DRAFT: A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Obadiah

Kuruvilla Thomas
Bangalore
Published on 7 May 2024 *

Fig. 1

Introduction

This study treats Obadiah as a cryptochiasmus in order to arrive at a coherent reconfiguration of the text ( see definition of cryptochiasmus in [1] ). If you wish to skip the technicalities of a chiastic parse, you may read starting from Section 4 of the Discussion section, which has the reconfigured text.

Obadiah may appear to be mainly regarding the defeat of ancient Edom, but we show with this reconfiguration that the prophecy primarily predicts the defeat and destruction of Satan worshippers at the start of Christ's Millennial Reign.

Discussion

1. Presuppositions

We base our parse of Obadiah on the assumption that it refers to 3 periods:

1. The Defeat of Jerusalem and Edom by the Babylonians (c.587BC - c.553BC). Nebuchadnezzar devastates Jerusalem and Nabonidus invades Edom.
2. Idumea is captured by the Judahites (c 110BC) and then destroyed by the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (110BC-73AD).
3. Satan's Empires, 'Babylon' and the Beast, are Destroyed at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD).

2. Parsing the chiasmus

We will use the NIV Bible for this parse.

Parsing this chiasmus involves dividing portions of the text into three categories as above. We will call the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and Edom by the Babylonians Period 1, the First Jewish-Roman War Period 2 and the start of Christ's Millennial Reign Period 3. ( Note that there is close correspondence between this book and Jer. 49:7-22, which we have similarly parsed [6].)

Categorizing Obadiah

Vs 1c-7 belong to Period 3. The defeat of Satan's empires, "Babylon" and the Beast, at the start of the Millennial Reign. (Although this passage seems to be about ancient Edom, some of the details do not fit Edom, for ex.,there is no record of the hidden treasures of vs 6 or the great betrayal of vs 7.)

vs 8-9 belong to Period 1. God predicts the destruction of all of ancient Edom, and He particularly mentions its wise men. ( Categorizing vs 8 as Period 3 would introduce interpretation issues with the phrase "Mountains of Edom" in vs 19-21.)

vs 10 belong to Period 2. The Edomites (Idumeans in this Period) are no longer a distinct people after the First Jewish-Roman war; they are destroyed because of their historical animosity towards the people of Israel.

vs 11-14 belong to Period 1. The Edomites gloat over Jerusalem's defeat by Nebuchadnezzar and even attack the Judahites in their weakened condition.

vs 15-21 belongs to Period 3. The Beast empire will be defeated on the "Day of the Lord" of this Period. Israel will expand into surrounding nations. ( Period 1 of the previous subunit does not have one of the "Days of the Lord" of Joel [3]. )

Original text

We color-code the chiastic units of the original text (NIV) below for easy visual identification using: red for Period 1, blue for Period 2 and green for Period 3. We have retranslated parts of the text.

Obadiah 1c We have heard a rumour from the Lord. An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Rise, let us go against her for battle.” [a]
2 “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ 4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord. 5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night, oh, how you are ruined! But would [b] they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? 6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! 7 All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it.
8 “In that day,” declares the Lord, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, those of understanding in the mountains of Esau? 9 Your great men [c], Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter.
10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.
11 In the day that you stood on the other side— In the day that strangers carried away his wealth, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem— Even you were as one of them.[d] 12 You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.
13 You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster. 14 You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble.
15 “The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. 16 Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been. 17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance. 18 Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The Lord has spoken.
19 People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau. The [e] people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20 This company of Israelite exiles will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; [f] the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev. 21 Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.

Retranslation notes for Obadiah:
[a] vs 1 'We have heard a rumour from the Lord. An envoy was sent to the nations to say,“Rise, let us go against her for battle.”' instead of 'We have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Rise, let us go against her for battle"—'. Primarily changed the punctuation.
[b] vs 5 "night, oh, how you are ruined! But would" instead of "night— oh, what a disaster awaits you!— would".
[c] vs 9 "great men" instead of "warriors".
[d] vs 11 is based on the NKJV.
[e] vs 19 "Esau. The" instead of "Esau, and". (Modified for the chiasmus.)
[f] vs 20 "will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath" instead of "who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath".

3. Building the reconfigured text

From this parse, it appears that Obadiah forms a cryptochiasmus as below:

A1   vs 1c-7 Period 3. Satan's empires are defeated at the start of the Millennial Reign
  B1   vs 8-9 Period 1. Edom is punished
    X   vs 10 Period 2. Edom is destroyed during the First Jewish-Roman war
  B2   vs 11-14 Period 1. The Edomites assault the Judahites
A2   vs 15-21 Period 3. The Beast is defeated and the New Israel expands into surrounding regions

We now reconstruct the passages in the right order based on the chiastic structure above and based on the ordering rules of a cryptochiasmus [1].

