Obadiah 1:17-18

1:17 But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape,

and it will be a holy place once again.

The descendants of Jacob will conquer

those who had conquered them.

1:18 The descendants of Jacob will be a fire,

and the descendants of Joseph a flame.

The descendants of Esau will be like stubble.

They will burn them up and devour them.

There will not be a single survivor of the descendants of Esau!”

Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.


tn Heb “will be a fugitive.” This is a collective singular. Cf. NCV “some will escape the judgment.”

tn Heb “house” (so most English versions); NCV, TEV “the people of Jacob.” The word “house” also occurs four times in v. 18.

tn Heb “dispossess.” This root is repeated in the following line to emphasize poetic justice: The punishment will fit the crime.

tc The present translation follows the reading מוֹרִשֵׁיהֶם (morishehem; literally, “those dispossessing them”; cf. NAB, NRSV, CEV) rather than מוֹרָשֵׁיהֶם (morashehem, “their possessions”) of the MT (cf. LXX, Syriac, and Vg, followed by KJV, ASV, NASB).

tn Heb “will be no survivor”; NAB “none shall survive.”