Introduction

This short document was written by the prophet Ovadyah (three syllables, traditionally spelt as ‘Obadiah’) and is about God’s judgement and punishment of Edom—the nation made up of Esau’s descendants. Esau was Yacob’s twin-brother—the sons of Yitsak (‘Isaac’), however the two sets of descendants ended up as enemies. So that’s why Edom’s people were very glad when the Babylonian army destroyed Yerushalem in 586 B.C., and not just that, they took advantage of the invasion to join in looting the city and help the invaders. Here, God passes on through Ovadyah the declaration that Edom will be punished and defeated and their warriors would be slaughtered without any survivors, thus allowing Israel to recapture their lands.

This is still a very early look into the unfinished text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.