Obadiah 1:14

You should not have stood at the fork in the road ¹  to slaughter ²  those trying to escape. ³  You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. ⁴ 

Ge 35:3; Ps 31:8; Isa 37:3; Jer 30:7; Am 1:6,9; Ob 1:12

¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word פֶּרֶק (pereq; here translated “fork in the road”) is uncertain. The word is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in Nah 3:1, where it means “plunder.” In the present context it seems to refer to a strategic intersection or fork in a road where bands of Edomites apprehended Israelites who were fleeing from the attack on Jerusalem. Cf. NAB, NIV, NLT “crossroads”; NRSV “crossings.”

² tn Heb “to cut off” (so KJV, NRSV); NASB, NIV “to cut down.”

³ tn Heb “his fugitives”; NAB, CEV “refugees.”

⁴ tn Heb “in the day of distress” (so KJV, ASV).