Obadiah 1:13
in Obadiah 1You should not enter the gate of My people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over their affliction in the day of their disaster, nor loot their wealth in the day of their disaster.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.
KJV
Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;
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This verse in Obadiah 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 13, 14.) And you shall not despise them in their adversities on the day of their destruction, and you shall not send forth your army against them on the day of their destruction. And you shall not stand at the exits to kill those who flee, and you shall not capture the survivors on the day of their distress. LXX: And you shall not despise even their assembly on the day of their ruin, and you shall not put your strength against them on the day of their ruin.
This site's exposition
the day of thy brother
on Obadiah 1:12-14
Four verses in the negative build the fullest catalogue of a nation's guilt in the Twelve, each clause opening thou shouldest not have, gazing on the day of thy brother, rejoicing over the children of Judah, speaking proudly in the day of distress, entering the gate, looking on their affliction, laying hands on their substance, standing in the crossway to cut off those that fled, delivering up those that remained. Lamentations 4:21-22 stands behind the charge, its own address to the daughter of Edom that rejoices, and the cup that shall pass to her in turn. The bench reads the escalation deliberately, from watching to gloating to plundering to informing, sin compounding at every clause rather than one act repeated four times.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
Jerusalem was thrown open, and then they entered in; its wealth was thrown about, and they seized it for themselves, excusing it with this, that they might as well take it as let it be lost; whereas it was taking what was not their own.
With the Edomites it was a day of prosperity and peace when with the Israelites it was a day of distress and calamity, for judgment commonly begins at the house of God. Children are corrected when strangers are let alone.
Those have a great deal to answer for that are idle spectators of the troubles and afflictions of their neighbours, when they are capable of being their active helpers. But this was not all; they looked upon it with a scornful eye, with an eye of complacency and satisfaction; they looked and laughed to see Israel in distress, saying, Aha! so we would have it.
Sin thus looked upon, in the glass of the commandment, will appear exceedingly sinful. What was the case of Judah and Jerusalem when the Edomites behaved themselves thus basely and insulted over them. (1.) It was a day of distress with them (
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Gracious promises to Israel; that they shall be restored and reformed, and shall be victorious over the Edomites, and become masters of their land and the lands of others of their neighbours (
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1 more voice on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and you should not have stretched out upon their possessions —You should not have stretched out your hand upon their possessions. So did Jonathan render. And this is an ellipsis, to which we must add: “your hands.”
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And you should not have looked on the day of your brother —You should not have looked and stood from afar.
And you should not have stood by the gap Heb. הַפֶּרֶק. The place through which the escapees emerge to escape, and in French they call it “trou.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּב֤וֹא | tavo' | you go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בְשַֽׁעַר־ | veshaar- | in [the] gate of | H8179 → | |
| עַמִּי֙ | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֵידָ֔ם | ʾeidam | disaster their | H343 → | 24 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תֵּ֧רֶא | tere' | you look | H7200 → | |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | |
| אַתָּ֛ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בְּרָעָת֖וֹ | beraato | on calamity his | H7451 → | |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֵיד֑וֹ | ʾeido | disaster his | H343 → | 24 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּשְׁלַ֥חְנָה | tishlachnah | you stretch out | H7971 → | 845 times |
| בְחֵיל֖וֹ | vecheilo | on wealth his | H2428 → | |
| בְּי֥וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֵידֽוֹ׃ | ʾeido | disaster his | H343 → | 24 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תָּב֤וֹאyou go
tavo'H935 →2568 times
בְשַֽׁעַר־in [the] gate of
veshaar-H8179 →
עַמִּי֙people my
ʾamiH5971 →
בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
אֵידָ֔םdisaster their
ʾeidamH343 →24 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תֵּ֧רֶאyou look
tere'H7200 →
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →
אַתָּ֛הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
בְּרָעָת֖וֹon calamity his
beraatoH7451 →
בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
אֵיד֑וֹdisaster his
ʾeidoH343 →24 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תִּשְׁלַ֥חְנָהyou stretch out
tishlachnahH7971 →845 times
בְחֵיל֖וֹon wealth his
vecheiloH2428 →
בְּי֥וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
אֵידֽוֹ׃disaster his
ʾeidoH343 →24 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 22:17I can count all my bones; they stare and gloat over me.
it leads to
- Luke 23:35
The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
- Job 33:21
His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.
- Luke 23:35
Through
2 Samuel 16:12Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 12:10
Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.
- Deuteronomy 23:5
Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
- Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Exodus 2:24–25
So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Psalms 25:18
Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.
- Hebrews 12:10
Through
Ezekiel 35:5Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment,
it leads to
- Psalms 137:7
Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Psalms 137:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Obadiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jerome, Commentary on Obadiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.