But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
Parallel Translations
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But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
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But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
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But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Obadiah 1:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Amos 9:11-15 In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name,” says Yahweh who does this. “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills. I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.
- Revelation 21:27 There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
- Isaiah 14:1-2 For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land. The foreigner will join himself with them, and they will unite with the house of Jacob. The peoples will take them, and bring them to their place. The house of Israel will possess them in Yahweh’s land for servants and for handmaids. They will take as captives those whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
- Joel 3:19-21 Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Yahweh dwells in Zion.”
- Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” says Yahweh.
- Joel 2:32 It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
- Isaiah 60:21 Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
- Joel 3:17 “So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.
- Zechariah 14:20-21 In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO YAHWEH”; and the pots in Yahweh’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 46:13 I bring my righteousness near. It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel.
- Jeremiah 46:28 Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh; “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
- Isaiah 1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness.
- Isaiah 4:3-4 It will happen that he who is left in Zion and he who remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from within it, by the spirit of justice and by the spirit of burning.
- Jeremiah 44:14 so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for no one will return except those who will escape.’ ”
- Jeremiah 44:28 Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah few in number. All the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.
- Ezekiel 7:16 But those of those who escape, they will escape and will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, everyone in his iniquity.
- Zechariah 8:3 Yahweh says: “I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the mountain of Yahweh of Armies, ‘The Holy Mountain.’ ”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here the Prophet promises deliverance to the Jews; for…
Here the Prophet promises deliverance to the Jews; for other consolations would have been of no great moment, had they, who then were perishing, no hope of being some time restored to safety. The Jews might indeed have objected, and said, “What is it to us, though the Lord may avenge our wrongs? Should the Idumeans be destroyed for our sake, what profit will that be to us? We are in the meantime destroyed and have no hope of deliverance.” The Prophet here meets this objection, and says, In mount Zion shall be escape Though then the Idumeans had attempted to intercept all outlets, as it has been before mentioned, yet God promises here that there would be an escape in mount Zion: he says not, from mount Zion, but in the very mountain. What does this mean? even that God would restore those who might seem then to be lost. Then Obadiah clearly promises that there would be a restoration of the Church.
But we are taught in this place, that the punishment, by which the Lord chastises his people for their sins, is ever for a time. Whenever then God inflicts wounds on his Church, prepared at the same time is the remedy; for God designs not, nor does he suffer, that his own people should be wholly lost. This we may learn from the Prophet’s words, when he says, that there would be escape in Zion. And it was no ordinary comfort for the Jews to know, that even in their extreme decay, there remained for them some hope of deliverance, and that the people, who might appear at the time to be extinct, would yet be saved, and preserved alive, as though they arose from the dead.
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He says that mount Zion would be holiness or holy, by which he means that God would be mindful of his covenant. As then he had chosen mount Zion where he would be worshipped, the Prophet intimates that God’s name was not there involved presumptuously or in vain. Inasmuch as God had chosen this mount for himself, it was holy; for God is said to have profaned the land and the temple, when he forsook them and delivered them up into the hands of enemies. So also now when the Prophet says, that mount Zion would be holy, it is the same as though he had said, that God would have a care for this mountain, because he had once consecrated it to himself, and designed it to be his own habitation. The cause then is put here for its effect. He had said, that the Jews would survive, how much soever like the lost and the dead they might for a time be, — How could such a thing be? The reason is this, — mount Zion shall be holy: it was a dreadful profanation of mount Zion when the temple was destroyed, when the holy vessels were taken away by the Babylonians, when, in short, the enemies showed there every kind of insolence. But when the Lord restored his people, when the altar was built again, and sacrifices were offered, then mount Zion recovered its holiness, that is, God manifested that the grace of his election had not been abolished, for he had again sanctified mount Zion, and thus designed it to be preserved safe. Holy then shall be mount Zion Were any one disposed to refine more on the Prophet’s words, he might say, that it is evidently the manner of our salvation that is intended, when God is said to sanctify or govern us by his Spirit: but the Prophet, I have no doubt, has regard here simply to the election of God.
And the house of Jacob shall again possess his own possessions, that is whatever God has given as an heritage to the children of Abraham, he will restore to them when they return from exile. If any one prefers to take possessions to be those of Edom, I do not object. But yet I think that the real meaning of the Prophet is, that when the children of Israel should return from exile, God would restore to them their ancient country, that they might possess whatever had been promised to their father Abraham. He means then, by their possessions, the whole land, which came by lot into the possession of the chosen people, as it had been promised to Abraham. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Oba 1:17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance,…
Oba 1:17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Ver. 17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance] God will "turn again their captivity as the streams in the south." He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to send them home; he restored unto them both religion and liberty; he did all that could be done for them, by sanding his Son among them in the fulness of time, "made of a woman," &c., made also unto all his people, "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," 1Co 1:30. Jesus hath delivered us from the wrath to come, 1Th 1:10. Neither is there any other name, whereby heaven is to be had, but only by the name of Jesus.
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And there shall be holiness] "Holiness to the Lord," as Zec 14:20. {See Trapp on "Zec 14:20"} All the Lord’s people shall be a holy nation, 1Pe 2:9. Every inhabitant of the city of God shall be partaker of holiness, both imputed and imparted; that, for justification, being inherent in Christ, imputed to us; this, for sanctification, imparted by Christ, inherent in us.
And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions] They returning from Babylon shall not only recover their own possessions, out of the hands of the Edomites, Samaritans, and Syrians, by virtue of an edict from King Darius; but they shall also possess the Edomites themselves, and their territories; when converted to the faith of Christ, they shall bring their wealth unto the Church, and (as it is said of Tyre, Isa 23:18) feed and clothe therewith the saints of God.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain But. or
But. or
And, Heb.
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Upon Mount Zion; historically, and in the letter, this refers to the people of the Jews, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and those who worshipped God in the temple. In the mystical sense or typical, it refers. to the gospel church, and the setting up the kingdom of Christ, and the salvation and redemption of God’s Israel.
Deliverance; a remnant that shall escape the enemies’ sword, and which, after seventy years’ captivity, shall be delivered and restored by Cyrus: a hieroglyphic of Israel’s redemption by Christ.
There shall be holiness; or, it shall be holy, the temple, the city rebuilt, the people returned from captivity, shall be holy to the Lord; they shall obey his law, attend his temple service, and offer a pure offering to the Lord, &c. All this typical, and accomplished in the Christian church, though not fully and perfectly till the church is glorified in the heavenly Zion.
The house of Jacob; literally the survivors of the two tribes in the Babylonish kingdom, and some others of the ten tribes, but including the elect of God, the house of Jacob in the extent of it, as taken in Isa 59:20; Rom 11:26.
Shall possess their possessions; either the possessions of the heathen, their enemies, or rather their own ancient possessions, out of which the violence of their enemies did east them when they were led captive, and dispossessed of all.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain After the destruction of the church's enemies is threatened,…
After the destruction of the church's enemies is threatened, which will be completely accomplished in the great day of recompence, and that judgment for which Christ came once, and will come again, into this world, here follow precious promises of the salvation of the church, with which this prophecy concludes, and those of Joel and Amos did, which, however they might be in part fulfilled in the return of the Jews out of Babylon notwithstanding the triumphs of Edom in their captivity, as if it were perpetual, are yet, doubtless, to have their full accomplishment in that great salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ, to which all the prophets bore witness. It is promised here,
I. That there shall be salvation upon Mount Zion, that holy hill where God sets his anointed King (Psa 2:6): Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, Oba 1:17. There shall be those that escape; so the margin. A remnant of Israel, upon the holy mountain shall be saved, Oba 1:16. Christ said, Salvation is of the Jews, Joh 4:22. God wrought deliverances for the Jews, typical of our redemption by Christ. But Mount Zion is the gospel-church, from which the New Testament law went forth, Isa 2:3. There salvation shall be preached and prayed for; to the gospel-church those are added who shall be saved; and for those who come in faith and hope to this Mount Zion deliverance shall be wrought from wrath and the curse, from sin, and death, and hell, while those who continue afar off shall be left to perish.
