Obadiah

• DatesProbably after 586 BC; some propose the 9th century BC (debated)
• GenreMinor Prophets
• AuthorshipObadiah, otherwise unknown
• TimelineExile & Return (including the Second Temple period)
• Key textsObadiah 1–21
• Read the textObadiah in the World English Bible
• Covered in classSession 3

What the sources say, and how sure we are

• The text says

  Obadiah condemns Edom for standing aside and gloating when foreigners entered Jerusalem and took its wealth.Obad 10–14

• Outside evidence

  Edom was a kingdom southeast of the Dead Sea. By the 5th century BC the Nabateans had taken over much of its territory.

• Debated

  Most scholars date the book after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, since verses 11–14 sound like an eyewitness. Others date it to an earlier attack on Jerusalem, in the time of King Jehoram, about 845 BC. Verses 1–9 closely parallel Jeremiah 49:7–22, and the direction of borrowing is debated.2 Chr 21:16–17; Jer 49:7–22