#6 Obadiah the Prophet from Edom

  • In 1 Kings chapter 18 the prophet Elijah, King Ahab, and his administrator the prophet Obadiah all meet up to sort out a famine in Samaria.
  • Obadiah was an Edomite who converted to Judaism.  He was a descendant of Eliphaz who appears in the book of Job.  Obadiah became a servant to King Ahab and his wife Queen Jezebel from Sidon who reigned in 869-850 BC.  Obadiah hid a hundred prophets from Jezebel so that they would not be killed.  He was wealthy and used his money to fund poor prophets.  He himself was also given a prophecy against Edom.
  • The Philistines and Arabs invaded Jerusalem in 853-841 BC.  The prophecy may have arisen from this invasion coming from Edom. 
  • The Edomites are descended from Esau. He was Jacob’s twin brother. They were the sons of Isaac and Rebecca.  Genesis 25:26 recounts how Esau was born before Jacob although Jacob was grasping Esau’s heel. Jacob later takes Esau’s birthright by trickery.
  • Edom later became known as Idumea, and today is part of Jordan.
  • Genre: Minor prophet

Published by clarevmerry

Christian - Bible - Catholic belief reassessment website. How does Catholic belief relate to the Bible? An even-handed approach by the author who has been a Catholic as long as she has been an Evangelical.

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