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Introduction
to Obadiah
INTRODUCTION TO OBADIAH
The
title of this Book
in the Hebrew copies
is usually "Sepher Obadiah"
the Book of Obadiah: the Vulgate Latin version calls it the Prophecy of
Obadiah; and so the Arabic version: and in the Syriac version it is
the
Prophecy of the Prophet Obadiah. His name signifies a "servant" or
"worshipper of the Lord". Who he was
what his parentage
and in what
age he lived
are things uncertain. The Seder Olam ZutaF1P. 103.
places him in the reign of Jehoshaphat: and he is thought by some to be that
Obadiah that was one of the princes he sent to teach the people
2 Chronicles 17:7.
The ancient Jewish Rabbins take him to be the same with him that lived in the
times of Ahab
and in his court
who hid the prophets by fifty in a cave
and
fed them
1 Kings 18:3; to
which Aben Ezra objects
because he is not called a prophet
only one that
feared the Lord; whereas to be a prophet is something greater. They also say he
was an Edomite by birth
but was proselyted to the Jewish religion
and so a
fit person to be employed in prophesying against Edom; and it is a tradition
with them that his widow is the woman whose cruse of oil Elisha multiplied
2 Kings 4:1. Some
have been of opinion that he was the captain of the third fifty
whose life
Elijah spared in the times of Ahaziah; and who upon that left the king's
service
and followed the prophet
and became a disciple of his; so
Pseudo-EpiphaniusF2De Prophet. Vid. c. 15.
and Isidorus
HispalensisF3De Vita & Mort. Sanct. c
44.
who say that he was
of Sychem
a city of Samaria
and of the field of Bethachamar
or Bethaccaron.
Others would have him to be one of the overseers of the workmen in the house of
the Lord
in the times of Josiah
2 Chronicles 34:12;
to which Mr. LivelyF4In loc. inclines; though others
going
according to the order of the books in the canon of Scripture
which is not to
be depended on
place him earlier
and make him contemporary with Hosea
Joel
and Amos
as GrotiusF5In loc.
HuetiusF6Demonstrat.
Evangel. Prop. 4. p. 290.
and LightfootF7Works
vol. 1. p. 96. :
but he seems rather to be contemporary with Jeremiah and Ezekiel
with whose
prophecies this agrees
as may be observed by comparing it with Jeremiah 49:1; and
to have lived and prophesied after the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Chaldeans; in which the Edomites
against whom he prophesies
had a concern;
see Obadiah 1:11;
though Dr. Lightfoot thinks these prophecies refer either to the sacking of
Jerusalem by Shishak king of Egypt
1 Kings 14:25; or
by the Philistines and Arabians
2 Chronicles 21:16;
or by Joash king of Israel
2 Chronicles 25:21;
so that
upon the whole
it is not certain; and
as Aben Ezra and Kimchi own
it is not known in what age this prophet lived: Bishop UsherF8Annales
Vet. Test. A. M. 3417 or 587 B.C. places his prophecy in the twelfth year of
Jeconiah's captivity. However
there is no doubt to be made of the authenticity
of the prophecy; as may be concluded
not only from the title of it
and the
solemn manner in which it begins; but from the matter of it
and the
accomplishment of what is contained in it; as well as from the testimony borne
to it in the New Testament
in which not only the book of the minor prophets
in which this stands
is quoted
Acts 7:42; but a
passage in it
Obadiah 1:8; is
referred to in 1 Corinthians 1:19;
as is thought by some learned men. I have only to observe
that
according to
Pseudo-EpiphaniusF9Ut supra. (De Prophet. Vid. c. 15.)
he died in
Bethachamar
where he is said to be born
and was buried in the sepulchre of
his ancestors; but
according to JeromF11Comment. in loc. & in
Epitaph. Paulae
fol. 59. M. and IsidoreF12Ut supra. (De Vita &
Mort. Sanct. c
44.)
his sepulchre is in Sebaste or Samaria; which remained
to the times of Jerom
near those of the Prophet Elisha and John the Baptist.
Monsieur ThevenotF13Travels
par. 1. B. 1. ch. 56. p. 216. says that
John Baptist here lies buried between the Prophets Elisha and Abdias.
Commentator
John Gill (November 23
1697-October 14
1771) was an English Baptist
a biblical scholar
and a staunch Calvinist.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism is a matter of academic debate.
He was born in Kettering
Northamptonshire.
In his youth
he attended Kettering Grammar School
mastering the Latin
classics and learning Greek by age eleven. The young scholar continued
self-study in everything from logic to Hebrew. His love for Hebrew would follow
Gill throughout his life.
At the age of about twelve
Gill heard a
sermon from his pastor
William Wallis
on the text
"And the Lord called
unto Adam
and said unto him
where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). The message
stayed with Gill and eventually led to his conversion. It was not until seven
years later that young John made a public profession when he was almost
nineteen years of age.
His first pastoral work was as an intern
assisting John Davis at Higham Ferrers in 1718 at age twenty one. He was
subsequently called to pastor the Strict Baptist church at Goat Yard Chapel
Horsleydown
Southwark in 1719. In 1757
his congregation needed larger
premises and moved to a Carter Lane
St. Olave's Street
Southwark. His
pastorate lasted 51 years. This Baptist Church was once pastored by Benjamin
Keach and would later become the New Park Street Chapel and then the
Metropolitan Tabernacle pastored by Charles Spurgeon.
During Gill's ministry the church strongly
supported the preaching of George Whitefield at nearby Kennington Common.
In 1748
Gill was awarded the honorary degree
of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Aberdeen. He was a profound scholar
and a prolific author. His most important works are:
John Gill is the first major writing Baptist
theologian. His work retains its influence into the twenty-first century.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism in English Baptist life is a matter of
debate. Peter Toon has argued that Gill was himself a hyper-Calvinist
which
would make Gill the father of Baptist hyper-Calvinism. Tom Nettles has argued
that Gill was not a hyper-Calvinist himself
which would make him merely a
precursor and hero to Baptist hyper-Calvinists.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James Version Bible
NKJV
The
NKJV was commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
One-hundred-and-thirty respected Bible scholars
church leaders
and lay
Christians worked for seven years with the goal of updating the vocabulary and
grammar of the King James Version
while preserving the classic style of the of
the 1611 version.
The
task of updating the English of the KJV involved many changes in word order
grammar
vocabulary
and spelling. One of the most significant features of the
NKJV was its removal of the second person pronouns "thou"
"thee"
"ye
" "thy
" and "thine." Verb
forms were also modernized in the NKJV (for example
"speaks" rather
than "speaketh").
Young’s
Literal Translation was completed in 1898 by Robert Young
who also compiled
Young’s Analytical Concordance. It is an extremely literal translation that
attempts to preserve the tense and word usage as found in the original Greek
and Hebrew writings. The online text is from a reprint of the 1898 edition as
published by Baker Book House
Grand Rapids
Michigan. Obvious errors in
spelling or inconsistent spellings of the same word were corrected in the
online edition of the text. This text is Public Domain in the United States.