Obaja 1:15
Konteks1:15 “For the day of the Lord 1 is approaching 2 for all the nations! 3
Just as you have done, so it will be done to you.
You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. 4
Obaja 1:2-4
Konteks1:2 The Lord says, 5 “Look! I will 6 make you a weak nation; 7
you will be greatly despised!
1:3 Your presumptuous heart 8 has deceived you –
you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs, 9
whose home is high in the mountains. 10
You think to yourself, 11
‘No one can 12 bring me down to the ground!’ 13
1:4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, 14
even if you 15 were to make your nest among the stars,
I can bring you down even from there!” says the Lord.
[1:15] 1 sn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is repeated ten times in vv. 11-14 referring to the time period when Judah/Jerusalem suffered calamity which Edom exploited for its own sinful gain. In each of those cases יוֹם was qualified by a following genitive to describe Judah’s plight, e.g., “in the day of your brother’s calamity” (v. 12). Here it appears again but now followed by the divine name to describe the time of God’s judgment against Edom for its crimes against humanity: “the day of the
[1:15] 2 tn Heb “near” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “is coming soon.”
[1:15] 3 sn God’s judgment would not be confined to Edom. Edom would certainly be punished in just measure for its wrongdoing, but “the day of the Lord” would also encompass judgment of the nations (v. 15).
[1:15] 4 tn Heb “your deed will return on your own head.” Verses 15 and 16 provide an example of ironic reversal, whereby the tables are turned and poetic justice is served. This is a motif that is common in prophetic oracles against foreign nations.
[1:2] 5 tn The introductory phrase “the
[1:2] 6 tn The Hebrew perfect verb form used here usually describes past events. However, here and several times in the following verses it is best understood as portraying certain fulfillment of events that at the time of writing were still future. It is the perfect of certitude. See GKC 312-13 §106.n; Joüon 2:363 §112.h.
[1:2] 7 sn Heb “I will make you small among the nations” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NRSV “least among the nations”; NCV “the smallest of nations.”
[1:3] 8 tn Heb “the presumption of your heart”; NAB, NIV “the pride of your heart”; NASB “arrogance of your heart.”
[1:3] 9 tn Heb “in the concealed places of the rock”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “in the clefts of the rock”; NCV “the hollow places of the cliff”; CEV “a mountain fortress.”
[1:3] sn The word rock in Hebrew (סֶלַע, sela’) is a wordplay on Sela, the name of a prominent Edomite city. Its impregnability was a cause for arrogance on the part of its ancient inhabitants.
[1:3] 10 tn Heb “on high (is) his dwelling”; NASB “in the loftiness of your dwelling place”; NRSV “whose dwelling (abode NAB) is in the heights.”
[1:3] 11 tn Heb “the one who says in his heart.”
[1:3] 12 tn The Hebrew imperfect verb used here is best understood in a modal sense (“Who can bring me down?”) rather than in the sense of a simple future (“Who will bring me down?”). So also in v. 4 (“I can bring you down”). The question is not so much whether this will happen at some time in the future, but whether it even lies in the realm of possible events. In their hubris the Edomites were boasting that no one had the capability of breaching their impregnable defenses. However, their pride caused them to fail to consider the vast capabilities of Yahweh as warrior.
[1:3] 13 tn Heb “Who can bring me down?” This rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “No one!”
[1:4] 14 sn The eagle was often used in the ancient Near East as a symbol of strength and swiftness.
[1:4] 15 tc The present translation follows the reading תָּשִׂים (tasim; active) rather than שִׁים (sim; passive) of the MT (“and your nest be set among the stars,” NAB). Cf. LXX, Syriac, Vg.