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II. That, where there is salvation, there shall be sanctification in order to it: And there shall be holiness, to prepare and qualify the children of Zion for this deliverance; for wherever God designs glory he gives grace. Temporal deliverances are indeed wrought for us in mercy when with them there is holiness, when there is wrought in us a disposition to receive them with love and gratitude to God; when we are sanctified, they are sanctified to us. Holiness is itself a great deliverance, and an earnest of that eternal salvation which we look for. There, upon Mount Zion, in the gospel-church, shall be holiness; for that is it which becomes God's house for ever, and the great design of the gospel, and its grace, is to plant and promote holiness. There shall be the Holy Spirit, the holy ordinances, the holy Jesus, and a select remnant of holy souls, in whom, and among whom, the holy God will delight to dwell. Note, Where there is holiness there shall be deliverance.
III. That this salvation and sanctification shall spread, and prevail, and get ground in the world: The house of Jacob, even this Mount Zion, with the deliverance and their holiness there wrought, shall possess their possessions; that is, the gospel-church shall be set up among the heathen, and shall replenish the earth; the apostles of Christ by their preaching shall gain possession of the hearts of men for him whose messengers and ministers they are, and when they possess their hearts they shall possess their possessions, for those who have given up themselves to the Lord give up all they have to him. When Lydia's heart was opened to Christ her house was opened to his ministers. When the Gentile nations became nations of those that were saved, were disciplined, walked in the light of the Lord, and brought their glory and honour into the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:24), then the house of Jacob possessed their possessions. This is the part fulfilled by the planting of the Christian religion in the world, and shall be fulfilled yet more and more by the setting up of Christ's throne where Satan's seat is, and the erecting of trophies of his victory upon the ruins of the devil's kingdom. Now here is foretold,
1. How this possession shall be gained, and the opposition given to it got over (Oba 1:18): The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, for their God is, and will be, a consuming fire; and the house of Esau shall be for stubble, easily devoured and consumed by this fire. This is fulfilled, (1.) In the conversion of multitudes by the grace of Christ; the gospel, preached in the house of Jacob and Joseph, and there owned and professed, shall be as a fire and a flame to melt and to soften hard hearts, to burn up the dross of sin and corruption, that they may be purified and refined with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. Christ, when he comes, shall be as a refiner's fire, Mal 3:1, Mal 3:2. (2.) In the confusion of all the impenitent implacable enemies of the gospel of Christ, that oppose it and do all they can to hinder the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah by it. The gospel day is a day that burns like an oven, in which all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be a stubble, Mal 4:1. Jacob and Joseph shall be as a fire and a flame; for those that meddle with them, to do them hurt, will find that they do so at their peril; they shall be to them as a torch of fire in a sheaf, Zac 12:6. The word of God in the mouth of his ministers is said to be like fire, and the people as wood to be devoured by it, Jer 5:14. And the man of sin is to be consumed by the breath of Christ's mouth, Th2 2:8. Those that are not refined as gold by fire of the gospel shall be consumed as dross by it; for it will be a savour either of life or of death. When idols and idolatry were abolished, and the wealth and power of nations were brought into the service of Christ and his gospel, and the spoils of the strong man armed were divided by him that was stronger than he, then the house of Jacob and Joseph devoured the house of Esau, so that there was none of them left remaining. This the Lord spoke by his prophets, and this he did by his apostles.
2. How far this possession shall extend, Oba 1:19, Oba 1:20. This is described in Jewish language, which speaks the accession made to the land of Israel, after the return out of captivity into Babylon. The captivity of this host of Israel, that is, this host of Israel that have been so long in captivity and now they have come back are still called the children of the captivity, these shall not only recover their own land, but shall gain ground upon their neighbours adjoining to them, some of whom shall become proselytes and shall incorporate with the Jews, who, by possessing them in a holy communion, possess their land. We must reckon ourselves truly enriched by the conversion of our neighbours to the fear of God and the faith of Christ, and their coming to join with us in the worship of God. Such an accession to our Christian communion we must reckon to be more our wealth and strength than an accession to our estates. Or, The ancient inhabitants of those lands that were carried away into captivity being lost, and never returning to their estates, the children of Israel shall take possession of that which lies next them; for their numbers shall so increase that their own land shall be too strait for them, and their neighbours' estates shall escheat to them ob defectum sanguinis - through default of heirs. They shall enter upon that which is adjoining to them. The country of Esau shall be possessed by those of the south parts of Canaan, for to them it lies contiguous. Those of the plain, on the west of Canaan, which was a champaign country, shall enter upon the land of the Philistines, their neighbours. Those of Judah, which was the chief of the two returning tribes, shall possess the field of Ephraim and Samaria, which before belonged to the ten tribes; and Benjamin, the other tribe, shall possess Gilead on the other side of Jordan, which had belonged to the two tribes and a half. The kingdom of Israel shall join with that of Judah both in civil and sacred interests, and, as friends and brethren, shall mutually possess and enjoy one another; and both together shall possess the Canaanites, even to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon; and Jerusalem shall possess the cities of the south, even to Sepharad. Thus did the Jews enlarge their borders on all sides. The modern rabbin teach their scholars by Zarephath and Sepharad to understand France and Spain, grounding upon this a foolish groundless expectation that some time or other the Jews shall be masters of those countries; and they call and count the Christians Edomites, over whom they are to have dominion. But the promise here, no doubt, has a spiritual signification, and had its accomplishment in the setting up of the Christian church, the gospel-Israel, in the world, and shall have its accomplishment more and more in the enlargement of it and the additions made to it, till the mystical body is completed. When ministers and Christians prevail with their neighbours to come to Christ, to yield themselves to the Lord, they possess them. The converts that Abraham had are said to be the souls that he had gotten, Gen 12:5. The possession is gained, not vi et armis - by force and arms; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual; it is by the preaching of the gospel, and the power of divine grace going along with it, that this possession is got and kept.
