Obadiah 1:10

For [thy] violence against thy brother Jacob,.... Which is aggravated: by being against Jacob, an honest plain hearted man, and whom the Lord loved; his brother, his own brother, a twin brother, yea,

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob.

For thy violence: though Idumeans were guilty of many other and great sins, they are here charged with this as the great crying sin, inhuman cruelty and perfidiousness; they did mercilessly spoil and basely betray the Jews, which will be particularly mentioned in the following verses. Against thy brother: Edomites, the posterity of Esau, and the Jews, the posterity of Jacob, are here called brothers, for that the fathers of both people were brothers, twins; and this nearness of blood should have been remembered, and kindness should have still run through the blood and kindred. It is a great sin to be cruel and false to any, but greatest sin to be so to a brother. Jacob; put for his children. Shame shall cover thee; contempt and reproaches shall by all men be cast upon thee, and cover thee as a garment, or swallow thee up. God and man shall pour shame upon thee, thy memory shall be retained with condemnation to shame, and thy end shall be in shame too. Thou shalt be cut off for ever; never more be a nation or kingdom; which was in a very great degree fulfilled in the cutting them off by the sword of Nebuchadnezzar. See ,10 Ezekiel 35:9, threatens the like desolation.

Obadiah 1:10 For [thy] violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.Ver. 10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob] For thine open violence. Hence tachmas, the vulture, who liveth by rapine, Leviticus 11:14. Thine iniquity, rapine, injury done by force and in public view, set upon the "top of a rock," that all might behold it, Ezekiel 24:7. Against thy brother] Thine own mother’ s son, Psalms 50:20. This is no small aggravation of thy sin, that is in germanum Iacob, thy nearest allies. Edom had other sins not a few; but this was the chief, and is therefore here and elsewhere chiefly alleged as the cause of their utter ruin,. Nothing is more hateful to God than unnaturalness. "A brother is born for adversity," Proverbs 17:17; his birth binds him to it: and he must first offer violence to himself that is unkind to his distressed brother; he must tear the dictates of nature out of his own heart. And however at other times brethren may jar and jangle, yet at a strait, and in a stress good nature (if there be any remains of it) will work; and good blood will not belie itself. Israel was charged for this cause not to abhor an Edomite, because he was his brother, Deuteronomy 23:7; and yet the Edomites used them as discourteously in their passage to Canaan as the Moabites and Ammonites did, Numbers 20:20-21; they were also their perpetual enemies, and of a devilish, vindictive spirit toward them to the very last; hence their ensuing doom. Shame shall cover thee] For thy violence covering thee as a garment, and for thy pride compassing thee as a chain, Psalms 73:6. The face of such as are ashamed is wont to be covered with blushing, the blood flushing to the outward parts to relieve them, and, as it were, to hide their shame. Hence the Hebrews say, that those that blush for shame "are covered with shame," Micah 7:10 Psalms 69:9; Psalms 35:26; Psalms 109:29 Job 18:20. Those that "shame the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge," Psalms 14:6, shall themselves be covered with confusion here, and be raised up at the last day "to shame and everlasting contempt," Daniel 12:2. And thou shalt be cut off for ever] “ Aeternuum, ex ima decisus stirpe, peribis. ” Isaiah prophesieth the same irreparable ruin to Edom, Isaiah 34:10, and so doth Ezekiel, Ezekiel 35:9. That which Jeremiah speaketh of seventy years’ continuance only of their serving the king of Babel, Jeremiah 25:11, is not meant of an end of their captivity, but of the Babylonish monarchy.

