Obadiah, Book of

The Book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament — a single chapter of 21 verses — a prophecy against Edom, the nation descended from Esau, Jacob's brother. The prophet Obadiah is otherwise unknown; his book is undated, though many scholars place it shortly after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, when Edomites aided or gloated over the conquest of their Israelite kinsmen. Obadiah 1:11–14 accuses Edom of standing aloof, rejoicing at Jerusalem's fall, and cutting off its fugitives.

The book's central theme is divine retribution against Edom's pride: The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock... Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the LORD (verses 3–4). It closes with a vision of the restoration of Israel's fortunes and the declaration that the kingdom shall be the LORD's (verse 21). Paul may echo Obadiah's theme in Romans 9:13 (Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated), a quotation from Malachi that encapsulates the same Esau/Edom tradition.