IV. That the kingdom of the Redeemer shall be erected and maintained, to the comfort of his loyal subjects and the terror and shame of all his enemies (Oba 1:21): The kingdom shall be the Lord's, the Lord Christ's. God shall give it to him, by putting all things into his hand, all power both in heaven and in earth; men shall give it to him, by resigning themselves to him as his willing people, and appointing him their head. Now the work of kings is to protect their subjects and suppress their enemies; and this Christ will do; he will both reward and punish. 1. The mountain of Zion shall be saved; on it saviours shall come, the preachers of the gospel, who are called saviours, because their business is to save themselves and those that hear them; and in this they are workers together with Christ, but to little purpose if he by his grace did not work together with them. 2. The mountain of Esau shall be judged; and the same that come as saviours on Mount Zion shall judge the mountain of Esau; for the word of the gospel in their mouth, that saves believers, judges unbelievers, convinces and condemns them. Christ's ministers are saviours on Mount Zion when they preach that he that believes shall be saved; but they judge the mount of Esau when they preach that he that believeth not shall be damned, which they are not only commissioned, but commanded to do, Mar 16:16. And in the course of God's providence his scripture is fulfilled; when God raises up friends to the church in her distress (as he raised up judges to deliver Israel of old, Jdg 2:16), then saviours come on Mount Zion, to save it from being sunk and ruined; and when the enemies of the church are brought down, and their power broken, then is the mount of Esau judged; and this shall be done in every age in such a way as God thinks best; we may depend upon it that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church, but the church shall prevail against them; for the kingdom shall be the Lord's; the kingdoms of the world shall become his, and he has taken, and will take, to himself his great power and reign.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance,.... Not only…
But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance,.... Not only by Cyrus, at the end of the seventy years' captivity; and by the Maccabees from the Idumeans, and other enemies; but by the Messiah; for not merely temporal deliverance is here intended, unless as a shadow, type, and figure; but spiritual deliverance from the law, sin, Satan, the world, death, hell, and wrath to come, by Christ; who is the Deliverer that should both come to Zion and out of Zion, and who has wrought the above deliverance for Zion, his church and people; and where it is preached and proclaimed, and where those who are delivered come and dwell: or, "upon Mount Zion shall be an escape"; or, "they that escape" (b); the pollutions of the world, the vengeance of divine justice, the curses of the law, and the damnation of hell, by fleeing to Christ for refuge:
and there shall be holiness: that is, on Mount Zion, on the church, which is the holy hill of God, and where only holy persons should dwell; and for whomsoever deliverance is wrought out, sooner or later there will be in them holiness, both of heart and life; and indeed, without this, complete deliverance and salvation, which will be in heaven, will not be enjoyed; hence those that are chosen to this salvation are chosen through sanctification of the Spirit; and such as are redeemed and delivered by Christ are purified to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and are, in consequence of such deliverance and redemption, called with a holy calling, and have principles of holiness implanted in them, and live holy lives and conversations; and such kind of holiness, as it appeared in Zion, in the churches of Christ in the first times of the Gospel, so it will be more conspicuous among them in the latter day; see Isa 4:3 Zac 14:20; or, "there shall be an Holy One", or "thing" (c); the holy Jesus, who is holy in both his natures, in all his offices, works, and words; the Lamb that should, and has been, seen on Mount Zion; and the Holy Spirit of God, who dwells and abides in his church, and among his people, to anoint and assist the ministers of the word; to accompany the word with power, and make it successful; and to sanctify and comfort the Lord's people in Zion; and there are the holy word of God, the doctrines of grace according to godliness preached, and the sacred ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper administered. The Targum is,
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"and they shall be holy;''
the Lord's people: and so Kimchi interprets it of Israel being holy to the Lord;
and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions: that is, either the Israelites shall possess the possessions of the Heathens, particularly of the Edomites; so the Targum,
"and they of the house of Jacob shall possess the substance of the people that possessed them;''
see Amo 9:11; which was fulfilled spiritually in the first times of the Gospel, when the apostles, who were of the house of Jacob, and were Israelites indeed, preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, and were the means of converting many of them, and of bringing them into the Gospel church; which may be called the house of Jacob, when they and theirs become their possession, and Christ, the master of this house, had the Heathen given him for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, Psa 2:8; or else the sense is, that the people of God, true Christians, shall in Gospel times possess their own possessions; God himself, who is their portion and inheritance, and shall enjoy communion with him; Christ, and all that are his, all spiritual blessings in him; the Spirit and his graces, as the earnest of a future and eternal inheritance; exceeding great and precious promises they are heirs of, and a kingdom and glory hereafter; of which the possessions in the land of Canaan, restored to the right owners of them in the year of jubilee, were a type. R. Moses says this prophecy has respect to the times of Hezekiah; in which he is followed by Grotius, very wrongly; R. Jeshuah, better, to the times of the second temple; but Japhet, best of all, to time to come, to the times of the Messiah, to which it no doubt belongs: here begin the prophecies concerning Christ, his church, and kingdom.
(b) "erit evasio", Vatablus, Piscator, Mercerus, Liveleus. (c) "erit sanctus", V. L. Liveleus, Drusius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Zion - Literally this refers to the Jews: typically…
Zion - Literally this refers to the Jews: typically to the gospel- church. Deliverance - A remnant that shall be delivered by Cyrus, a type of Israel's redemption by Christ. Holiness - The temple, the city, the people returned from captivity shall be holy to the Lord. Their possessions - Their own ancient possessions.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance]…
Verse 17. But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance] Here is a promise of the return from the Babylonish captivity. They shall come to Zion, and there they shall find safety; and it is remarkable that after their return they were greatly befriended by the Persian kings, and by Alexander the Great and his successors; so that, whilst they ravaged the neighbouring nations, the Jews were unmolested. See Calmet.
And there shall be holiness] They shall return to God, separate themselves from their idols, and become a better people than they were when God permitted them to be carried into captivity.
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The house of Jacob shall possess] They were restored to their former possessions. But this may refer also to their future restoration under the Gospel, when they shall be truly converted, and become holiness to the Lord; for salvation and holiness shall be the characteristics of Zion-the Christian Church, for ever.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Oba 1:17-18. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance…
Oba 1:17-18. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance — Literally taken, this refers to the Jews; mystically, to the gospel church. By deliverance here may be first meant an asylum, or place of refuge, to escape the evil; and it may be spoken with a reference to the invasion of Judea by Sennacherib, and his being prevented by God from taking Jerusalem, (though he took all the other fenced cities of Judah,) so that all persons of the neighbouring places found a deliverance, or an asylum, there; and so escaped falling into the enemies’ hands. It may also, perhaps, chiefly refer to the restoration of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon. But yet this promise was more remarkably verified in the time of the first preaching of the gospel, when God’s law went forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, Psa 100:2; Isa 2:3; and when, through believing in Christ, and embracing the gospel, the Christians escaped the destruction that came upon the Jewish nation, concerning which see note on Joe 2:32. And there shall be another and more glorious completion of it at the restoration of the Jewish nation, which is foretold in this and the following verses, as it is in many other places. And there shall be holiness — So far as this refers to the Jews returned from captivity, it signifies that the temple, the city, and the people should be holy to the Lord. But the words more especially refer to gospel days; and are intended to express the holiness of the Christian Church, particularly after the conversion of the Jews, and during the millennium. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions — Shall remain in possession of their own land or territories. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, &c. — This was fulfilled in part by the Jews under Hyrcanus and the Maccabees, who made great slaughter of the Idumeans; here expressed by the strong image of their being the fire and flame, and the Idumeans stubble. But the passage will be more fully accomplished when the Lord shall make his church as a fire to all its enemies.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain But (And) upon (in) Mount Zion, shall be deliverance,…
But (And) upon (in) Mount Zion, shall be deliverance, or, an escaped remnant, and there (and it) shall be holiness - The sifting times of the Church are the triumph of the world; the judgment of the world is the restoration of the Church. In the triumph of the world, the lot was cast on Jerusalem, her sons were carried captive and slain, her holy places were desecrated. On the destruction of the nations, Mount Zion rises in calm majesty, as before; “a remnant” is replaced there, after its sifting; it is again “holiness;” not holy only, but a channel of holiness; “and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions (literally inherit their inheritances)”; either their own former possessions, receiving and “inheriting” from the enemy, what they had lost; or the “inheritances” of the nations. For the whole world is the inheritance of the Church, as Jesus said to the apostles, sons of Zion Mat 28:19, “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” and Mar 16:15, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” Holiness is its title-deeds to the inheritance of the world, that holiness, which was in the “upper chamber” in “Mount Zion,” the presence of God the Holy Spirit, issuing in holy teaching, holy Scriptures, holy institutions, holy sacraments, holy lives.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Sion. This prosperity, in the historical sense, was promised…
Sion. This prosperity, in the historical sense, was promised to the Jews, after their return; and they enjoyed as much of it as their sins did not hinder; the rest was fulfilled in Christ. (St. Jerome, ad Dard.) (Worthington) --- Holy. Providence watched over the Jews in a particular manner, while the neighbouring nations fell a prey to the Persians, to Alexander, &c. The persecution of Epiphanes was sharp, but of short duration; and it gave occasion to the Jews to regain their liberty, and to have kings (Calmet) little (Haydock) inferior to those of old. --- Them. Hebrew, "its goods." The Jews obtained all Palestine. (Calmet) --- Christ extends his dominion over the world. (Theodoret)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain upon . . . Zion . . . deliverance--both…
upon . . . Zion . . . deliverance--both in the literal sense and spiritual sense (; ; ; ). MAURER as the Margin explains it, "there shall be a remnant that shall escape." Compare ; to the deliverance from Sennacherib there described GROTIUS thinks Obadiah here refers. "Jerusalem shall not be taken, and many of the neighboring peoples also shall find deliverance there." Unlike Judah's heathen foes of whom no remnant shall escape (, ), a remnant of Jews shall escape when the rest of the nation has perished, and shall regain their ancient "possessions."
there shall be holiness--that is, Zion shall be sacrosanct or inviolable: no more violated by foreign invaders (; ).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain The exaltation of the Jews, Oba_1:17-21.
