What Happened to Edom?
Obadiah’s judgment of destruction against the Edomites largely came to pass, albeit in several stages. The Edomite kingdom fell to the Babylonians shortly after the conquest of JudahJudah was the name of Jacob’s fourth son and one of the 12 tribes. More by Babylon. Edomite refugees, responding to the pressure of expansion of Nabataean Arabs on their east, moved west to the areas of southern Judah, particularly the region of Hebron and Beersheba. This area became known as Idumaea, essentially a new Edomite homeland.
The Edomites of Idumaea were conquered by the Hasmonaean Judah Maccabee in 163 BCE, and then forcibly converted to Judaism by John Hyrcanus I (according to the Jewish historian Josephus). Antipater the Idumean – a client of Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Hasmonaean kings – used his skill in navigating turbulent politics to help his son, Herod the GreatKing over Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth. More, rise to power and establish the Herodian dynasty. During the Roman-Jewish wars, Idumaeans participated vigorously on various sides, fighting with and against Jewish zealots. The Idumaeans largely ceased to exist as an independent people after the Roman conquest of the land in 137 CE (though references to the region of Idumaea continued for centuries).
