Obadiah 1:20
in Obadiah 1And the exiles of this host of the Israelites will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the captives of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, shall possess even unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South.
KJV
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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This verse in Obadiah 1
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAnd the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath,.... That is, the host or army, the great number of the children of Israel, that have been carried captive, upon their return shall possess that part of the land of Israel which was inhabited formerly by the Canaanites, even as far as to Zarephath, said to belong to Zidon, 1Ki 17:10; and called Sarepta of Sidon; see Luk 4:
This site's exposition
possess the mountains of Esau
on Obadiah 1:19-21
The book closes on a map of Israel's own restored possession: the Negev takes "the mountains of Esau". "The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to rule over the mountains of Esau". "And the kingdom will belong to the LORD" answers Edom's boast that no one could bring it down.
This site's exposition
who are in Sepharad
Sepharad has never been placed with certainty. Adam Clarke lists the Bosphorus, Spain and a district of Chaldea among the guesses for where those exiles lived, and Jerome reads the Bosphorus. Zarephath, a Canaanite town on the coast by Sidon, marks the northern edge of the land the exiles possess.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Ezekiel also predicts something similar at the end of his prophecy when he describes the division of the land. He too predicts the return of the people, and after they return we learn they will receive power and obtain strength from God. O that we …
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.
(Verse 20, 21.) And the migration of his army, the sons of Israel: all the Canaanites as far as Zarephath (or Saraptam). And the migration of Jerusalem, which is in the Bosporus, will possess the cities of the South. And the saviors will ascend Mount Zion, to judge the mountain of Esau: and the kingdom will be the Lord's. LXX: And this is the beginning of the migration for the children of Israel: the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, and the migration of Jerusalem as far as the Euphrates, will possess the cities of the Negeb. And those who were saved shall ascend from Mount Zion, to punish the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. In this place, our translation differs greatly from the Vulgate Edition, so we must follow the Hebrew truth in the exposition of the story. Those who returned from Babylon according to the volume of Ezra and Nehemiah shall be rightly called the migration. The whole army of the children of Israel shall possess the Edomites, the Philistines, the mountain of Ephraim, and Samaria to the south, west, and north. Benjamin also, because it is adjacent to solitude, will specifically obtain Gilead. However, all the things that are in the land of the Canaanites, will be ruled as far as Zaraphath of the Sidonians, where the widow once fed Elijah (4 Kings 7). Moreover, those who were transferred from the very city of Jerusalem to Sapharad, which we translate as the Bosporus, will possess the cities of the South, which are in the tribe of Judah: for they have returned to their city, they will obtain those things that are near to the city. […]
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.
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 …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The possession is gained, not vi et armis--by force and arms; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual; it is by the preaching of the gospel, and the power of divine grace going along with it, that this possession is got and kept. That the kingdom of the Redeemer shall be erected and maintained, to the comfort of his loyal subjects and the terror and shame of all his enemies (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Zarephath - Sarepta, a city of the Sidonians, 1Ki 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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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 Phœnicia (Jud 3:3).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-curly-quotes
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel - , (it must, I believe, be rendered,) “which are among the Canaanites, as far as Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South.” Obadiah had described how the two tribes, whose were the promises to the house of David, should spread abroad on all sides. Here he represents how Judah should, in its turn, receive into its bosom those now carried away from them; so should all again be one fold. Zarephath - (probably “smelting-house,” and so a place of slave-labor, pronounced Sarepta in Luke) Luk 4:26. belonged to Sidon 1Ki 17:9, lying on the sea about halfway between it and Tyre. . These were then, probably, captives, placed by Tyrians for the time in safe keeping in the narrow plain between Lebanon and the sea, intercepted by Tyre itself from their home, and awaiting to be transported to a more distant slavery. These, with those already sold to the Grecians and in slavery at Sardis, formed one whole. They stand as representatives of all who, whatever their lot, had been rent off from the Lord’s land, and had been outwardly severed from His heritage.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגָלֻ֣ת | vegalut | and [the] exile[s] of | H1546 → | |
| הַֽחֵל־ | hachel- | the fortress | H2426 → | |
| הַ֠זֶּה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | |
| לִבְנֵ֨י | livnei | of [the] people of | H1121 → | |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | |
| אֲשֶֽׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| כְּנַעֲנִים֙ | kenaanim | [will be] Canaanites | H3669 → | |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | |
| צָ֣רְפַ֔ת | tzarefat | Zarephath | H6886 → | |
| וְגָלֻ֥ת | vegalut | and [the] exile[s] of | H1546 → | |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בִּסְפָרַ֑ד | bisfarad | [are] in Sepharad | H5614 → | |
| יִֽרְשׁ֕וּ | yirshu | they will take possession of | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עָרֵ֥י | ʾarei | [the] cities of | H5892 → | |
| הַנֶּֽגֶב׃ | hanegev | the Negev | H5045 → |
וְגָלֻ֣תand [the] exile[s] of
vegalutH1546 →
הַֽחֵל־the fortress
hachel-H2426 →
הַ֠זֶּה<the> this
hazehH2088 →
לִבְנֵ֨יof [the] people of
livneiH1121 →
יִשְׂרָאֵ֤לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →
אֲשֶֽׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
כְּנַעֲנִים֙[will be] Canaanites
kenaanimH3669 →
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →
צָ֣רְפַ֔תZarephath
tzarefatH6886 →
וְגָלֻ֥תand [the] exile[s] of
vegalutH1546 →
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בִּסְפָרַ֑ד[are] in Sepharad
bisfaradH5614 →
יִֽרְשׁ֕וּthey will take possession of
yirshuH3423 →231 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
עָרֵ֥י[the] cities of
ʾareiH5892 →
הַנֶּֽגֶב׃the Negev
hanegevH5045 →
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
Jeremiah 32:44Fields will be purchased with silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah—the cities of the hill…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:26
And people will come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, and from the foothills, the hill country, and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 33:11
the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of…
- Jeremiah 33:26
then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will…
- Jeremiah 33:7
I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times.
- Jeremiah 32:10
I signed and sealed the deed, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.
- Jeremiah 17:26
Through
Luke 4:26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 17:9–24
“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
- Matthew 11:21
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
- 1 Kings 17:9–24
Through
Jeremiah 33:13In the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev, in the land of Benjamin and the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under…
it leads to
- Leviticus 27:32
Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.
- Leviticus 27:32
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Obadiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceSidonZarephathThe Sidonian town where a starving Gentile widow shared her last meal with Elijah and her jar of flour did not run out, the story…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON OBADIAH; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON OBADIAH; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Obadiah; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON OBADIAH; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON OBADIAH.