Obaja 1:14

1:14 You should not have stood at the fork in the road ¹  to slaughter ²  those trying to escape. ³ 

You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. ⁴ 

Obaja 1:17

1:17 But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, ⁵ 

and it will be a holy place once again.

The descendants ⁶  of Jacob will conquer ⁷ 

those who had conquered them. ⁸ 

[1:14]  ¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word פֶּרֶק (pereq; here translated “fork in the road”) is uncertain. The word is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in Nah 3:1, where it means “plunder.” In the present context it seems to refer to a strategic intersection or fork in a road where bands of Edomites apprehended Israelites who were fleeing from the attack on Jerusalem. Cf. NAB, NIV, NLT “crossroads”; NRSV “crossings.”

[1:14]  ² tn Heb “to cut off” (so KJV, NRSV); NASB, NIV “to cut down.”

[1:14]  ³ tn Heb “his fugitives”; NAB, CEV “refugees.”

[1:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the day of distress” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “will be a fugitive.” This is a collective singular. Cf. NCV “some will escape the judgment.”

[1:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “house” (so most English versions); NCV, TEV “the people of Jacob.” The word “house” also occurs four times in v. 18.

[1:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “dispossess.” This root is repeated in the following line to emphasize poetic justice: The punishment will fit the crime.

[1:17]  ⁸ tc The present translation follows the reading מוֹרִשֵׁיהֶם (morishehem; literally, “those dispossessing them”; cf. NAB, NRSV, CEV) rather than מוֹרָשֵׁיהֶם (morashehem, “their possessions”) of the MT (cf. LXX, Syriac, and Vg, followed by KJV, ASV, NASB).