The exaltation of the Jews, Oba_1:17-21.
The judgment upon the nations is accompanied and followed by the restoration and glorification of Zion (compare Joe_2:32 ff.). The prophet’s hope of the future embraces four elements: (1) the restoration of the remnant (Oba_1:17); (2) the annihilation of Edom (Oba_1:18); (3) the expansion of the territory of the Jews (Oba_1:19-20); (4) the supremacy of Jehovah (Oba_1:21).
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Oba_1:17 a is rendered more accurately in R.V., “But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy.” For the interpretation of the first clause see on Joe_2:32. The nations are to be destroyed (16); even some Jews seem to be doomed, but not all; a remnant consisting of the loyal sons of Jehovah shall be saved (see on Amo_9:9).
It — Mount Zion.
Shall be holy — Literally, holiness; the noun is used instead of the adjective for the sake of emphasis (G.-K., 141c). The nations that defiled the temple mount (Oba_1:16) having been destroyed, it will be consecrated to Jehovah, who sanctifies it by his presence; no unclean stranger will be allowed to pass through it and defile it again (Joe_3:17).
The house of Jacob — Identical with “those that escape.” Since the prophetic expectation includes a reunion of Judah and Israel at the time of the restoration (Hos_1:11; Eze_37:15 ff.; Zec_10:6, etc.), “house of Jacob” must include all Hebrews, whether of Israel or of Judah, who pass through the crisis unhurt (compare Oba_1:18).
Shall possess their possessions — Not the possessions of Edom and of the nations, which is promised in Oba_1:18-19, but their own former possessions (Oba_1:20) which, through their sin, they had lost in 721 and 586. The restoration of the exiles to the promised land is considered by all prophets the first step toward the realization of the felicity of the new kingdom of God.
Vocalizing the last word somewhat differently, LXX. renders “and the house of Jacob will possess those who possessed them,” that is, those who formerly robbed the Jews of their possessions. Several modern commentators accept this as original, but, since this thought is the burden of Oba_1:18-19, the above interpretation of Oba_1:17 is to be preferred.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance] Unlike…
17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance] Unlike Edom (Oba_1:9) and the other heathen nations (Oba_1:16) whose destruction will be complete, Israel even in her worst calamities shall have “a deliverance,” i. e. remnant of the people, who shall escape destruction and be delivered out of trouble, to be as it were a fresh nucleus and starting-point of the nation. The word here rendered “deliverance” occurs in Exo_10:5, “that which is escaped,” to denote the remnant of the fruits of the earth left by the plague of hail. It is used in the same sense as here in Isa_37:31-32, “that is escaped,” “they that escape;” and in Joe_2:32 [Heb_3:5].
there shall be holiness] rather (margin, and R.V.), it (Mount Zion) shall be holy, lit. “holiness,” comp. Joe_3:17 [Heb., 4:17]; Rev_21:27.
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their possessions] Not the possessions of Edom and of the heathen—that is spoken of in the following verses, but their own possessions. “When the children of Israel shall have returned from exile God will at the same time restore to them their ancient country, so as for them to possess whatever had been promised to their father Abraham.” Calvin.
17–21. The Restoration of Israel
By an easy transition the prophet passes to the second and brighter part of his picture. The destruction of her enemies is accompanied by the restoration and salvation of Israel. There is however no sudden break between the two portions of the prophecy. The key-note of deliverance had already been struck in the earlier portion by the implied promise (Oba_1:16) that the punishment of Israel was not to be, like that of her enemies, continual. The tones of vengeance are heard still in the later portion, and are only lost at length in the final strain of victory, “The kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” Israel is to regain her former possessions (Oba_1:17), to overcome her ancient foes (Oba_1:18), to spread abroad in all directions (Oba_1:19-20), till as the ultimate issue which in the fulness of time shall be reached, God’s kingdom is set up in the world (Oba_1:21).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) Deliverance.—Better, as in margin, the fugitives of Israel…
17-21.—ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF JEHOVAH ON MOUNT ZION.
(17) Deliverance.—Better, as in margin, the fugitives of Israel who have survived the recent calamity. This is clear from Isa_10:20, where phelêytah is in parallelism with shear=remnant, as well as Joe_2:32; Heb_3:5, where it is parallel to serîdîm, also remnant. (Comp. also Jdg_21:17; 2Ch_20:24.) While the judgment is falling upon all the heathen nations, Mount Zion will be an asylum for all the Israelites who had fled for safety, and been scattered and dispersed.
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Holiness.—See margin. Zion was once more to become a sanctuary, and those who inhabited it holy. (Comp. Isa_6:13.)
Their possessions.—Whose—their own that had been lost, or those of the nations? The Vulgate, following the LXX., read “those who had possessed them,” indicating subjugation of the heathen tribes. But the parallelism is undoubtedly in favour of the other view—the remnant of Israel would be saved, and regain their old possessions. Having stated this, the prophet goes on to describe what would happen to Edom and its possessions.
(18) Though, in the preceding verse, “house of Jacob” would seem to embrace all the restored Israel, without any reference to the distinction of the two kingdoms, in this verse, being opposed to “house of Joseph,” it requires to be taken as synonymous with Judah; as in Isa_46:3 : “Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel.” (Comp. Psa_77:15; Psa_80:1; Psa_81:4-5.)
For the expressive imagery, comp. Nah_1:10; Isa_27:4; Isa_10:17.
Any remaining.—Heb., sarîd, a fugitive. The LXX. must have had a different text, as they read here πυροϕόρος, i.e., wheat-bearer, apparently (as the various reading shows) a mistake for πυρϕόρος, fire-bearer.
(19) After the destruction of the heathen the new kingdom of Zion will be restored, at least as far as the ancient territories which are at present held by the Idumæans, to the north and west of the original Edom, are concerned. Three divisions are enumerated of the house of Jacob (i.e., Judah; see Note, Oba_1:18), and separate mention made of Benjamin.
They of the south.—Those at present occupying the south—Heb., negev—i.e., the dry parched country forming the southern portion of the tribe of Judah (Jos_15:21), are to inhabit Mount Esau: i.e., are to extend their territory to its extreme south-eastern limit; they of the Shephelah, i.e., the western lowland on the Mediterranean, are to seize on the neighbouring Philistia, at present Idumæan; while they at present confined to the hill-country in the north and centre of Judah are to spread themselves over Ephraim and Samaria. Our present Hebrew text leaves the subject of this latter clause uncertain, as it is in the Authorised Version “they.” But the LXX., τὸ ὄρος indicates that hahor=the mountain, has dropped out, a conjecture which is abundantly borne out by the geographical arrangement of the localities in the passage. Benjamin, for which no room is left on the west of Jordan, is to push across it into Gilead instead. This prophetic vision recalls Gen_28:14.
(20) But there are still others of the restored Israel, besides those comprised within the ancient territory of Judah. The prophetic survey proceeds northwards, and we get a general idea from this verse that there were exiles, who had found refuge on the north-western and northern boundaries of ancient Palestine, who would settle themselves partly on the sea-coast of Tyre and Sidon, partly in the south country, whose inhabitants had pushed downwards into Edom. But while this is plainly its general drift, the text is full of difficulties.
