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Ezekiel

About this book
Chapter 25

1 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You said “Aha!” about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile. 4 So take note, I am about to make you slaves of the tribes of the east. They will make camps among you and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 6 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with intense scorn over the land of Israel, 7 take note—I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 8 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Moab and Seir say, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations.” 9 So look, I am about to open up Moab’s flank, eliminating the cities, including its frontier cities, the beauty of the land—Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim. 10 I will hand it over, along with the Ammonites, to the tribes of the east, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations. 11 I will execute judgments against Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’” 12 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable by taking vengeance on them. 13 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die by the sword.⁠ 14 I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience my vengeance, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” 15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines have exacted merciless revenge, showing intense scorn in their effort to destroy Judah with unrelenting hostility. 16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take note, I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines. I will kill the Kerethites and destroy those who remain on the seacoast. 17 I will exact great vengeance upon them with angry rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I exact my vengeance upon them.’”

Texts in conversation

Compare Ezekiel 25:13 and Obadiah 1:9

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Obadiah warns that Edom’s soldiers in Teman will be wiped out, leaving the nation ruined in judgment for attacking its relatives in Jacob. Ezekiel gives a similar message, using Teman as a way to speak about all of Edom and predicting its destruction.

Passages

Ezekiel 25:13

Hebrew Bible
11 I will execute judgments against Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’” 12 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable by taking vengeance on them. 13 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die by the sword. 14 I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience my vengeance, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” 15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines have exacted merciless revenge, showing intense scorn in their effort to destroy Judah with unrelenting hostility.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

Obadiah 1:9

Hebrew Bible
7 All your allies will force you from your homeland! Your treaty partners will deceive you and overpower you. Your trusted friends will set an ambush for you that will take you by surprise! 8 “At that time,” the Lord says, “I will destroy the wise sages of Edom, the advisers from Esau’s mountain. 9 Your warriors will be shattered, O Teman, so that everyone will be destroyed from Esau’s mountain! 10 “Because you violently slaughtered your relatives, the people of Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be destroyed forever. 11 You stood aloof while strangers took his army captive and foreigners advanced to his gates. When they cast lots over Jerusalem, you behaved as though you were in league with them.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Obadiah

References

"... Should the two theses discussed thus far be joined, indicating that Israel – more precisely, some of the groups belonging to the Rachel-tribes – adopted the worship of YHWH from its “brother nation,” the Edomites? Such a conclusion is suggested upon an initial reading of the three well–known theophany texts that describe YHWH as coming to the aid of his people from his southern abode (Judges 5:4; Deuteronomy 33:2; Habakkuk 3:3). All three texts refer to areas in Edom as the place from which the divine presence appeared or will appear: in Judges 5:4 and Deuteronomy 33:2 it is “Seir” (with an additional reference to the “plains of Edom” in Judges 5:4), while in Habakkuk 3:3 it is “Teman.” Within the Hebrew Bible, “Seir” is almost always used with reference to “Edom,” while “Teman” is a term that can indicate the “south” generally but is also used for a specific part of Edom (Ezekiel 25:13) and more frequently pars pro toto for Edom as a whole (e.g., Jeremiah 49:20; Amos 1:12; Obadiah 9) ..."
Jörg Jeremias, “Three Theses on the Early History of Israel,” in The Origins of Yahwism, ed. Jürgen van Oorschot and Markus Witte (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2017), 145–156.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Ezekiel 25:13 and Obadiah 1:9

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