Obadiah 1:20

And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
captivity	וְגָלֻ֣ת ve.ga.Lut	H1546	captivity · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
host	הַֽחֵל ha.chel-	H2426	an army · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
children	לִבְנֵ֨י liv.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
Canaanites	כְּנַעֲנִים֙ ke.na.'a.Nim	H3669	a Kenaanite or inhabitant of Kenaan · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
Zarephath	צָ֣רְפַ֔ת tza.re.Fat	H6886	Tsarephath · proper noun, a place name
captivity	וְגָלֻ֥ת ve.ga.Lut	H1546	captivity · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
Jerusalem	יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם ye.ru.sha.Lim	H3389	Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
Sepharad	בִּסְפָרַ֑ד bis.fa.Rad	H5614	Sepharad · preposition + proper noun, a place name
possess	יִֽרְשׁ֕וּ yir.Shu	H3423	to occupy (by driving out previous tenants · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
cities	עָרֵ֥י 'a.Rei	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common masculine plural construct
south	הַנֶּֽגֶב ha.Ne.gev	H5045	the south (from its drought) · definite article + proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Kings 17:9-10 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
Luke 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Jeremiah 32:44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about…
Jeremiah 33:13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places ab…
Jeremiah 3:18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land…
Jeremiah 13:19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carrie…
Jeremiah 33:26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham…
Ezekiel 34:12-13 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Obadiah 1:17–end

After the destruction of the church's enemies is threatened, which will be completely accomplished in the great day of recompence, and that judgment for which Christ came once, and will come again, into this world, here follow precious promises of the salvation of the church, with which this prophecy concludes, and those of Joel and Amos did, which, however they might be in part fulfilled in the return of the Jews out of Babylon notwithstanding the triumphs of Edom in their captivity, as if it were perpetual, are yet, doubtless, to have their full accomplishment in that great salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ, to which all the prophets bore witness. It is promised here, I. That there sha…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Obadiah 1:20

the captivity of this host--that is, the captives of this multitude of Israelites. shall possess that of the Canaanites--MAURER translates, "the captives . . . whom the Canaanites (carried away captive into PhÅ“nicia) even unto Zarephath, shall possess the south," namely, Idumea as well as the south (). HENDERSON, similarly, "the captives that are among the Canaanites," &c. But the corresponding clauses of the parallelism are better balanced in English Version, "the ten tribes of Israel shall possess the territory of the Canaanites," namely, Western Palestine and PhÅ“nicia (). "And the captives of Jerusalem (and Judah) shall possess the southern cities," namely, Edom, &c. Each has the regi…

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Adam Clarke on Obadiah 1:20

Zarephath - Sarepta, a city of the Sidonians, Kg1 17:9. That is, they should possess the whole city of Phoenicia, called here that of the Canaanites. Which is in Sepharad - This is a difficult word. Some think the Bosphorus is meant; others, Spain; others, France; others, the Euphrates; others, some district in Chaldea; for there was a city called Siphora, in Mesopotamia, above the division of the Euphrates. Dr. Lightfoot says it was a part of Edom. Those who were captives among the Canaanites should possess the country of the Canaanites; and those whom the Edomites had enslaved should possess the cities of their masters. See Newcome and Lowth.

The Church Fathers

The Jewish interpreters explained this similarly that the Lord sent a Savior who would save the people from captivity and they would ascend and go to Mount Zion in order to judge and decide regarding the Mountain of Esau. And when everything is subjugated, there will be a kingdom to the Lord.
— Jerome, COMMENTARY ON OBADIAH

At this place in the text, the migration of Israel back to the land is mentioned, more specifically, from those Jews taken away into Babylon.… Perhaps here he is saying that everything that is to the south and to the north and to the east and to the west will be fully occupied by Israel as they will easily possess the whole region around them.
— Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON OBADIAH

Here he indicates the prisoners of both the kingdoms of Samaria and Jerusalem, and also those who had gone to very far regions. Therefore he recalls the transmigration to Spain, because this is the name of a province, which is extremely distant from Judea, in order to show that this is the great gathering, which God had promised to bring together again from the four corners of the world. Those who have been saved shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, in order to defeat and destroy the nation of the Edomites. And the kingdom shall be the Lord's. All the nations will be subjugated and subjected to the people of God, that is, to the people that God shall make.
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON OBADIAH

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Esau · Mount of Edom, — Mount of Edom,
Sepharad · exiled — exiled
Zion · Restoration of, promised — Restoration of, promised

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Obadiah 1:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Obadiah 1:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Obadiah 1:20

Adam Clarke on Obadiah 1:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Obadiah 1:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Obadiah 1:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Obadiah 1:20

Adam Clarke on Obadiah 1:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Obadiah 1:20

John Calvin on Obadiah 1:19-20

Keil & Delitzsch on Obadiah 1:19–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Obadiah 1:20

Rashi on Obadiah 1:20