemed to use it as a nickname, another way of talking about the people of Edom. Esau’s name was also used as a nickname for Edom.

More literally, they drew “lots.” The “lots” may have been stones or animal bones marked in a way that produced random outcomes for “yes” or “no” answers, or for determining who goes first in a group. The idea is like throwing dice, with the high number going first. It’s also a little like “heads” or “tails” from a coin toss. The oldest dice on record from an archaeological dig date back more than 4,000 years. They’re from southern Iran, in 2500 BC or older.

Bible writers talk about a “day of the LORD” or “on that day” or “day of visitation” or “there’s a time coming.” It’s a day that can go in one of two directions. It can be a good day—a day God comes to save his people. It’s something to look forward to. Some scholars trace the idea back to what happened when God came to Egypt and with 10 plagues, he freed the Israelites. But it can also be a fearful day to people at odds with God. To them, it is Judgment Day. But to people on good terms with God, his arrival for Judgment Day or any other reason is welcome. The prophet Joel describes it in graphic terms as a terrible day when invaders destroy sinful Jerusalem (Joel 1:15; 2:11). Obadiah uses the phrase that way as well. But to God’s people, the “day” is the day of salvation (Joel 2:32).

More literally, “drank from the cup.” Many scholars say Obadiah borrowed this metaphor from Jeremiah 25:15-29. Or perhaps both writers borrowed it from another source, some say. In Jeremiah, it’s a cup of wrath among violent nations, a symbol of the insanely violent. It’s followed by a cup of punishment for the violence.

Jerusalem was built on the top of a ridge in the Judean hills between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. Bible writers had many endearing nicknames for the city, including “sacred mountain,” “holy city,” and “Mount Zion.”

It’s “Mount Zion,” in Hebrew, an alternate name for Jerusalem.

The Jewish people were known in the Old Testament as “Hebrews” before Israel became a nation. They were called “Israelites,” from the name of their nation, Israel. That was also the name God gave Jacob (Genesis 32:28). The word “Jew” comes from the name of the tribe of Judah, which, after the return from exile, became a kingdom during the century before the birth of Jesus. After Romans invaded during that century, it eventually became a Roman province called Judea.

Lebanon.

A coastal town now called Sarafand, between Tyre and Sidon, in southern Lebanon.

Sepharad, possibly a region in northern Iran, now the city of Bijar. That would have been in the empire of the Medes at the time. Persian cuneiform calls the territory Saparda. It lasted about a generation, from 720-670 BC. Some scholars offer another option. They say it could have been the city of Sardis in the empire of Lydia, in what is now Sart, Turkey. That’s about 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of Ephesus, which is on Turkey’s west coast.