It is difficult to attach an intelligible meaning to “the captivity (i.e., exiles, galuth; comp. Isa_20:4; Isa_45:13) of this host of (literally, to) the sons of Israel.”
The prophet seems to allude to some body of exiles, including himself, who had escaped from the army. But there is a difference of opinion among grammarians as to the identification of chël with chayil = host. Ewald takes it to be a dialectic variety of chol = sand, generally of the sea-coast; and so here “the banished ones of this coast,” where the prophet was at the time. The rendering chël=trench, or fortification, which some adopt, is out of the question. The LXX. have τῆς μετοικεσίας ἡ ἀρχὴ, but whether ἀρχὴ = power, or beginning, with allusion to the first dispersion of exiles, cannot be determined. Another difficulty arises with respect to the words that of the Canaanites—asher Khenaanîm (literally, which Canaanites). To make it an object, as in our version, the particle eth is wanted, and Ewald, instead of asher, reads eth-ari = the cities of. That some change has taken place in the text appears from the LXX., who have γῆ, the land (Heb., erets). Keil, keeping the present reading, renders, “And the captives of this army of the sons of Israel (will take possession) of what Canaanites there are as far as Zarephath . . .” Pusey: “And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel which are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,” making it joint subject with “the captives of Jerusalem” to “shall possess the cities of the south,” which is in accordance with the construction of the LXX. and the Syriac. But the absence of the preposition be before Khenaanim seems to make this rendering impossible. The Hebrew as it stands can only mean “which are Canaanites.” The choice lies between Ewald’s emendation of the text and Keil’s interpretation. The Jews understand by Zarephath the country of France.
The last clause is better in the text than in the margin: “The exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall take possession of the cities of the south.” The only difficulty is in the name Sepharad, a place never mentioned elsewhere, and which has not yet been satisfactorily identified. The various conjectures have been—
1. That of the LXX., ἕως Ἐϕραθὰ followed by the Arabic translation, probably from reading Sepharath. Jerome, in his Commentary on Obadiah, appears to have understood this reading as pointing to the Hebrew Phrath, since he translates, Transmigratio Jerusalem usque Euphratem.
2. The reading of the Vulg., quœ in Bosphoro est, was derived by Jerome from a Jewish instructor, who treated the particle in Bisparad as part of the name, and rejected the final d altogether.
3. The Targum Jonathan, the Peshito-Syriac, and from them the modern Jews, interpret Sepharad as Spain (Ispamia or Ispania); hence Sephardim, a name for the Spanish Jews.
4. Sipphara in Mesopotamia. But this is more probably identified with Sepharvaim.
5. Sardis, from a supposed connection with ÇPaRaD. or (Çparda, mentioned in the great arrow-headed inscription of Nakshi Rustam, in a list of names of tribes between Cappadocia and Ionia, which De Sacy identified with Sepharad, and Lassen with Sardis.
6. Sparta. Some relations there were between the Jews after the captivity and the Lacedæmonians (see 1Ma_12:2, seqq., 14:16, seqq., 15:23). Possibly there was a colony of the exiles in Sparta.
7. Ewald conjectures Sepharam instead of Sepharad, and finds the place in Shefa Amar, a well-known place a few miles south-east of Acco. The general drift of the passage seems to require some place not far distant from, and in the direction of, Zarephath. The only serious objection to this conjecture is the fact that Shefa Amar was within the boundaries of Palestine, and therefore those who had taken refuge there would not strictly be exiles. But it is distinctly stated that these were “of Jerusalem,” and they might well be called refugees, since they had had to go so far north to find an asylum.
(21) Saviours.—Comp. Jdg_3:9; Jdg_3:15; Neh_9:27. The Jewish interpreters understood by “saviours” men like the judges of old, Gideon, Barak, &c., who will chastise the Christians and subdue them. The Mount of Esau is of course, according to this interpretation, Rome.
And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.—See the reference in margin to Zechariah, who gives this anticipation of the pure form of the theocracy in its wider extent. But here, too, the prophetic look over the world seems to extend far beyond Judah and the fortunes of the Jewish race, and as the vision widens Zion and Edom both retire from sight; both are comprehended in the one Divine kingdom, and God is all in all. For the bearing of this conclusion to the prophecy on its date, see Excursus.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 17-21. Part II THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.
Vers. 17-21. Part II THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.
Vers. 17-20. . While judgment falls upon heathen nations, the house of Jacob shall be delivered, shall add to its possessions, and spread far and wide.
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Upon Mount Zion. Once desecrated by the idolatrous revelry of the Edomites and the other nations, now the seat of Jehovah (Joe_3:17) and the kingdom. Deliverance (peletah); Septuagint, swthria . Abstract for concrete, and to be rendered, "those that escape," or "those that are saved;" i.e. a remnant that shall escape destruction. (comp. Amo_9:8) There shall be holiness; rather, it (Mount Zion) shall be holy; so Septuagint, kai estai agion : Hebrew, kodesh, "a sanctuary," where the heathen shall not come. (Isa_52:1; comp. Joe_3:17 Rev_21:27) The house of Jacob. Judah and Benjamin, the holy seed, in whom the kingdom of the Lord should be established (comp. ver. 18). The northern kingdom is not mentioned. Shall possess their possessions; Septuagint, Kataklhronomhsousin o oikov Iakwb touv kataklhronomhv , "The house of Jacob shall take for an inheritance those who took them for an inheritance;" Vulgate, Possidebit domus Jacob eos qui se possederant. These versions must have used a different punctuation from that of the Masoretic textmorishehem for morashehom. (comp. Num_24:18, Num_24:19) The Hebrew pronoun is ambiguous, and "their possessions" may mean either those that the Jews themselves had lost, or those of the Edomites. But nothing is said of Israel being carried away captive and losing its country; and, though the prophet may have looked forward to such a catastrophe and to a future restoration, thin is not the subject here. The possessions referred to are those of the enemy represented by the Edomites, and those which the Jews had lost since the days of David and Solomon; and "the house of Jacob" signifies, not merely the earthly kingdom of Judah, but "the people of God, who are eventually to obtain the dominion of the world" (Keil); Mar_16:15.
Restoration.
It is a peculiarity of the Hebrew prophets that, however gloomy might seem to them the immediate future of their nation, they ever saw beyond the darkness into the glorious light of the future. Opinions have differed, and still differ, as to the reference of many of their predictions of coming prosperity and blessedness. Some refer those visions to a time not long subsequent to the prophet"s own time. Others still look for their literal fulfilment in the political history of Israel in the future. Whilst others believe that the visions were not of mere earthly peace and prosperity, but of the spiritual kingdom of Christ and of the true Israel of God, the Church of the living God. Certainly such language as that of the text, whatever be its literal application, contains promises which Christians alone can fully realize.
I ONE ELEMENT IN RESTORATION IS DELIVERANCE. The return of the captives and exiles to their native soil, their much-loved city, is a picture of the restoration of sinners to the favour and fellowship of the God whom they had angered and alienated. God deviseth means whereby his banished ones shall return. Christ is the Redeemer, and deliverance is his great work. His people are the saved, the rescued, the emancipated, the restored.
II ANOTHER ELEMENT IN RESTORATION IS HOLINESS. The captivity of the Jews had removed them from their metropolis and from their temple, the holy place of their God. At the same time, the heathen had polluted and defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah. The return from exile was to be the occasion of the restoration of the holy people to the holy house, and the restoration of the sanctuary to its sacred uses. In the Church of the Redeemer the Spirit of holiness takes up his abode. It is filled with sacred services and observances. "Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, forever.
