Obd 10-16 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob - By this term the Israelites in general are understood; for the two brothers, - Jacob, from whom sprang the Jews, and Esau, from whom sprang the Idumeans or Edomites, - are here put for the whole people or descendants of both. We need not look for particular cases of the violence of the Edomites against the Jews. Esau, their founder, was not more inimical to his brother Jacob, who deprived him of his birthright, than the Edomites uniformly were to the Jews. See , . They had even stimulated the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, to destroy the temple, and level it with the ground. See .

Obadiah 10-16

Verse 10

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob - By this term the Israelites in general are understood; for the two brothers, - Jacob, from whom sprang the Jews, and Esau, from whom sprang the Idumeans or Edomites, - are here put for the whole people or descendants of both. We need not look for particular cases of the violence of the Edomites against the Jews. Esau, their founder, was not more inimical to his brother Jacob, who deprived him of his birthright, than the Edomites uniformly were to the Jews. See 2Chr 28:17, 2Chr 28:18. They had even stimulated the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, to destroy the temple, and level it with the ground. See Psa 137:7. Verse 11

Thou stoodest on the other side - Thou not only didst not help thy brother when thou mightest, but thou didst assist his foes against him.

And cast lots - When the Chaldeans cast lots on the spoils of Jerusalem, thou didst come in for a share of the booty; "thou wast as one of them." Verse 12

Thou shouldest not have looked - It shows a malevolent heart to rejoice in the miseries of those who have acted unkindly or wickedly towards us. The Edomites triumphed when they saw the judgments of God fall upon the Jews. This the Lord severely reprehends in Oba 1:12-15. If a man have acted cruelly towards us, and God punish him for this cruelty, and we rejoice in it, we make his crime our own; and then, as we have done, so shall it be done unto us; see Oba 1:15. All these verses point out the part the Edomites took against the Jews when the Chaldeans besieged and took Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and divided the spoils. Verse 14

Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway - They are represented here as having stood in the passes and defiles to prevent the poor Jews from escaping from the Chaldeans. By stopping these passes, they threw the poor fugitives back into the teeth of their enemies. They had gone so far in this systematic cruelty as to deliver up the few that had taken refuge among them. Verse 15

The day of the Lord is near - God will not associate thee with him in the judgments which he inflicts. Thou also art guilty and shalt have thy punishment in due course with the other sinful nations. Verse 16

For as ye have drunk - This address is to the Jews. As ye have been visited and punished upon my holy mountain in Jerusalem, so shall other nations be punished in their respective countries. See Jer 49:12.