10-16.—THE DIVINE BY EDOM’S GUILT. This justification takes the form of a warning against a repetition of the crimes which have already called forth the sentence of Divine wrath against Edom. Various acts of hostility and treachery towards Israel are specified by the prophet, in a manner to lead to the feeling that though his tone is prohibitory, he is recalling instances of past malignity on Edom’s part, as types of what might be found in the future. (10) For thy violence . . .—Literally, for injury of thy brother Jacob, &c.; the genitive of the object, as in Joe 3:19. The crime was the more heinous because against the brother tribe. Probably the birth-name, Jacob, of the twin brother of Esau is used purposely to bring out the full wickedness of the descendants of Esau. In spite of all provocations, Israel long maintained the duty of a friendly feeling for the kindred race—maintained it as a religious duty (Deuteronomy 2:5; Deuteronomy 23:7). On the other hand, Edom from the first assumed a jealous and hostile attitude (Numbers 20:14, seqq.), never imitating the generous disposition of their great ancestor (Genesis 33:4). Shame shall cover thee.—Comp. Micah 7:10; Jeremiah 3:25. (11) In the day . . .—Literally, In the day of thy standing over against, as if to particularise some one occasion; but instead of proceeding to state it, the prophet recalls other events of the same time, and sums up Edom’s offence in the charge, “thou, too, as one of them,” acting the part of an enemy instead of that of a friend, though probably in the base character of a neutral (comp. “My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore,” Psalms 38:11), ready to take the winning side. Forces.—It is difficult to choose between this and the marginal reading, substance. Shâvah is usually “to take prisoner,” but there are many instances of its use in the sense of carrying off booty (1 Chronicles 5:21; 2 Chronicles 21:17, where see marg., and 2 Chronicles 14:14). And chayil, whose root-meaning is strength, while often meaning forces, has eleven times the meaning riches (Isaiah 8:4, &c.), and eight times substance (Job 5:5, &c.). The three clauses in this verse form a climax:—(1) The plunder of the open country; (2) entry into the gates of the cities; (3) casting lots for the spoil in the very capital itself. It is natural to regard this latter event as identical with that in Joe 3:3, the final destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion of its inhabitants into captivity. But for the question of the event intended and its connection with the date of the prophecy, see Excursus. (12) Thou shouldest not . . .—Here, and in Obadiah 1:13-14, correctly as in marg., Do not, &c. Al with the apoc. pres. or fut. must be prohibitory. Calasio’s Concordance supplies 207 instances (see Pusey’s note). But the warning against these particular offences undoubtedly springs from the reminiscence of such conduct in former times. The passage is neither definitely historical nor definitely prophetic.

Verse 10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob] By this term the Israelites in general are understood; for the two brothers, - Jacob, from whom sprang the Jews, and Esau, from whom sprang the Idumeans or Edomites, - are here put for the whole people or descendants of both. We need not look for particular cases of the violence of the Edomites against the Jews. Esau, their founder, was not more inimical to his brother Jacob, who deprived him of his birthright, than the Edomites uniformly were to the Jews. See 2 Chronicles 28:17-18. They had even stimulated the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, to destroy the temple, and level it with the ground. See Psalms 137:7.

10–14. The Cause of Edom’s Destruction The scene changes. Another picture of violence and cruelty now rises before the prophet’s eyes. He sees Jerusalem encompassed by enemies and overcome. Strangers carry away captive her forces, foreigners enter into her gates. And there, not only standing aside in unbrotherly neutrality, but exulting with malicious joy, speaking words of proud scorn, doing acts of robbery and wrong, are seen the Edomites. The two pictures, one of the past, the other of the future, he is commissioned to portray before the eyes of men, and to reveal the hidden link that binds them together in the relationship of cause and effect. Obadiah 1:10 contains a general statement of the sin and its punishment. In Obadiah 1:11-14 the prophet writes in the impassioned strain of a spectator and describes at length the sin. The punishment is further described in Obadiah 1:15-16.

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob - To Israel God had commanded: (Deuteronomy 23:7-8 (Deuteronomy 23:8, Deuteronomy 23:9 in the Hebrew text)), “Thou shalt not abbor an Edomite, for he is thy brother.

10. Violence — As already stated (see on Obadiah 1:9), “slaughter” (Obadiah 1:9) should be connected with “violence”; the one referring to personal suffering, the other to the violence done to religious customs and institutions.