Dating Obadiah to 801 BC
Article Sidebar
Issue:
Published:
Dec 1, 2021Keywords:
Obadiah, dating of Obadiah, historical setting of Obadiah, unity of Obadiah, Old Testament IntroductionMain Article Content
Abstract
Currently, Old Testament scholars have accepted that it is virtually impossible to ascertain the provenance and date of the biblical book of Obadiah confidently. The majority views the date as soon after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC, but this is acknowledged to be tentative. Post-exilic and pre-exilic dates are also advocated. This article re-examines the evidence and introduces some more considerations, concluding that an early pre-exilic date for Obadiah is most likely. Elsewhere, the author has redated Joel to 773 BC. Since Joel quotes Obadiah, the book of Obadiah should be dated earlier than that.
This article then examines all nine attacks on Jerusalem recorded in the Old Testament to see if what Obadiah describes can be matched to any of them. This leads to the conclusion that Obadiah should be dated to 801 bce, in conjunction with the raid on Jerusalem by a small band of Syrian soldiers as described in 2 Chronicles 24:23–25:24. I propose that some Edomites aided and abetted them in this attack. Obadiah prophesied in between the events recorded in 2 Chronicles 25:16 and 17.
If this is so, it sheds light on Amaziah’s attacking Edom, not Syria, for justice and/or revenge (2 Chr 25:11–14). It also offers an explanation for Amaziah’s apostasy to Edomite, not Syrian gods (2 Chr 25:14), and his challenge to Jehoahaz, king of Israel (2 Chr 25:17–24). Other confirming data are presented, and some corollaries are then deduced.
Article Details
The Author/s grant/s to the Journal the rights to edit the Work and to reproduce and distribute the Work in the Journal, in reprints, as a contribution to a collection published by the Journal, and by means of an Internet or Intranet site over which the Journal exercises effective control, and also by means of third-party online legal information providers. The Author/s grant/s the above rights without claim of royalties or other compensation. The copyright in the Work shall remain with the Author/s and the copyright in the reproduction format shall remain with the Journal. Notwithstanding, the copyright notice in publication shall be stated as belonging to the Journal. The Author/s agree/s not to publish the Work elsewhere without the permission of the Journal for a period of five years commencing from the date of first publication by the Journal.
References
Ackroyd, Peter R., Exile and Restoration, eds G. Ernest Wright, John Bright, James Barr and Peter Ackroyd, OTL (London: SCM Press, 1968).
Ackroyd, Peter R., ‘Obadiah, Book Of’, ABD, ed. David Noel Freedman, 6 vols, vol. 5 (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 2–4.
Archer jnr, Gleeson L., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago: Moody, 1964).
Armerding, Carl E., ‘Obadiah’, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaeberlein, 12 vols, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985), 335–357.
Armerding, Carl E., ‘Obadiah’, The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Revised Edition, eds Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, 13 vols, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 423–449.
Assis, Elie, ‘Why Edom? On the Hostility Towards Jacob's Brother in Prophetic Circles’, VT 56, no. 1 (2006), 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/156853306775465144
Baker, David W., Joel, Obadiah, Malachi, ed. Terry Muck, vol. 23, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006).
Bartlett, John R., Edom and the Edomites, eds David .J A. Clines and Philip R. Davies, vol. 77, JSOTSS (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1989).
Barton, John, Joel and Obadiah, eds James L. Mays, Carol A. Newsom and David L. Petersen, OTL (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001).
Bright, John, A History of Israel, 4th edn (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000).
Bullough, Sebastian, ‘Obadiah’, A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Reginald C. Fuller (London: Nelson, 1953), 702–704.
Christensen, Duane L., Transformations of the War Oracle in Old Testament Prophecy: Studies in the Oracles against the Nations, eds Caroline Bynum and George Rupp, vol. 3, Harvard Theological Review: Harvard Dissertations in Religion (Missoula: Scholars Press, 1975).