III ANOTHER ELEMENT IN RESTORATION IS THE ENJOYMENT OF SECURITY AND PLENTY. "The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." The lands and houses which the people had inherited from their forefathers had been occupied by strangers. But upon the restoration the Hebrews took possession of their ancient homes and fields, and abode in peace and enjoyed plenty. In this their position was an emblem of that into which Christ"s redeemed people are introduced by his grace. All things are theirs. They possess the privileges of the gospel and the peace of the Spirit, and theirs is the blessed hope of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading.
Safety, sanctity, and sufficiency.
"But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall, possess their possessions." What a burst of heavenly sunshine! What an effusion of joyous light! What music from the throne of God! What an evangel at the fourth watch of the night! What a smile of Divine love for the cast down and sorely afflicted captive! Safety, sanctity, sufficiency. The inspired prophet here sets forth some of the richest treasures of the grace of God. They tell of deliverance from Babylon and restoration by Cyrus; they expand to the later deliverance from the Idumeans by the Maccabees; and, what especially applies to us, they stretch to the glorious salvation wrought for captive sinners by the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Safety, sanctity, and sufficiency, these are fully set before us in the gospel. They are the heritage of those who have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God. Let us prayerfully study them.
I SAFETY. "Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance.
1. This is deliverance from the Law. "There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin and death." The ten thousand condemning voices of the Law are silenced by the Deliverer. Christ has met the Law"s requirements. His people are free. They are free indeed. The old handwriting against them was cancelled by the cross. The debt is paid. We are not under Law, but under grace.
2. This is deliverance from sin. "He shall be called Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." Yes, from the penalty, from the power, and from the presence of their sins. What a glorious deliverance!
3. This is deliverance from Satan. "The Seed of the woman has bruised the serpent"s head." Christ has vanquished our deadly foe. Now, if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. "Captivity is captive led, Since Jesus liveth who was dead.
4. This is deliverance from the world. He who said, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world," prayed that his people might be kept from the evil in the world. Through him we are more than conquerors. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5. This is deliverance from death. "O death, where is thy sting?" He that trusteth in Christ shall never die. That which we call death is to the servant of God the gate of life. The Christian is promised that he shall not taste of death. The death he undergoes is only the death of pain, of sickness, of sorrow, of sin, of death. To depart is to be with Christ, which is far better than remaining here far better. "Forever with the Lord: Amen, so let it be. Life from the dead is in that word, "Tis immortality.
"Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance.
II In the next place, WE FIND SANCTITY PROMISED. "It shall be holy." In its present day application this promise sets forth the sanctification of God"s Israel. It is not sufficient to realize deliverance; we are to seek holiness. Joshua"s captains were not only to put their feet upon the necks of the five king of the enemy, but they were to go forward and possess the whole of Canaan. Deliverance from foes in the cave of the heart is only preparatory to further conquests and higher attainments. We are delivered from our enemies that we may serve God without fear, "in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life." "It shall be holy." The Christian"s sanctification is twofold.
1. He is sanctified as set apart for God. Like the vessels of the sanctuary, he is consecrated to holy uses. It was Belshazzar"s great sin that he took the vessels of the temple and put them to a profane use. God"s people are to be vessels unto honour, meet for the Master"s service, resting on the heavenly Eliakim. Not their own; a separate people; sanctified or set apart by God the Father.
2. The other view of the Christian"s sanctification is the blessed hallowing of the Holy Spirit. This is a progressive work. We are to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour. We are to add to our faith. We are to be going from strength to strength. We are to press towards the mark. We are to be changed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. "Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and it shall be holy." May we now seek to be filled with the Spirit of holiness!
III The third great promise of my text is SUFFICIENCY. "The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." Here is all-sufficiency in all things. It is as the heir entering upon his inheritance. "My beloved is mine, and I am his;" "All things are ours, the world, life, death, things present, things to come, all are ours." In possessing our possessions we enter upon the unsearchable riches of Christ. His salvation ours; his pardon ours; his joy ours; his rest ours; his kingdom ours; his angels ours; his home ours; his glory ours. Christ himself ours; Christ in us the Hope of glory; Christ for us the Pledge of glory; crucified together with him; raised together with him; seated together with him; glorified together. Oh, the unsearchable riches of the Christian! May we learn to possess our possessions, to use our talents, to enjoy our privileges, to rise to our dignity, to realize our standing, to pass through the length and breadth of our Canaan! Ours a righteousness which is Divine; a peace which surpasseth understanding; a joy which is unspeakable; a love which passeth knowledge; a kingdom which cannot be moved; a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Oh, let us go up and possess! Safety, sanctity, sufficiency. Eternal safety, Divine sanctity, all-sufficiency in all things. Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. A.C.T.
The true Church; or, the community of the good: 1. A beneficent power.
"But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." Obadiah here commences his predictions respecting the restoration of the Jews from Babylonish captivity, their reoccupation of Caanan, and the reign of the Messiah. While the surrounding nations were to disappear, the Jews should regain possession of the land of their fathers. Mount Zion may be taken here as the symbol of the true Church of God, that is, the community of godly men existing on this earth. In this sense it is referred to in Hebrews. Here the whole passage may be taken as representing this true Church, or godly community, in three aspects as a beneficent power; a consuming power; and an aggressive power. The subject of the sketch is on the Church as the beneficent power, which we have in the seventeenth verse.
Three thoughts are suggested by the words concerning the Church as a beneficent power.
I IT IS CONNECTED WITH DELIVERANCE. "Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance." Mount Zion was the asylum for those who had escaped. In Mount Zion shall be the escaped. From Babylonian captivity and suffering they returned to Mount Zion, or Jerusalem, and were safe. There they enjoyed their old protection. In the true Church there is spiritual safety; it is a refuge that is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. It is watched by the infinite love and guarded by the almighty power of Christ; its blessed Keeper never slumbers nor sleeps. Oh, ye imperilled spirits pursued by the powers of hell, led by the devil captives, and sold under sin, flee to this Mount Zion, this true Church of God, this community of godly men, which is at once the organ and the residence of Christ.
II IT IS CONNECTED WITH PURITY. "There shall be holiness." Moral pollution, or sin, is the source of all the calamities that befall men. Mount Zion is a consecrated spot. If there is holiness anywhere it is in connection with that community of men called the Church, which embraces the principles, cherishes the spirit, follows the example of the Son of God. True, the members are not perfect yet; but they are in the process of cleansing, and are already holy as compared with the pollutions of the ungodly world.
III IT IS CONNECTED WITH ENJOYMENT. "And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." "Though the houses of Jacob and Joseph are here spoken of separately, it was not the intention of the prophet to teach that the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel would be re-established. Yet the special mention of Joseph clearly shows that the ten tribes were to return at the same time, and jointly with Judah and Benjamin, to possess the land of Palestine and the neighbouring regions. (see Isa_11:12-14 Hos_1:11) The restored Hebrews would unitedly subdue the Idumeans; which they did in the time of John Hyrcanus, who compelled them to be circumcised, and so incorporated them with the Jews that they henceforward formed part of the nation." The word "possess" here means enjoy enjoy their possessions. The community of the true Church alone enjoy their possessions. They are a happy people; all things are theirs; they are full of joy; they even glory in tribulation. "Blessed am the people that know the joyful sound!". D.T. (Psa_89:15)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there…
Oba_1:17-20
But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness.
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Holiness on Mount Zion
The imagery of Scripture poetry often presents instructive truths, referring to more general subjects than those on which the sacred writer might, at the particular time, be called to dwell.
I. Regard the text as respects Mount Zion. A grand Scripture type. Not only there God was worshipped, but there God Himself, as the object of worship, dwelt. Conceive of God, accepting Christs atonement,--Christ standing as Mediatorial King on the holy hill,--the redeemed from earth actually worshipping there--and, in spirit, all true worshippers coming to God by Christ. You have thus that state of things of which Mount Zion, with its temples, its glory, its services, its worshippers, was a type.
