OBADIAH, BOOK OF

an interpolation; and vv.'- ' (together with the last clause of v.'), which speak of Edom in the 3rd person and unmistakably regard the disaster as still future: these verses are best regarded as an addition by an editor who wished the prophetic interpretation of past fact to be read as a prophetic description of the future.

If now VV.1-' (or vv.'-'- ') '»-"■ ">■, which are held together by the common features just noticed, be a unity; the prophecy is later than B.C. 586; for v." cannot well be interpreted by any other disaster than the destruction of Jerusalem in that year. The prophecy also appears in vv.'- ' to aUude to the extrusion of the Edomites from ancient Edom owing to the northward movement of Arabs — people who had often satisfied themselves with plundering expeditions (cf. v.*), but now permanently evicted settled populations from their lands (cf. v.'). This northward movement was already threatening at the beginning of the 6th cent. B.C. (Ezk 25'- '■ i°); before B.C. 312, as we learn from Diodorus Siculus, Arabs had occupied Petra, the ancient capital of Edom. Be-tween those two dates, perhaps in the first half of the Sth cent. B.C. (cf. Mai I*-'), the prophecy appears to have been written.

2. The prediction of universal iudgment. — In contrast with vv.'-'- '"-", the tenses in vv.'"- "-^ are consist-ently imperfects (naturally suggesting the future), the persons addressed (2nd pi.) are Israelites, not Edomites, and Edom is referred to in the 3rd person. The prophecy predicts as imminent: (o) a universal judgment (vv.""' ", in which the annihilation of Edom by the Jews (not [nomadic] nations as in vv. '■ '• ') and Israelites forms an episode which is specially described (v."), and (6) the restoration of the exiles aUke of the Northern and of the Southern Kingdom (v.", cf. v."), who are to re-occupy the whole of their ancient territory — the Negeb in the S., the Shephelah in the W., Ephraim to the N., Gilead in the E. (v.'», which after ehmination of glosses reads, ' And they shall possess the Negeb and the Shephelah, and the field of Ephraim and Gilead'); in particular, the IsraeUtes will re-occupy as far N. as Zarephath (near Tyre), and the Jews as far south as the Negeb (v.*"). The prophecy closes with the armouncement of jahweh's reign from Zion (v.^').

The prediction (vv.'*'- '"-^O scarcely appears to be the original and immediate continuation of the former part of the chapter, but is, Uke vv.b- ', a subsequent addition. The theory of the origin and interpretation of the book just described is substantially that of Wellhausen; it has been adopted in the main by Nowack and Marti; and, so far as the separation of vv.'«-^ (with IS') from the rest of the chapter is concerned, and the assignment of the whole to a date after the Exile, by Cheyne (.EBi).

One fact has appeared to many scholars an insuperable difficulty in the way of assigning the whole book to a date after 586. It is admitted by all that the resem-blances between Ob '-<■ '• '■ s and Jer 49"-'»- =■ "'''• ' are so close as to imply the literary dependence of one of the two passages on the other; it is further admitted by most, and should be admitted, that the common matter is in its more original form in Obadiah, and that therefore so much at least of Obadiah is prior to Jer 49"-'«- »■ '»»• ', and therefore prior to the year B.C. 604, if the theory that was commonly held with regard to the date of Jer 46-49 be admitted. But of recent years many have questioned whether Jer 46-49, at least in its present form, is the work of Jeremiah at all, and conse-quently whether it was necessarily written before 586.

If the argument that Ob '-«• * is pre-exUic be accepted, it is necessary to account for what are now generally admitted to be the allusions to the events of 586 in Ob •»■". This has been done by assuming that Ob. and Jer. alike quote from a pre-exilic prophecy, but that Obadiah himself prophesied after B.C. 686. As to the amount of matter cited by Obadiah, scholars differ: e.g. Driver considers that Ob '-' is derived from the old prophecy; G. A. Smith, that vv. '-»• s-io are quotations.

OBSERVE

but that V. ', which he admits presupposes later conditions, is by Obadiah himseU. The weakness of these theories lies in the fact that the distribution of the parts to the two authors does not follow the concrete differences of style indicated above, and that v.' either receives no adequate interpretation, or is torn away from v.', with which it certainly seems closely connected. As to the more precise date of vv.'-' ('") or so much of the verses as may be pre-exilic, no agreement has been reached among those who hold them to be pre-exilic; no known circumstances explain the allusions. It is also very uncertain whether any inference can safely be drawn from the allusion to Sepharad (wh. see) in v.^".

For further discussion of many details, some of which have of necessity been left unmentioned nere,_ and for an account of other theories as well aa those described above, the English reader will best consult Driver, LOT; G. A. Smith, Book of the Twelve, ii. 163-184 (with a critical trans-lation); Selbie's art. in Hastings' DB, and Cheyne's in EBi.

G. B. Gray.

OBAL (Gn lO^').— See Ebal, No. 1.

OBDIA (1 Es 5") =Habaiah Ezr 2", Hobaiah Neh 7".

OBED. — 1. The son of Boaz and Ruth, the father of Jesse and grandfather of David (Ru 4"), and an ancestor of our Lord (Mt 1', Lk 3^). 2. A descendant of Sheshan (1 Oh 2""). 3. One of David's heroes (1 Ch 11"). 4. A son of Shemaiah (1 Ch 26'). 5. The father of Azariah (2 Ch 23').

OBED-EDOM. — 1. A PhiUstine, a native of Gath, who lived in or near Jerusalem. In his house David deposited the ark after the death of Uzzah, and here it remained three months, bringing a blessing by its presence (2 S 6'»'-, 1 Ch 13"). It is in aU probabihty the same O. that appears as — 2. The eponym of a family of door-keepers in the Temple (1 Ch 15"- ^ 163' 26»-*■ ", 2 Ch 25"). 3. The eponym of a post-exillo family of singers (1 Ch 1521 16=).

OBEDIENCE. — Occasionally this word occurs in Scripture to express the duty of one person to another, as in Dt 21'8. is, 2 S 22«, 2 Th 3", Ph 2", Eph 6'- ', 1 P 3'. Much more frequently it expresses the duty of man to God (1 S 15k Jer 11', Jn 14"- 2»). The spirit of obedience is the primal and indispensable require-ment for acceptance by the Father. The Son of God Himself was made perfect through obedience (He 5'), and only thus. It was the motto of His earthly life, 'I am come to do thy will, O God' (He 10'). The one lesson of the Uf e of Jesus is the one lesson of the word of God from first to last — God must be obeyed. Absolute obedience was essential to the fulfilment of His mission. Absolute obedience is essential to our own salvation. Having learned obedience. He became a Saviour to those who obey (He 5'). Obedience is as necessary with us as it was with Him. Obedience is as possible with us as it was with Him. For He is able to work in us now the very same mind that was in Him, the same disposi-tion and spirit He had upon earth. D. A. Hates.

OBEISANCE. — Obeisance is obedience (coming into Eng. through the French). It occurs only in the phrases 'do obeisance' and 'make obeisance,' and only in the OT. The meaning of the Heb. so translated is to prostrate oneself in token of reverence or tor worship.

OBELISK.— See Pillab, 2 (c).

OBETH (1 Es 832) =Ebed, Ezr 8«.

OBn.. — The overseer of David's camels (1 Ch 27"').

OBLATION. — See Sacrifice and Opfeeinq.

OBOTH.— A 'station' of the children of Israel (Nu 21'»- " 33"'). Nothing definite is known as to its position.

OBSERVE.— Mk e" 'Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him."

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