[Ōba dī'ah] – servant or worshiper of jehovah.

Among the Semitic peoples many names, such as the one before us, were common, occurring frequently in the Old Testament. Little or nothing is known about the Obadiahs of the Bible, but the name has also been found on an ancient Hebrew seal.

1. The pious governor of Ahab’s palace who hid one hundred of Jehovah’s prophets (

2. The founder of a family of the lineage of David (1 Chron. 3:21: - ²¹ The descendants of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, and the sons of Rephaiah, of Arnan, of Obadiah and of Shekaniah).

3. A man of Issachar of the family of Tola (1 Chron. 7:3: - ³ The son of Uzzi: Izrahiah. The sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel and Ishiah. All five of them were chiefs).

4. Son of Azel, a descendant of king Saul
1 Chron. 8:38: – ³⁸ Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. 
1 Chron. 9:44: – ⁴⁴ Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

5. Son of Shemaiah, a Levite of Netophah (1 Chron. 9:16: - ¹⁶ Obadiah son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berekiah son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites).

6. A Gadite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chron. 12:9: - ⁹ Ezer was the chief, Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third).

7. Father of Ishmaiah, prince of Zebulun in David’s time (1 Chron. 27:19: - ¹⁹ over Zebulun: Ishmaiah son of Obadiah; over Naphtali: Jerimoth son of Azriel).

8. A prince of Judah, sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the people (2 Chron. 17:7: - ⁷ In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah).

9. A Levite, one of the overseers of the workmen who repaired the Temple in Josiah’s time (2 Chron. 34:12: – ¹² The workers labored faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descended from Kohath. The Levites—all who were skilled in playing musical instruments).

10. Son of Jehiel, a descendant of Joab who returned from exile with Ezra (Ezra 8:9: – ⁹ of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men).

11. A priest who, on behalf of his father’s house, sealed the covenant (Neh. 10:5: - ⁵Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah).

12. A Levite, founder of a family of sanctuary porters (Neh. 12:25: - ²⁵ Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates).

13. The prophet of Judah who lived over 550 years before Christ
Obad. 1: – ¹ The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Sovereign LORD says about Edom – We have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Rise, let us go against her for battle”—
² “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised.
³ The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
⁴ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
⁵ “If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night— oh, what a disaster awaits you!— would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes?
⁶ But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged!
⁷ All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it.
⁸ “In that day,” declares the LORD, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
⁹ Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains  will be cut down in the slaughter.
¹⁰ Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.
¹¹ On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.
¹² You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.
¹³ You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster.
¹⁴ You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble.
¹⁵ “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
¹⁶ Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually;  they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been.
¹⁷ But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
¹⁸ Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The LORD has spoken.
¹⁹ People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
²⁰ This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev.
²¹ Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.

The Man Who Prophesied Disaster

This Minor Prophet cannot be identified. His book, the briefest in the Old Testament, gives his name, but there the record ends. Pusey says, “The silence of Scripture as to Obadiah stands in remarkable contrast with the anxiety of man to know something about him.” His origin, age, life, country, parents and grave are all unknown. His is the voice of a stranger. He has been identified with the Levite of the same name sent by Jehoshaphat to teach in the cities of Judah [See No. 8]. He has also been linked with the pious Obadiah of Ahab’s house [See No. 1]. Of the prophet’s personal history not a single incident or even tradition has been preserved. The work is more important than the worker.

It would seem as if the prophet lived and labored between the taking of Jerusalem and the destruction of Idumea, since he speaks of “foreigners” entering Jerusalem and the day of Judah’s destruction and distress (Obad. 1-14: - ¹⁴ You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble). Although his book is the shortest in the Hebrew Canon, consisting of only twenty-one verses, yet it demands more of our attention, proportionately, than any other book. Looking at it from the aspect of size, it is little, but weighty. Multum in parvo.

Obadiah’s prophecy has always been a favorite one with the Jews. It is principally from Obadiah that they learned to apply the name Edom to Rome. “Edom” stands as the typical designation for all the deadliest foes of the House of Israel.

Edom was descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob, and thus the people were akin to the Children of Israel. Since the days of the Exodus there has been frequent conflict between the two races. The Edomites had shown themselves unfriendly to Moses and the Israelites, refusing them passage through their territory when marching towards Canaan, and this bitterness still continues, accounting for the present animosity of the Arab world toward the Jew.

Obadiah’s style in writing is full of individuality. It is animated and vigorous, abounding in appeals and having the preponderance of interrogation of great point and vehemence. His language is simple and pure, with utterance often highly poetic.

The lessons to be gathered from Obadiah’s description of the character and career, the downfall and doom of Edom; are clearly evident:

I. The similarity of sin and punishment.

II. God will not cast off His people forever.

III. Greed and cruelty are hateful to God.

IV. Pride goes before a fall.

V. The ultimate kingdom is the Lord’s.