We lead with central pivot point 'X'. The corresponding subunits (For example; subunit A1 corresponds to A2) are placed contiguously to form units (For example, A1,A2 is a unit ) so that we get a list of such units.

The sequence selected for rearrangement is:

X  [A1,A2]  [B1,B2]        (1)

Translating (1) into verse numbers, we get:

vs 10  [vs 1c-7, vs 15-21]   [vs 8-9, vs 11-14]        (2)

We arrive at the reconfigured passage in the next section by rearranging the verses so they are in sequence (2).

4. Obadiah Reconfigured

Idumea is captured by the Judahites (c 110BC) and then destroyed by the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (110BC-73AD) (vs 10)



Satan's Empires 'Babylon' and the Beast are Destroyed at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD) (vs 1c-7, vs 15-21)

Chiasmus 1: Satan's empires, Babylon and the Beast, are destroyed


Chiasmus 2: The New Israel will expand to occupy surrounding regions



The Defeat of Jerusalem and Edom by the Babylonians (c. 587BC - c. 553BC) (vs 8-9, vs 11-14)

5. A Commentary on the Reconfigured Text

5.0 Introductory Statement (vs 1a)

Chapter 1 1a The vision of Obadiah.

This title identifies the author of this prophecy as Obadiah, whose name means "Worshipper of God"; nothing else is known about this prophet. We propose that this prophecy was made shortly before the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem (c 587) in Period 1.

1b This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom.

This passage introduces the prophecy in the chiasmus. The three Periods of this chiasmus are regarding three different kinds of "Edom": Edom at the time of the prophecy in Period 1; Idumea (the Greek name for Edom), which had come under Judea's control in Period 2; and modern "Edom", Satan's empires of "Babylon" and the Beast in Period 3.

5.1 Idumea is captured by the Judahites (c 110BC) and then destroyed by the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (110BC-73AD) (vs 10)

This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 10a Idumea is destroyed for its past aggression against Israel (66-73AD)
    X 10b Idumea is humiliated by the Judahites (110BC)
A2 10c Idumea is destroyed for its past aggression against Israel (66-73AD)

Subunit A1: Idumea is destroyed for its past aggression against Israel (66-73AD) (10a)

10a Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,

The Edomites/Idumeans, the descendants of Esau, had repeatedly fought the Israelites ("Jacob"), their "brother nation" (Esau was Jacob's brother - Deut. 23:7), and committed atrocities against them (see Amos 1:11-12).

Pivot X: Idumea is humiliated by the Judahites (110BC) (10b)

10b you will be covered with shame;

Idumea was humiliatingly annexed by their rivals, the Judahites under the Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus I (110BC), and the Idumeans were compelled to convert to Judaism and to follow Judahite laws.

Subunit A2: Idumea is destroyed for its past aggression against Israel (66-73AD) (10c)

10c you will be destroyed forever.

Although the Idumeans attempted to "save Jerusalem" during the Zealot Temple siege (68AD), God eternally destroyed them during the Jewish-Roman War for their past sins as a people (see corresponding unit A1 above) - after this assault by the Romans, the Idumeans no longer existed as a distinct people. But the Idumeans who believed in Jesus (see Mark 3:8) escaped this massacre (Matt. 24:15-16) and joined the community of Christian Judahites, so the two ever-hostile "brother nations" were united as one people under Christ.

5.2 Satan's Empires 'Babylon' and the Beast are Destroyed at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD) (vs 1c-7, vs 15-21)

Satan's Kingdoms ('Babylon' and the Beast) are called 'Esau' (a synonym for 'Edom') in this Period, but in what sense does 'Esau'/'Edom' represent Satan's kingdoms? It may be that just as Esau, the father of the Edomites, sold his birthright for a meal (Gen. 25:29-34), Satan's worshippers (those who make up 'Babylon' and the Beast army) have sold their souls and their inheritance in Christ's eternal kingdom for relatively trifling temporal benefits (see 1 Tim. 6:10, Heb. 12:16,17) (Satan's kingdoms are called 'Edom' in a few other prophecies as well. for ex., see Isaiah 63:1, Malachi [7], Jer. 49:7-22 [6]).

This Period is structured as a series of 2 chiasmi.

Chiasmus 1: Satan's empires, Babylon and the Beast, are destroyed

The passage below in 1c-7, 15-18 is structured as a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 1c-4 The Beast army is defeated when it attacks Israel
    X 5-7 "Babylon" is destroyed
A2 15-18 The Beast army is defeated when it attacks Israel

Subunit A1: The Beast army is defeated when it attacks Israel (1c-4)

1c We have heard a rumour from the Lord. An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Rise, let us go against her for battle.”

