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Obadiah says the Negev will possess the hill country of Esau. This echoes Balaam's oracle in Numbers, which uses the same language, declaring that Edom and Seir will become a possession as Israel grows powerful.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Numbers 24:18
Hebrew Bible
17 ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth. 18 Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemy, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly. 19 A ruler will be established from Jacob; he will destroy the remains of the city.’” 20 Then Balaam looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish.”
Obadiah 1:19
Hebrew Bible
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.
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Notes and References
The story of Balaam the prophet in Numbers 22–24 includes a brief prediction concerning Edom. Balak the king of Moab hires Balaam to curse the Israelites, but instead, Balaam continues to bless them. The prophecies of Balaam and Obadiah bear a similarity. Both prophecies speak of Edom as a possession. Numbers 24:18 reads, "Edom will be a possession, and Seir, its enemies, will be a possession, but Israel will act valiantly." Obadiah 19 reveals that "the inhabitants of the Negev will possess the hill country of Esau." The circumstances of Balaam's vision in Numbers 24:14–19 unfold during the eschaton for three reasons. First, Balaam predicts the fate of the Moabites and Edomites "in the days to come." Second, Balaam assigns his vision to a future time by using a chronological marker: "I see him, but not now."
Hassler, Mark A.
The Setting of Obadiah: When Does the Oracle Concerning Edom Transpire?
(p. 251) JETS 59/2, 2016
* 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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