Obaja 1:2

1:2 The Lord says, ¹  “Look! I will ²  make you a weak nation; ³ 

you will be greatly despised!

Obaja 1:7

1:7 All your allies ⁴  will force ⁵  you from your homeland! ⁶ 

Your treaty partners ⁷  will deceive you and overpower you.

Your trusted friends ⁸  will set an ambush ⁹  for ¹⁰  you

that will take you by surprise! ¹¹ 

[1:2]  ¹ tn The introductory phrase “the Lord says” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the identity of the speaker.

[1:2]  ² 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]  ³ sn Heb “I will make you small among the nations” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NRSV “least among the nations”; NCV “the smallest of nations.”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “All the men of your covenant”; KJV, ASV “the men of thy confederacy.” In Hebrew “they will send you unto the border” and “all the men of your covenant” appear in two separate poetic lines (cf. NAB “To the border they drive you – all your allies”). Since the second is a noun clause functioning as the subject of the first clause, the two are rendered as a single sentence in the translation.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “send”; NASB “send you forth”; NAB “drive”; NIV “force.”

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “to the border” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “the men of your peace.” This expression refers to a political/military alliance or covenant of friendship.

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “your bread,” which makes little sense in the context. The Hebrew word can be revocalized to read “those who eat bread with you,” i.e., “your friends.” Cf. KJV “they that eat thy bread”; NIV “those who eat your bread”; TEV “Those friends who ate with you.”

[1:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “set a trap” (so NIV, NRSV). The meaning of the Hebrew word מָזוֹר (mazor; here translated “ambush”) is uncertain; it occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. The word probably refers to something “spread out” for purposes of entrapment, such as a net. Other possibilities include “trap,” “fetter,” or “stumbling block.”

[1:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “beneath” (so NAB).

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “there is no understanding in him.”