The people of earth hear a "rumour", a "rumour" that originates from God. On receiving this message, the leader of the Beast sends an envoy to the countries that make up the Beast empire and its allies ("nations") in order to invite them to jointly assault the New Israel ("let us go against her for battle"). So this "rumour" from God incites these wicked nations to attack His own nation, the New Israel, an assault that leads to the Beast army's own destruction (see also Jeremiah 49:14, Ezekiel 39:2, Isaiah 30:28, Rev. 14:18-20).

2 “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ 4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.

Addressing the Beast empire (in 1:2-4), God predicts that the powerful empire will be defeated, destroyed and despised ("small among the nations"). The Beast has enjoyed great security, power and wealth ("you who live in the clefts of the rocks...") through its association with Satan, and this has made them proud and arrogant (see Rev 13:5-7). But God will bring them down to the dust from their "nest among the stars" in this Period (see also Jeremiah 49:15,16, Ezekiel 39).

Pivot X: "Babylon" is destroyed (5-7)

In this pivot, God addresses Satan's empire of "Babylon", a worldwide cabal of Satan worshippers.

5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night, oh, how you are ruined! But would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? 6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged!

Thieves do not usually steal everything, grape pickers leave gleanings, but 'Babylon'/'Esau' will be utterly destroyed and looted, with nothing remaining of its gargantuan secret stores of wealth (see Rev 18:14-19). For the righteous of the world will rise up to completely destroy this wicked oppressor (see also Jeremiah 49:9-10, Isaiah 13:2-5, Rev. 18:6,7).

7 All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it.

The allies of "Babylon", those who helped it control the world, will rise up against the wicked members of "Babylon" in their midst and expel them ("force you to the border") (see also Isaiah 16:1-2). The "Babylonian's" had controlled the world through deception, and now they themselves are trapped and defeated through the deceit of those they trusted.

Subunit A2: The Beast army is defeated when it attacks Israel (15-18)

15 “The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.

On this "Day of the Lord", the Beast army and its allies ("nations"), who had been incited into attacking the New Israel, are destroyed (see Joel 3:2,14 Ezekiel 39, Rev 19:17-21, Rev 14:18-20) (this is one of the three great "Days of the Lord" of Joel - see [3]). During its reign, the Beast had tormented and killed the righteous, and now it is punished for its wickedness (Rev 13:7).

16 Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been.

Just as the Israelites ("you" - this passage is addressed to the Israelites) had suffered the wrath of God for their sins ("drank on my holy hill" from the cup of God's wrath), now the Beast army will similarly face God's great punishment ("drink continually"), even to annihilation ("as if they had never been") (see Rev. 19:19-21, Rev. 14:20, Ezekiel 39:17-21, cf. Jer. 25:15, Psalm 75:8).

17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.

The Israelites need no longer fear the tyranny of wicked nations, for the Beast will be defeated and the coming Messiah, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), will begin his reign at the New Israel ("Mount Zion"). The New Israel ("Jacob") will be dedicated to God ("holy"), and will be the homeland of the Israelites (their "inheritance") (see also Joel 3:17).

18 Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The Lord has spoken.

Through a miraculous act of God, the wicked people that make up Satan's Beast army ("Esau") will be completely destroyed by fire when they come to destroy Israel ("Jacob"/"Joseph") (see Isaiah 29:5-6, Isaiah 30:30-32). Israel is called "Joseph" here, because the tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, make up the majority of the New Israel.

Chiasmus 2: The New Israel will expand to occupy surrounding regions

The passage below in 19-21 is structured as a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 19a The Israelites will oversee the nations of the Beast empire
    X 19b-20 Israel will expand into the surrounding regions
A2 21 The Israelites will oversee the nations of the Beast empire

Subunit A1: The Israelites will oversee the nations of the Beast empire (19a)

19a People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau.

During the Millennial Reign, a few people from Israel ("the Negev") will occupy some of the cities of the nations ("mountains") that make up the Beast empire ("Esau") (see also Isaiah 19:18); they will help in overseeing these nations for God. ( The New Israel is synecdochically called the "Negev", one of the "directions" into which Israel grows - see Pivot X below.)

Pivot X: Israel will expand into the surrounding regions (19b-20)

19b The people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20 This company of Israelite exiles will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev.

The New Israel of the Millennial Age will expand outward to occupy surrounding nations (see also Isaiah 54:2,3, Zechariah 10:10), and this is metaphorically indicated by this prediction that the Judahites will move into regions surrounding Judea.

