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Obadiah declares a coming day of judgment against the nations for what they did to Judah. Isaiah 34 focuses this same theme on Edom, describing a day of vengeance and recompense for the cause of Zion.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 34:8
Hebrew Bible
5 He says, “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment.” 6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood, it is covered with fat; it drips with the blood of young rams and goats and is covered with the fat of rams’ kidneys. For the Lord is holding a sacrifice in Bozrah, a bloody slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered along with them, as well as strong bulls. Their land is drenched with blood, their soil is covered with fat. 8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. 9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch and her soil into brimstone; her land will become burning pitch. 10 Night and day it will burn; its smoke will ascend continually. Generation after generation it will be a wasteland, and no one will ever pass through it again.
Obadiah 1:15
Hebrew Bible
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.
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Notes and References
In chapter 34, the prophet begins by describing Yhwh's judgment of all the nations with sacrificial language (34:1–3). Drawing on the same vocabulary he used earlier in the chapter, Isaiah goes on to graphically depict the bloodbath that Edom will endure (34:6–7). The reason given for this judgment is stated plainly: "For a day of vengeance belongs to Yhwh, a year of recompense for Zion's lawsuit" (34:8). From this reconstruction we see, first, that Yhwh's "universal" wrath in 34:1–3 winnows down to focus on Edom in 34:5–10, arguably because Edom's experiences are a sample of all the nations' experiences. Second, Edom is presented explicitly as a parallel for the heavens in 34:5, where one would most naturally expect to find "earth," suggesting Isaiah may see the two as almost indistinct.
Forbes, Daniel
The Intertextual Impact of Obadiah on the Writing Prophets
(pp. 57-59) The Master's College, 2014
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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