Coggins, Richard J., Nahum, Obadiah, Esther, eds George A. F. Knight and Fredrick Carlson Holmgren, ITC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985).
Crenshaw, James L., Prophetic Conflict: Its Effect Upon Israelite Religion, ed. Georg Fohrer, vol. 124, Bzaw (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1971). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110828870
Davis, John D., Davis Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1958).
Dentan, Robert C., ‘The Literary Affinities of Exodus 34:6f’, VT 13, no. 1 (1963), 34–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/156853363X00037
Dicou, Bert, Edom, Israel's Brother and Antagonist: The Role of Edom in Biblical Prophecy and Story, eds David J. A. Clines and Philip R. Davies, vol. 169, JSOTSS (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994).
Edgar, Stanley L., The Minor Prophets (Excluding Amos, Hosea and Micah), ed. Greville P. Lewis, Epworth Preacher's Commentaries (London: Epworth, 1962).
Faussett, Andrew R., The Book of Obadiah (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997).
Fensham, F. Charles, ‘Clauses of Protection in Hittite Vassal-Treaties and Kudurru-Inscriptions Compared with Maledictions of Amos and Isaiah’, VT 13, no. 2 (1963), 133–143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1516486
Finley, Thomas J., Joel, Amos, Obadiah, ed. Kenneth Barker, The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1990).
Fishbane, Michael, ‘The Treaty Background of Amos 1:11 and Related Matters’, JBL 89, no. 3 (1970), 313–318. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3263501
Floyd, Michael H., ‘Obadiah’, Harper's Bible Commentary, ed. James L Mays (Cambridge: Harper & Row, 1988), 726–727.
Fohrer, Georg, Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 1968).
Freeman, Hobart E., An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets (Chicago: Moody Press, 1968).
Hailey, Homer, A Commentary on the Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972).
Hobbs, T. Raymond, 2 Kings, eds David A. Hubbard and Glen W. Barker, vol. 13, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco: Word Books, 1985).
Holladay, William L., Jeremiah, ed. Paul D. Hanson, 2 vols, vol. 2, Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1989).
Jones, Gwilym H., 1 and 2 Kings, eds Ronald E. Clements and Matthew Black, 2 vols, vol. 1, NCBC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984).
Jones, Iwan Rhys, Joel and Obadiah (Glasgow: Bell & Bain, 2015).
Keil, Carl F. and Fredrich Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Minor Prophets, 1961 edn, eds Carl F. Keil and Fredrich Delitzsch, trans. James Martin, 2 vols, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1949).
Kelle, Brad E. and Brent A. Strawn, ‘History of Israel 5: Assyrian Period’, Dictionary of the Old Testament Historical Books, eds Bill T Arnold and Hugh G. M. Williamson (Leicester: IVP, 2005), 458–478.
Kim, Hyun Chul Paul, ‘Obadiah, Book Of’, NIDB, ed. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, 5 vols, vol. 4 (Nashville: Abingdon, 2009), 312–313.
Livingston, G. Herbert, ‘Obadiah’, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, eds Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison (London: Oliphants, 1962), 839–842.
Matthews, Victor H. and James C. Motyer, The Old Testament: Text and Context (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2005).
Mccarter jr, P. Kyle, ‘Obadiah 7 and the Fall of Edom’, BASOR 221, no. 1 (1976), 87–91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1356088
Mendenhall, George E., Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context, ed. Gary A. Herion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001).
Neil, William, William Neil's One Volume Bible Commentary (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1962).
Nelson, Richard, First and Second Kings, ed. James Luther Mays, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1987).
Newsome jnr, James D., A Synoptic Harmony of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles: With Related Passages from Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezra (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986).
Niehaus, Jeffrey J., ‘Obadiah’, The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary, ed. Thomas E. McComiskey (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 495–542.
Nogalski, James D., The Book of the Twelve: Hosea-Jonah, ed. Leslie Andres, 2 vols, vol. 1, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary (Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 2011).
