Obadiah+Background

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= Obadiah Background =

1. Author Background
a. Name means Servant of the Lord or Worshiper of the Lord b. Mentions of Jerusalem, Judah and Zion suggest he belong to southern kingdom (Obadiah 1:11, 12, 17)

c. A lot of similarities to Jeremiah 49 and could be seen as quoting from him d. Not much else is known

2. Date
a. Depends which battle against Jerusalem the Edomites were associated with, the following are the four major battles

i. By Shishak, during Rehoboam’s reign in 926 BC ii. By the Philistines and Arabians during reigh of Jehoram 848-841 BC iii. By King Jehoash of Israel during the reign of Amaziah in 790 BC iv. By Babylon 605-586 BC b. Most conservative scholars take battle #2, since there isn’t total destruction of the city where Babylon does destroy Jerusalem in battle #4

3. People Group Addressed
a. Unbelieving Gentiles who oppressed Israel b. Grace to believing Israel

4. Major Themes to look for
a. Judgment and destruction of Edom b. Justice of God

5. Background to why book was written
a. Edom was oppressing Israel throughout history and God will cut them off forever and that no one shall remain in the house of Esau (Edom) b. Comes back to the Jacob and Esau conflict which is found in Genesis 25

Bible History: Old Testament, Alfred Edersheim

Bible Knowledge Commentary The New American Commentary The MacArthur Study Bible Harper’s Bible Dictionary

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