Obadiah 1:8

At that time,” ¹  the Lord says, “I will destroy the wise sages of Edom! ²  the advisers ³  from Esau’s mountain! ⁴ 

"In that day," declares the LORD, "will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, men of understanding in the mountains of Esau?

"Will I not on that day," declares the LORD, "Destroy wise men from Edom And understanding from the mountain of Esau?

At that time not a single wise person will be left in the whole land of Edom!" says the LORD. "For on the mountains of Edom I will destroy everyone who has wisdom and understanding.

So don't be surprised"--it's GOD's sure Word!--"when I wipe out all sages from Edom and rid the Esau mountains of its famous wise men.

Will I not, in that day, says the Lord, take away the wise men out of Edom, and wisdom out of the mountain of Esau?

On that day, says the LORD, I will destroy the wise out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau.

"Will I not in that day," says the LORD, "Even destroy the wise men from Edom, And understanding from the mountains of Esau?

At that time,” ¹  the Lord says, “I will destroy the wise sages of Edom! ²  the advisers ³  from Esau’s mountain! ⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV, NIV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “on that day.”

² tn Heb “Will I not destroy those who are wise from Edom?” The rhetorical question functions as an emphatic affirmation. For the sake of clarity this has been represented by the emphatic indicative in the translation.

³ tn Heb “understanding”; NIV “men of understanding.” This undoubtedly refers to members of the royal court who offered political and military advice to the Edomite kings. In the ancient Near East, such men of wisdom were often associated with divination and occultic practices (cf. Isa 3:3, 47:10, 13). The Edomites were also renown in the ancient Near East as a center of traditional sagacity and wisdom; perhaps that is referred to here (cf. Jer 49:7).

⁴ tn Heb “and understanding from the mountain of Esau.” The phrase “I will remove the men of…” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness. Here “understanding” is a synecdoche of part for whole; the faculty of understanding is put for the wise men who possess it.