Nogalski, James D., ‘The Day(S) of YHWH in the Book of the Twelve’, Thematic Threads in the Book of the Twelve, eds Paul L. Redditt and Aaron Schart, vol. 325 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2003), 192–213.
Ogilvie, Lloyd J., Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, ed. Lloyd J. Ogilvie, vol. 20, The Communicator's Commentary (Dallas: Word Books, 1990).
Pfeiffer, Robert H., Introduction to the Old Testament (London: Black, 1953).
Redditt, Paul L., ‘Editorial/Redaction Criticism’, Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets, eds Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville (Nottingham: IVP, 2012), 171–178.
Renkema, Johan, Obadiah, eds Cornelius Houtman, Gert T M Prinsloo, Wilfred G E Watson and Al Wolters, Historical Commentary on the Old Testament (Leuven: Peeters, 2003).
Riding, Charles Bruce, ‘Dating the Book of Joel to 773 BCE’, RTR 78, no. 3 (2019), 169–195.
Riding, Charles Bruce, The Day of YHWH: Its Origins, Its Precursors, and Its Development before the Time of Amos and Hosea (Melbourne: Australian College of Theology, 2018).
Robinson, Theodore H., ‘Die Zwölf Kleinen Propheten: Hosea Bis Micha’, Handbuch Zum Alten Testament, ed. J. C. B. Mohr, 2 vols, vol. 1 (Tübingen: 1938),
Robinson, Theodore H., ‘The Structure of the Book of Obadiah’, JTS 17 (1916), 402–408. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/os-XVII.7.402
Sampey, John R, ‘Obadiah, Book Of ’, Isbe, ed. James Orr, 5 vols, vol. 4 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [First published 1915] 1915), 2173–2174.
Schultz, Richard L., The Search for Quotation: Verbal Parallels in the Prophets, ed. David J. A. Clines & Philip R. Davies, vol. 180, JSOTSS (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999).
Scoralick, Ruth, ‘The Case of Edom in the Book of the Twelve’, Perspectives on the Formation of the Book of the Twelve: Methodological Foundations—Redactional Processes—Historical Insights, eds Rainer Albertz, James D. Nogalski and Jacob Wöhrle (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012), 35–54. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110283761.35
Sellin, Ernst and Georg Fohrer, Introduction to the Old Testament, trans. David E Green (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1923).
Selman, Martin J., 2 Chronicles: A Commentary, ed. Donald J. Wiseman, TOTC (Leicester: IVP, 1994).
Smith, James E., The Minor Prophets (Joplin: College Press, 1992).
Snyman, S. D., ‘Cohesion in the Book of Obadiah’, ZAW 101, no. 1 (1989), 59–70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/zatw.1989.101.1.59
Sweeney, Marvin A., I & Ii Kings: A Commentary, eds William P. Brown, Carol A. Newsom and David L. Petersen, vol. 11, OTL (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2007).
Sweeney, Marvin A., ‘Sequence and Interpretation in the Book of the Twelve’, Reading and Hearing the Book of the Twelve, eds James D. Nogalski and Marvin A. Sweeney, Ed. Christopher R Matthews, vol. 15, Sblss (Atlanta: SBL, 2000), 49–64.
Sweeney, Marvin A., The Twelve Prophets, ed. David W. Cotter, 2 vols, vol. 1, Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 2000).
Thompson, John A., 1 & 2 Chronicles, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 9, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994).
Vawter, Bruce, ‘Introduction to Prophetic Literature’, JBC, eds Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmeyer and Roland E. Murphy (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1968), 223–237.
Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas, ‘Obadiah’, Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, eds John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas (Downers Grove: IVP, 2000), 775–777.
Weimar, P., ‘Obadja: Eine Redactionkritische Analyse’, BN (1985), 35–99.
Weiser, Artur, Introduction to the Old Testament (London: Dartmon, Longman & Todd, 1961).
Westerink, Jacob, Obadiah and Micah (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008).
Wineland, John D., ‘Sepharad’, ABD, ed. David Noel Freedman, 6 vols, vol. 4 (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1089–1090. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9780300261912-0868