II. What shall be there?
1. The text says, deliverance; marg. reads, They that escape. Two aspects of the same subject. Where do they come that flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them? To Christ on this Mount Zion. They escape for their lives,--come to Him, and He casts them not out. They have deliverance therefore. Pardon, spiritual freedom, and blessedness.
2. Then there shall be holiness. An undoubted truth, the penitent sinner, coming to God in truth, by faith, for pardon, is made holy, becomes a new creature. Justification and sanctification thus connected; the favour, and the image of God. Real holiness;--holiness of life, as well as of heart;--growing holiness. Nor is it anywhere else. They who will not come to Christ may sometimes have human virtue; they cannot have Divine holiness. Look at this mount. Oh, the blessedness of dwelling there. Well fortified, well supplied. God is there. You live in peace. He is preparing you for the higher blessings. There is the heavenly Zion. Only they pass to it who on earth dwelt on the spiritual Zion. (G. Cubitt.)
The Church delivered, purified, and privileged
I. The deliverance of the Church of God. Mount Zion signifies the Church, the entire mass of those who are given to the Lord Jesus Christ, and whom He has ransomed by His blood. It is remarkable that what is exhibited as the liberation of the Church is always conjoined with the destruction of some opposing power. The fact is, that the destruction of the opposing power is the means used for the liberating of the Church. Conquest in the world is triumph in the Church. Consolation is combined with liberation. Deliverance is the first and principal object which presented itself to the mind of the Lord Jesus. His death was a necessary step to His resurrection, His resurrection to His exaltation, His exaltation to the assumption of His mediatorial power. We see that Jesus Christ first fought and conquered, and then He became the liberator of the world. In the world He works liberation by instrumentality, and the great agency employed in carrying it on is the Holy Spirit. Liberation begins with Christ, but it does not end with Him; for, as He Himself obtained resurrection by the power of God, so there is another resurrection which takes place in the breast of every man who is the subject of His kingdom.
II. The grand effect which the text sets forth. There shall be holiness. The mount of deliverance is always the mount of holiness. Another name for holiness is spiritual health. Bring the whole to this one point, that the test of state is character; that wherever this holiness is met with, there the deliverance that has been effected on Mount Zion by the Lord Jesus is applied, and there the liberation that the Spirit of God works in the souls of His people is likewise brought to pass.
III. The privileges to which this effect leads, and for which it prepares. Shall possess their possessions. Canaan for the earlier saints. For us the inheritance of the saints. (John Campbell.)
Mount Zion and its blessings
The coming of the Lord in glorious majesty to judge the earth is the burden of the Churchs message to-day. Throughout the writings of the prophets the choicest and most consoling promises concerning the Christian Church follow close upon Gods terrible threatenings against His enemies. The main scope of Obadiahs prophecy was to warn the Edomites of the destruction which awaited them. The true Mount Zion is the Christian Church, typified by Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The prophet in the text points us to Mount Zion as the place where we may look for deliverance. From what? From a mere local religion with its centre at Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Gods dear Son is for the whole world. From the blackness and condemnation of Sinai and the violated law. With this deliverance will be seen its never-failing attendant--holiness. It was the great design of our Divine Redeemer to produce the fruits of holiness in His Church. The kingdom of God is not only the manifestation and free offer of Christs pardon to penitent sinners, but it is holiness of heart and life. When the tree is made good, the fruit will be good also. (John N. Norton.)
The true Church, or the community o/ the good
I. A beneficient power.
1. It is connected with deliverance.
2. With purity.
3. With enjoyment. Possess here means, enjoy their possessions.
II. A consuming power. There is a fire in the true Church (Oba_1:18).
1. The characteristics this fire displays. What is the fire? The fire of truth, that burns up error; the fire of right, that burns up wickedness; the fire of love, that burns up selfishness. It is a strong fire; an extending fire; a steady fire; an unquenchable fire.
2. The materials this fire consumes. Stubble. What is moral depravity in all its forms, theoretical and practical, religious, social, and political? Stubble. Error to truth, wrong to right, malice to love, is but stubble to fire.
III. An aggressive power. The Gospel is at once the inspiration, the life, and the instrument of the true Church.
1. The elements of which the Gospel is composed. Grace and truth, or eternal reality and Divine benevolence. To show the aggressiveness of these principles, state three facts.
(1) The human soul is made to feel their imperial force.
(2) The human soul is bound to yearn after these elements as its highest good.
(3) The human soul is everywhere restless without these elements.
2. The proselytising spirit which the Gospel engenders. Every genuine recipient of the Gospel becomes a missionary.
3. The triumphs which the Gospel has already achieved. Such thoughts as these tend to demonstrate the essential aggressiveness of the true Church. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Oba_1:17.] Yet this Mount shall become a sanctuary for…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Oba_1:17.] Yet this Mount shall become a sanctuary for God and his people, who will possess, regain their possessions.
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Oba_1:18.] Israel, again united and unassailed, shall execute judgment upon others. A fire] Num_21:28; Isa_5:24.
Oba_1:19.] Extend its territory to every region under heaven.
Oba_1:20. Captivity] Exiles among the Canaanites shall possess the country of the Canaanites; and those whom the Edomites had enslaved shall possess the cities of their masters. See Lowth.
Oba_1:21. Saviours] Deliverers (see 1Ma_5:3-5); Jewish leaders and conquerors (Jdg_3:9; Isa_19:20); or spiritually, preachers of salvation (cf. Oba_1:17 and Amo_9:12). Judge] i.e. to punish (1Sa_3:13). Kingdom] shall become universal under the Messiah (Psa_22:28). “The fulfilment of Oba_1:17-21 can only belong to the Messianic times, and in such a way that it commenced with the founding of the kingdom of Christ on earth, advances with its extension among all nations, and will terminate in a complete fulfilment at the second coming of our Lord” [Keil].
HOMILETICS
THE KINGDOM AN ASYLUM IN JUDGMENT.—Oba_1:17
Mount Zion is a type of the Church of God. While heathen nations suffer in judgment it shall be restored, enlarged, and beautified. It will become the seat of empire, and God shall reign over a redeemed race for ever (Oba_1:17-21).
I. The Church of God is a centre of refuge. “Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance.” The return of the Jews is a type of redemption. The Church of God consists of those who have fled for refuge in Christ. They are delivered from self and sin’s dominion. The city of God is a sanctuary undefiled and free (Joe_3:17). It is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Its citizens are those “who have escaped of Israel,” those who claim its privileges through Divine grace. “In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”
II. The Church of God is a moral beauty. “There shall be holiness.” Physical beauty is seen in creation, moral in the Christian Church. In Christian life we see “the beauty of holiness.”
1. Holiness is promised. “There shall be.” God will complete his work. First, deliverance; then holiness, redemption, adornment, and service. “That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.”
2. Holiness should be pursued. By this we are qualified for enjoyments on earth and in heaven. In this consists the dignity of our character and the consummation of our bliss. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.”
III. The Church of God is a secure inheritance. “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”
1. They shall regain their own inheritance. Recover their possessions from the hands of Edom and Syria.
2. They shall possess the territories of their enemies. The world is the inheritance of the Church. “All things are yours.” Ungodly nations will be judged and their dominions taken from them; but the Church will regain its privileges, enlarge its bounds, and enjoy perpetual security.” I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.”
THE KINGDOM REGAINED AND ENLARGED.—Oba_1:18-21
The holy land would be repossessed, and adjoining regions annexed.
I. The kingdom regained.
1. The exiles should return. “The captivity,” prisoners of war, would be reclaimed, and wandering exiles owned as sons of Israel.
2. The enemies would be subdued. “There shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau.” The victory of the Church is not by physical, but moral power; not by carnal, but spiritual weapons. The word of God, the gospel, like a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning, melts the penitent and consumes the impenitent; restores the sinner and confirms the saint. Multitudes shall be converted, and truth, like an unquenchable fire, shall burn up error and superstition. Most distant tribes shall be brought to Christ, and most unlikely things shall come to pass. “For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble.”