The figurative language of this passage is involved:

• The New Israel is represented by Judea. At the time of the prophecy (shortly before Nebuchadnezzar's final attack on Jerusalem c. 587BC), the land of the Israelites consisted only of Judea. So the regions in Judea - the "foothills", "Benjamin", and "Sepharad" - synecdochically represent the New Israel of this Period (the location of Sepharad is unknown, but, based on the context, we believe it was a region of Judea - "Sepharad" is rendered "Ephratha" in the LXX).
• "Israelite exiles" and "exiles from Jerusalem" are synonymous here and represent all the Israelites.
• The regions into which the New Israel will expand are represented by regions surrounding Judea in all directions: "Ephraim" and "Samaria" represent the northern region, "Gilead" the east; the "Negev" the south, and the "land of the Philistines" and "the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath" represent the western direction (Zeraphath is near Tyre).

Note that none of these region names in this chiasmus (vs 19-21) are to be taken literally, as the New Israel of this Period will be located elsewhere.

Subunit A2: The Israelites will oversee the nations of the Beast empire (21)

21 Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.

Deliverers will rise up in the New Israel ("Mount Zion") and take control of the nations ("mountains") of the Beast empire ("Esau"), and they will oversee these lands for God (see also Micah 5:5-6).

5.3 The Defeat of Jerusalem and Edom by the Babylonians (c. 587BC - c. 553BC) (vs 8-9, vs 11-14)

This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 8-9 Edom is punished for its assaults on the Judahites
    X 11-12 Edom gloats over Judah's misfortune
A2 13-14 Edom is punished for its assaults on the Judahites

Subunit A1: Edom is punished for its assaults on the Judahites (8-9)

8 “In that day,” declares the Lord, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, those of understanding in the mountains of Esau? 9 Your great men, Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter.

The Babylonian king Nabonidus invaded Edom, devastated it and slaughtered its people c. 553BC (see Ezekiel 25:12-14). This defeat is considered the beginning of the end of Edom (see also Malachi 1:3-4): they were forced to move west from their land to the south of Judea by the Nabateans (by the 2nd century); incorporated into the Jewish nation by the Maccabees in Period 2 (c. 125BC); and were no longer a nation after a Roman slaughter in Period 2 (c 70AD).

The "wise men" of Edom may be specifically mentioned here because ancient Edom, especially Teman, was known for its wisdom (Baruch 3:22,23, Job 2:11); these "wise" and "great" leaders seem to have have led the Edomites into the foolish acts that angered God (see Jer 49:7), as detailed in vs 13-14 in the corresponding subunit A2 below. ( In this Period, "Esau's mountains" and "mountains of Esau", are synonyms for Edom.)

Pivot X: Edom gloats over Judah's misfortune (11-12)

11 In the day that you stood on the other side— In the day that strangers carried away his wealth, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem— Even you were as one of them.

Around 34 years prior to Nabonidus' assault on Edom, Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Jerusalem to end a rebellion by the Judahite vassal king Zedekiah (c. 587BC). Jerusalem was plundered, even the temple, and most of the Judahites were taken into captivity. These pagan conquerors entered God's holy city and divided the spoils among themselves ("cast lots") - a great humiliation for the Judahites. The Edomites, instead of attempting to help their "brother nation", watched with hostility ("stood on the other side", "were as one of them") (see also Ezekiel 35).

12 You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.

The Edomites gloated and rejoiced over the humiliation and misery of their "brother" Judahites, God's chosen people (see Psalms 137:7). This prophecy was made before Jerusalem's fall in 587BC (we take vs 11 to be in the "prophetic perfect tense"), so this passage and the one in 13-14 below are warnings from Obadiah to the Edomites, warnings that were ignored.

Subunit A2: Edom is punished for its assaults on the Judahites (13-14)

13 You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster. 14 You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble.

The Edomites participated in this Babylonian destruction and plunder (587BC) (1 Esdras 4:45), and even aided in the slaughter and enslavement of the Judahites (Ezekiel 35:5,6).

A few years later, the Edomites invaded and settled in the northern Negev in the territory of Judah (Ezekiel 35:10-11). Judah was a province of Babylon at that time, and so this encroachment by Edom may have provoked a retaliatory strike by Nabonidus.

Conclusion

With this chiastic reconstruction of the text, we have shown that the book of Obadiah contains prophecies on three distinct Periods. This passage has a straightforward chiastic structure but its structure and meaning is hidden through the choice of metaphors. The defeats of Edom in Period 1&2 seem to be types of the defeat of Satan worshippers at the start of the Millennial Reign.

References

[1] A Definition of Cryptochiasmus
[2] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The 70 Weeks Of Daniel"
[3] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Joel
[4] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 8
[5] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Revelation 4-22, Part 2
[6] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Jeremiah 49:7-22
[7] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Malachi





* First version published on 27 September 2021.