Obadiah 1:3
in Obadiah 1The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
KJV
The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
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This verse in Obadiah 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Version 2, verse 2) Behold, I have made you a little one among the nations: you are very contemptible. The pride of your heart has lifted you up, dwelling in the clefts of the rock, exalting your throne, saying in your heart: Who will bring me down to the ground? If you elevate yourself like an eagle, and if you place your nest among the stars: from there I will bring you down, says the Lord. LXX: Behold, I have made you a little one among the nations: you are very dishonored.
This site's exposition
The pride of your heart
on Obadiah 1:3-4
"The pride of your heart has deceived you", a pride housed in "the clefts of the rocks", widely identified with Sela, later called Petra. The boast "Who can bring me down to the ground?" is answered in verse 4, "even from there I will bring you down."
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Although you, o heretic, may seem great and despise the smallness of the Church, you are nonetheless small among the nations, and contemptible, and not only contemptible, but also very contemptible with arrogance. The pride of your heart has lifted you up. For who among heretics is not lifted up in pride, despising the simplicity of the Church and considering faith as ignorance? Dwelling in the clefts of the rock, and exalting his throne.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The pride - The Edomites were, as most mountaineers are, a rough hardy, and daring people. Deceived thee - Magnifying thy strength above what really it is.
Many forfeit their privileges, and yet boast of them. Because Edom is high and lifted up, he imagines none can bring him down. Note, Carnal security is a sin that most easily besets men in the day of their pomp, power, and prosperity, and does, as much as any thing, both ripen men for ruin and aggravate it when it comes.
The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee - Not the strength of its mountain-fastnesses, strong though they were, deceived Edom, but “the pride of his heart.” That strength was but the occasion which called forth the “pride.” Yet, it was strong in its abode.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
clefts of . . . rock-- (So 2:14; The cities of Edom, and among them Petra (Hebrew, sela, meaning "rock," 2Ki 14:7, Margin), the capital, in the Wady Musa, consisted of houses mostly cut in the rocks.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The pride of thine heart - St. Jerome observes that all the southern part of Palestine, from Eleutheropolis to Petra and Aialath, was full of caverns hewn out of the rocks, and that the people had subterranean dwellings similar to ovens. Here they are said to dwell in the clefts of the rock, in reference to the caverns above mentioned. In these they conceived themselves to be safe, and thought that no power brought against them could dislodge them from those fastnesses. Some think that by סלע sela, rock, Petra, the capital of Idumea, is intended.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זְד֤וֹן | zedon | [the] presumption of | H2087 → | |
| לִבְּךָ֙ | libekha | heart your | H3820 → | |
| הִשִּׁיאֶ֔ךָ | hishiekha | it has deceived you | H5377 → | |
| שֹׁכְנִ֥י | shokheni | O dweller | H7931 → | |
| בְחַגְוֵי־ | vechagvei- | in clefts of | H2288 → | |
| סֶּ֖לַע | sela' | rock | H5553 → | |
| מְר֣וֹם | merom | [the] height of | H4791 → | |
| שִׁבְתּ֑וֹ | shivto | dwelling his | H7675 → | |
| אֹמֵ֣ר | ʾomer | [who] says | H559 → | |
| בְּלִבּ֔וֹ | belibo | in heart his | H3820 → | |
| מִ֥י | mi | who? | H4310 → | |
| יוֹרִדֵ֖נִי | yorideni | will he bring down me | H3381 → | |
| אָֽרֶץ׃ | ʾaretz | [the] ground | H776 → |
זְד֤וֹן[the] presumption of
zedonH2087 →
לִבְּךָ֙heart your
libekhaH3820 →
הִשִּׁיאֶ֔ךָit has deceived you
hishiekhaH5377 →
שֹׁכְנִ֥יO dweller
shokheniH7931 →
בְחַגְוֵי־in clefts of
vechagvei-H2288 →
סֶּ֖לַעrock
sela'H5553 →
מְר֣וֹם[the] height of
meromH4791 →
שִׁבְתּ֑וֹdwelling his
shivtoH7675 →
אֹמֵ֣ר[who] says
ʾomerH559 →
בְּלִבּ֔וֹin heart his
beliboH3820 →
מִ֥יwho?
miH4310 →
יוֹרִדֵ֖נִיwill he bring down me
yorideniH3381 →
אָֽרֶץ׃[the] ground
ʾaretzH776 →
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
Proverbs 29:23A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
it leads to
- Matthew 23:12
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
- Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
- Isaiah 66:2
Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles…
- James 4:6–10
But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Matthew 23:12
Through
Isaiah 16:6We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
it leads to
- Obadiah 1:3–4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 2:1
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.
- Obadiah 1:3–4
Through
2 Kings 14:7Amaziah struck down 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He took Sela in battle and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this very day.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 8:13
And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
- 2 Samuel 8:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Obadiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Obadiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.