OET interlinear OBA 1:16

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

כִּ֗י כַּֽ⁠אֲשֶׁ֤ר שְׁתִיתֶם֙

that/for/because/then/when just_as, drunk

As at the beginning of verse 15, here also the connecting word For indicates that this is a reason why the people of Edom should have helped the Israelites instead of joining in attacking them. Here also Yahweh describes how he will soon judge all nations for the way that they have treated others. There are two possibilities for how you can make this explicit, If it would be helpful in your language. Choosing between these possibilities depends on how you interpret the referent of the word you. The word you here is masculine plural, the first and only time it occurs in this form in the book. Throughout the book, the nation of Edom was addressed with the masculine singular form. This is also the last occurrence of the second person in the book. (1) Because of these observations, the use of drinking here and throughout the Bible as a metaphor for suffering punishment, and the location of this suffering on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, it seems that here Obadiah stops addressing the people of Edom and returns to addressing the people of Israel. At the beginning of the book, Obadiah included the people of Israel when he said, “We have heard a report from Yahweh.” Now, near the end of the book, he addresses them again, giving them assurance that the people of Edom will be punished for what they did to the people of Israel. See the UST. (2) This word you could refer to the people of Edom. Alternate translation: “You should have helped the people of Israel, because just as you drank”

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

כַּֽ⁠אֲשֶׁ֤ר שְׁתִיתֶם֙

just_as, drunk

Throughout the book of Obadiah, the nation of Edom is addressed with a masculine singular form of “you.” (The one feminine plural form in 1:13 only addresses the women of Edom). Here, however, you is masculine plural. There are two possibilities for who is being addressed here. (1) It refers to the people of Israel. This would explain the shift from singular to plural. Just as Obadiah addressed the people of Israel in the plural in 1:1, so he addresses them in the plural now. This interpretation also fits with the metaphor used here and throughout the Bible that pictures suffering and divine punishment as drinking something that makes a person stagger, fall, and die. The people of Israel suffered and died in Jerusalem when the city was destroyed. This also allows the comparison in this verse to fit with the idea in the previous verse that Edom will suffer in the same way that they made Israel to suffer. See the UST. (2) It refers to the people of Edom. In this case, the comparison is between how the people of Edom literally drank wine in celebration of Jerusalem’s destruction with how the nations will metaphorically drink God’s punishment. Either that, or the verb must be forced into a future meaning, and the comparison is between how God will punish the people of Edom in Jerusalem and how God will punish all the nations. Alternate translation: “just as I will punish you”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

שְׁתִיתֶם֙

drunk

The image of drinking something is often used in the Bible as a metaphor for suffering or for being punished by God. Alternate translation: “you suffered” or “I punished you”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

עַל־הַ֣ר קָדְשִׁ֔⁠י

on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in mountain_of holy_of,my

The mountain of my holiness refers to Mount Zion and therefore to the city of Jerusalem. So here Jerusalem is being referred to by the name of something closely associated with it, the mountain that the city is built on. Alternate translation: “in my holy city, Jerusalem”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

יִשְׁתּ֥וּ כָֽל־הַ⁠גּוֹיִ֖ם תָּמִ֑יד

drink all the=nations continually

Here the metaphor continues, using drink to mean “suffer” or “be punished.” Alternate translation: “I will punish all of the nations continually”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

וְ⁠שָׁת֣וּ וְ⁠לָע֔וּ

and,drink and,gulp_down

The words translated drink and swallow mean very similar things and are used together to intensify the one meaning. If your language does not have two such similar words, you can use one of the words and intensify the meaning in another way. Alternate translation: “They will drink all of it down”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וְ⁠שָׁת֣וּ וְ⁠לָע֔וּ

and,drink and,gulp_down

Here the metaphor continues, using drink and swallow as images for suffering or being punished. Alternate translation: “I will make them suffer a lot”