II. The kingdom enlarged. Judah and Israel shall become one, and extend their boundaries to the four quarters of the globe.
1. Union of the tribes. All feuds and divisions shall cease, and Jew and Gentile become one in Christ.
2. Conquest of other nations (Oba_1:20). The prophet looks beyond the return from captivity and conquest of Canaan. He points to the original promise (Gen_28:14). The gospel is aggressive in spirit and purpose. All nations are to be conquered, and Christ must have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.
III. The kingdom supreme. When Israel takes possession of the border nations, judges will ascend Mount Zion to defend it and govern their enemies. The mountains of Esau express the idea of other lands in contrast to Zion. To judge means not simply to settle disputes, but to exercise dominion. Hence the kingdom will be supreme and Jehovah will declare himself to be the Ruler of the universe. His royal sceptre does not yet sway all the world. The Saviour, of whom others are only types, is still ruling his people and gaining his dominions. Soon shall his blessings extend, remote as the curse. He must reign till he hath put all things under him. Willingly or by force, they must submit. “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Oba_1:18. The flame and the stubble. Cf. Isa_5:24; Isa_10:17. I. God’s people like a fire. “Jacob a fire and Joseph a flame.”
1. In their personal love to Christ. This is the fire that he kindles in the earth. It burns upon the altar within, and like the fire of old, never goes out. “The love of Christ constraineth us.”
2. In their personal zeal for Christ. They burn themselves, and seek to excite others to love and good works. The Psalmist and the Saviour were consumed by the zeal of their master’s house. Brainerd wished to be a flame of fire in the cause of God. Basil was represented as a pillar of fire, and Latimer longed for the spark of the Spirit in the preaching of the day. II. The wicked like stubble. “Esau for stubble.” Vital force has forsaken them. They are empty and worthless; ready for the touch of the flame.
1. In their moral character, and
2. In their moral condition. This fire shall eventually consume all hypocrisy, infidelity, and opposition. “The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day” (Isa_10:17-18).
Opposers and meddlers will be destroyed. “There shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau.” Persecution fans the flame. Stubble can never quench the fire. Let all enemies beware. “Our God is a consuming fire.”
Oba_1:21. Mount Zion. The perpetuity of the Church. Mount Zion.
1. The residence of God.
2. The seat of universal government. God the Head; Saviour’s temporal and spiritual vicegerents.
God will raise up rulers for his people. These rulers judge and condemn the world, but defend and save the Church. But Jehovah is supreme, and executes his judgments by all agencies and instrumentalities. Let none contest his power, for his glory will be revealed in the defeat of his enemies and the salvation of his people. His kingdom can never be destroyed. “The Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever” (Mic_4:7; Psa_146:10; Zec_14:9).
Majestic, comprehensive simplicity of prophecy! All time and eternity, the struggles of time and the rest of eternity, are summed up in those three words; Zion and Edom retire from sight; both are comprehended in that one kingdom, and “God is all in all.” The strife is ended; not that ancient strife only between the evil and the good, the oppressor and the oppressed, the subduer and the subdued; but the whole strife and disobedience of the creature towards the Creator, man against his God [Pusey].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE CHAPTER
Oba_1:17-21. The earth is to come under the dominion of Christ, and is given to Him for this purpose. It is thus to Him as Canaan was to the Jews. All opposition will be as vain as it is unreasonable. His enemies shall lick the dust. The word is gone out of God’s mouth and shall not return, that to Him every knee shall bow and every tongue confess [Jay]. We see Jerusalem emerging from her ashes and standing more beautiful than ever. From Zion goes forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and in the Christ of the Jew all nations are blessed. The mountain of the Lord’s house is established on the top of the mountains, and all people are flowing into it. In other words—just as the nations owe their conversion instrumentally to the Jews, so do they look to the Jewish Church as the heart and centre of Christian life, and seek communion with it. It is thus that the union and unity of the whole catholic Church will be consummated and perfected [Ferguson].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Deliverance of God’s People
The Deliverance of God’s People
v. 17. But upon Mount Zion, in the midst of the Lord’s Church, shall be deliverance, the congregation of such as are saved from the judgment of destruction; and there shall be holiness, that is, Mount Zion would be a sanctuary, no longer to be desecrated by the enemies; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions, people from all the nations of the world being added to the Lord’s congregation.
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v. 18. And the house of Jacob, Judah, as representative of the Church of God in the Old Testament, shall be a fire, through the burning zeal of God which lives in His believers, and the house of Joseph, the northern tribes in their believing representatives, a flame, and the house of Esau, the nation of Edom as type of all enemies of the Lord, for stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them, for all the enemies of the Lord’s Church will eventually be destroyed; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it, and His Word is certain to be fulfilled in every instance.
v. 19. And they of the South, the members of the tribe of Judah, shall possess the mount of Esau, according to the prophecy which states that the Messiah would dwell in the midst of His enemies, and they of the plain, the Lord’s people of the southwestern plains, the Philistines, another tribe and country hostile to the Lord; and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, the territory of the northern kingdom, and the fields of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead, the country east of Jordan.
v. 20. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, the very ones who had suffered on account of the hostility of the enemies, shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, or Sarepta, a city in the extreme northern portion of the country, within the boundaries of Phoenicia; and the captivity of Jerusalem, the captives from the capital, which is in Sepharad, either Sardis or Sparta, shall possess the cities of the South, the names being given only as representative of nations nearby.
v. 21. And saviors, men who would bring the deliverance of the Lord, shall come up on Mount Zion, appearing in the Church of the Lord as His messengers, to judge the mount of Esau, as typical of the entire heathen world; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s; for Jehovah’s Kingdom of Grace will be established throughout the world. The entire paragraph evidently sets forth the marvelous deliverance of the people of the Lord from the oppression of all their enemies and their preservation in the Church of the Messiah, which, from being the Church Militant here in time, will merge into the Church Triumphant in eternity.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
In verses 16-21, Yahweh speaks through Obadiah to tell the people of Judah that they will possess the land of Edom.
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those that escape
These are the people of Jerusalem that are still alive after Yahweh has finished punishing the city. This can be made explicit. AT: "some of the Israelites who escape the punishment of Yahweh" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
it will be holy
The word "it" refers to "mount Zion."
house of Jacob will be a fire ... Joseph a flame
Yahweh speaks of the houses of Jacob and Joseph as if they were fire because they will destroy Esau like a fire that quickly and completely burns up straw. (See: Metaphor)
the house of Jacob
The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house. In this case it refers to Jacob's descendants. AT: "descendants of Jacob" (See: Metonymy)
stubble
The dry pieces of plants that are left in the ground after the stalks have been cut.
and they
The word "they" refers to the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph.
will burn them
The word "them" refers to the descendants of Esau, who are the nation of Edom.
There will be no survivors to the house of Esau
"Not one person of the house of Esau will survive"
the house of Esau
The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house. In this case it refers to Esau's descendants. AT: "descendants of Esau" (See: Metonymy)
for Yahweh has spoken it
This is an oath formula that means it will certainly happen because Yahweh said it.
translationWords
Zion
holy
house
Jacob
possess
fire
Joseph (OT)
Esau
consume
Yahweh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:17 Jerusalem would become a refuge for those who…
1:17 Jerusalem would become a refuge for those who escape. A remnant of Judah remained in Jerusalem (see Jer 40:11-12). The Lord’s mountain of refuge sharply contrasts with Edom’s failed cliff fortresses. • their inheritance: The land God gave to Abraham (Gen 12:1-7) would be returned to his descendants in perpetuity. • the people of Israel: This promise of a return for the people of Judah but not for the Edomites was picked up by the prophet Malachi (Mal 1:4-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.