Obadiah 10-14 – Violence to Your Brother

SUMMARY

Something that Edom has done to JudahJudah was the name of Jacob's fourth son and one of the 12 tribes. More/Jerusalem will be punished.

ANALYSIS

The actions that led to God’s judgment against Edom are not explicitly specified here in Obadiah. The picture that emerges is largely one of secondary predation, that is, standing by in the time of crisis and then taking wealth and capturing refugees. If Obadiah is the one mentioned in 1 Kings 18, probably a coalition of Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites in 2 Chronicles 20 might be in view. Another view held by modern scholars and Jewish tradition holds that the Edomites collaborated with the Babylonians in the destruction of the first Jerusalem TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... More in 587/586 BCE. 1 Esdras 4:45 has ZerubbabelThe governor of Judah who helped rebuild the Temple after the exile. More blame the Edomites directly for the burning of the Temple while Babylonians were busy destroying military fortifications. 

A conundrum of biblical scholarship has people still attending the Temple with offerings after the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem (JeremiahProphet who condemned Judah's infidelity to God, warned of Babylonian conquest, and promised a new covenant. More 41:5). It might be that these men from Shechem did not know that the Temple had already been destroyed. Or it might be a clue that the Babylonians spared the Temple, only for an Edomite force to prey upon a weakened, unprotected, and depopulated Jerusalem to destroy the Temple a few days/weeks/months after the Babylonians breached the walls. Obadiah seems to envision Edomites participating directly with other foreigners who entered the gates of Jerusalem and carried off the wealth therein (v 11, 13), though there is no explicit mention of Edomite destruction of the Temple.