1:4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, 1
even if you 2 were to make your nest among the stars,
I can bring you down even from there!” says the Lord.
1:15 “For the day of the Lord 3 is approaching 4 for all the nations! 5
Just as you have done, so it will be done to you.
You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. 6
1 sn The eagle was often used in the ancient Near East as a symbol of strength and swiftness.
2 tc The present translation follows the reading תָּשִׂים (tasim; active) rather than שִׁים (sim; passive) of the MT (“and your nest be set among the stars,” NAB). Cf. LXX, Syriac, Vg.
3 sn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is repeated ten times in vv. 11-14 referring to the time period when Judah/Jerusalem suffered calamity which Edom exploited for its own sinful gain. In each of those cases יוֹם was qualified by a following genitive to describe Judah’s plight, e.g., “in the day of your brother’s calamity” (v. 12). Here it appears again but now followed by the divine name to describe the time of God’s judgment against Edom for its crimes against humanity: “the day of the
4 tn Heb “near” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “is coming soon.”
5 sn God’s judgment would not be confined to Edom. Edom would certainly be punished in just measure for its wrongdoing, but “the day of the Lord” would also encompass judgment of the nations (v. 15).
6 tn Heb “your deed will return on your own head.” Verses 15 and 16 provide an example of ironic reversal, whereby the tables are turned and poetic justice is served. This is a motif that is common in prophetic oracles against foreign nations.