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Obadiah

1 The vision that Obadiah saw. The Sovereign Lord says this concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord. An envoy was sent among the nations,⁠ saying, “Arise! Let us make war against Edom!” 2 The Lord says, “Look! I will make you a weak nation; you will be greatly despised!⁠ 3 Your presumptuous heart has deceived you—you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs, whose home is high in the mountains. You think to yourself, ‘No one can bring me down to the ground!’ 4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, even if you were to make your nest among the stars, I can bring you down even from there!”⁠ says the Lord. 5 “If thieves came to rob you during the night, they would steal only as much as they wanted. If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, they would leave some behind for the poor.⁠ But you will be totally destroyed! 6 How the people of Esau will be thoroughly plundered! Their hidden valuables will be ransacked! 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.⁠ 12 You should not have gloated when your relatives suffered calamity.⁠ You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. You should not have boasted when they suffered adversity. 13 You should not have entered the city of my people when they experienced distress. You should not have joined in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress. You should not have looted their wealth when they endured distress. 14 You should not have stood at the fork in the road to slaughter those trying to escape.⁠ You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. 15 “For the day of the Lord is approaching for all the nations! Just as you have done, so it will be done to you. You will get exactly what your deeds deserve.⁠ 16 For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink, and they will gulp down; they will be as though they had never been.⁠ 17 But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, and it will be a holy place once again.⁠ The descendants of Jacob will conquer those who had conquered them.⁠ 18 The descendants of Jacob will be a fire and the descendants of Joseph a flame. The descendants of Esau will be like stubble. They will burn them up and devour them. There will not be a single survivor of the descendants of Esau!” Indeed, the Lord has spoken it. 19 The people of the Negev will take possession of Esau’s mountain,⁠ and the people of the foothills will take possession of the land of the Philistines. They will also take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and the people of Benjamin will take possession of Gilead. 20 The exiles of this fortress of the people of Israel will take possession of what belongs to the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad⁠ will take possession of the towns of the Negev. 21 Those who have been delivered will go up on Mount Zion in order to rule over Esau’s mountain. Then the Lord will reign as King!

Texts in conversation

Compare Joel 2:32 and Obadiah 1:17

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Joel says that in a time of disaster there will still be survivors on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, described as a remnant who escape. Obadiah repeats this, describing a remnant that will remain on Mount Zion and that it will be a holy place again.

Passages

Joel 2:32

Hebrew Bible
30 I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth—blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, before the day of the Lord comes—that great and terrible day! 32 It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the Lord has promised; the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joel

Obadiah 1:17

Hebrew Bible
15 “For the day of the Lord is approaching for all the nations! Just as you have done, so it will be done to you. You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. 16 For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink, and they will gulp down; they will be as though they had never been. 17 But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, and it will be a holy place once again. The descendants of Jacob will conquer those who had conquered them. 18 The descendants of Jacob will be a fire and the descendants of Joseph a flame. The descendants of Esau will be like stubble. They will burn them up and devour them. There will not be a single survivor of the descendants of Esau!” Indeed, the Lord has spoken it. 19 The people of the Negev will take possession of Esau’s mountain, and the people of the foothills will take possession of the land of the Philistines. They will also take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and the people of Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Obadiah

References

"... In many respects Obadiah 17 reflects the central message of Obadiah 16-21: a remnant of Judah (the house of Jacob) will be restored upon Zion and retribution will occur for the damage done to Jerusalem. Obadiah 17 conveys poetic justice when those who have been possessed will possess those guilty of injuring YHWH’s people. This attitude toward the nations largely coincides with the attitude of justice toward the nations that one finds within Joel 3 most prominently Joel 3:4-8 (Masoretic 4:4-8) ... Obadiah 17 connects to other passages in the Book of the Twelve in at least three ways. First, Amos 9:12 thematically anticipates Obadiah 17, since “possession” language depicts a remnant that will rise up and restore the Davidic kingdom. Second, Joel 2:32 (Hebrew 3:5) quotes Obadiah 17 explicitly when it refers to the remnant who will survive the day of YHWH: “for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape as the LORD has said.” Third, the association of Judah with the punishment of Jacob also occurs in Micah 1:2-7, a passage that would have begun the next writing in the Book of the Twelve before Jonah entered the corpus, although Jacob means the northern kingdom there ..."
James Nogalski, The Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: Hosea-Jonah (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 2011), 389–390.

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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Joel 2:32 and Obadiah 1:17

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