The book of zephaniah was written during the reign of king josiah, likely in the early part of his reign, between 635 and 625 bc. Matt slick is the president and founder of the christian apologetics. Book of obadiah simple english wikipedia, the free. The book of obadiah is found in the hebrew bible and the old testament of the christian bible where it is the shortest book, only one chapter long. So obadiah is just a prophet who wrote one of the great prophecies of the scripture. Introduction the author the author of the book is named obadiah which means servant of yahweh. I will first list the name of the commonly accepted author. The author of the book of ezranehemiah is unknown, though ezra 79 apparently were written by ezra, since they are in the first person. Obadiah is a little book, but it is an example of an atomic bomb in the bible. But these were not the only two books of the bible that were only a single chapter. The old testament also calls genesis through deuteronomy the book of the law joshua 8. This summary of the book of obadiah provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and. For the author to whom the book of obadiah is attributed, see obadiah.
The book of obadiah was likely written between 848 and 840 b. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the hebrew bible in judaism and christianity, its authorship is attributed to a prophet who lived in the assyrian period and named himself in the first verse, obadiah. The purpose of obadiah is to show that god will judge all those who are against his children, his chosen people. Some of the ancients imagined him to be the same with that obadiah that was steward to ahabs household 1 ki. Its authorship is difficult to date but was possibly written about 853841 b. Those who wrote the bible lived at different times, some separated by hundreds of years. The book of zechariah is narrative history, prophetic and apocalyptic in genre. Included are the writings of moses, the apostles paul and john. Therefore the book purports to have been written in the sixth century before christ. The people from edom were relatives of the people from israel.
Obadiah wrote this shortest book of the old testament probably soon after 586 b. In this, the shortest book of the old testament, it seems the prophet obadiah considered each word a highpriced commodity. The book of obadiah contains a short message about the country called edom. Pusey said, god has willed that his name alone and this brief prophecy should be known to the world. Book of obadiah overview insight for living ministries. However, the prophet obadiah who wrote the book obadiah seems to have been a. Obadiah announces edoms downfall to babylon, which is an image of how god will bring down all arrogant and violent nations.
Nothing is known of the author, although his prophecy against edom, a neighbor and rival of israel, indicates a date of composition sometime after the babylonian destruction of jerusalem in 587 b. Summary of the book of obadiah the story of the bible. This is the central message of the bible so clearly presented in the little book penned by an ancient prophet named obadiah. Book of obadiah, also spelled abdias, the fourth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, in the jewish canon. Who wrote two books of the bible that have only one. Go and present yourself to ahab, and i will send rain on the land. Apparently, he was unable to afford any words describing himself or his family in any way. The book of obadiah is the shortest book in the old testament. Obadiah verse 1 identifies the author of the book of obadiah as the prophet obadiah. Obadiah means servant of the lord and occurs 20 times in the old testament, referring to many other old testament individuals.
They even took up residence in some judean villages. The bible book of obadiah is the shortest in the hebrew scriptures old testament, but the prophecy therein offers hope by means of god s promised kingship. There are obadiahs in the old testament, and one of these may the obadiah who wrote this book. Daniel, peter, paul, jonah, isaiah, solomon and david.
Obadiah king ahabs servant hid one hundred prophets in caves. They are also treated as a single book in the masoretic text traditional hebrew bible. Therefore, while twelve other men named obadiah appear in scripture, old testament scholars cannot identify with certainty any of them as the author of this book. If daniel is named as the one who received certain revelations, it follows that he must be the author of the whole book. Obadiah, the shortest book in the old testament, is only 21 verses long. The book of obadiah introduction to the book of obadiah in the bible.
Obadiah is not only the shortest prophecy, but also the shortest book of the old testament. Learning who these writers were would give you a better understanding of the perspective of the book. It is thought to have been written by a person named obadiah, which means servant or worshipper of the lord. Obadiah is the shortest book in the old testament and is. Bible believers believe that god wrote the bible using human writers. The following dates are not always exact but are very good estimates. The book of obadiah is the only one chapter book in the old testament. The bible book of obadiah is the shortest in the hebrew scriptures old testament, but the prophecy therein offers hope by means of gods promised kingship.
The first five books of the bible are known by various names. Gods judgment on the unbelieving gentiles who opposed god. The smallest old testament account, the book of obadiah is a vision written by the lords prophet known as obadiah, who prophesied against israels relative nation edom. Was the obadiah in 1 kings 18 the same obadiah who wrote. The form of obadiahs name used in the septuagint is obdios.
Books of the bible list with the name of each book, the writer, place written, and time covered. We have heard a rumour from the lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8thcentury bce prophet isaiah ben amoz, but there is extensive evidence that much of it was composed during the babylonian. During this conquest, the people of edom helped capture fleeing israelites and turn them over to the babylonians. It is a postexilic book, meaning it was written after post the return from captivity exile in babylon. Nothing is known historically about the author from the book or from other background materials. In its introduction to the book of obadiah, the oxford annotated bible suggests another explanation for the similarities.
Before the temple completed, and then wrote chapters 914 approximately 480 b. The book of obadiah is a book of prophetic oracles. This book, the shortest among the twelve minor prophets, is a single twentyoneverse oracle against edom. Study guide for obadiah by david guzik blue letter bible.
The hebrew name obadiah means worshipper of yahweh or servant of yahweh. Who this obadiah was does not appear from any other scripture. The author was obadiah, whose name means the servant of the eternal. The whole brief book fits together nicely as a single composition. Some have thought that this is the same obadiah that was ahabs steward in 2 chronicles 17. Obadiah probably wrote the book sometime between 850 and 550 b.
Obadiah is a prophet of god who uses this opportunity to condemn edom for sins against both god and israel. Edoms pride and downfall is disclosed in the book of. Zephaniahs message of judgment and encouragement contains three major. This summary of the book of obadiah provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of obadiah. The book of obadiah stoke poges is a small village in england not too far from windsor castle. The book concerns obadiahs vision in which he is shown the destruction of edom which was the region south of the kingdom of judah. It claims to be the fruit of the ministry of a jewish captive named daniel who. Click to view fullsized bible infographic diversity of bible writers. Obadiah is viewed throughout christianity as an old testament minor prophet who wrote the book of obadiah. In his macarthur study bible dr john macarthur says obadiah was probably a contemporary of elijah and elisha, and wrote the book of obadiah soon after the edomite assault on jerusalem in verses. In his macarthur study bible dr john macarthur says nothing is known for certain about the author, but that obadiah was probably a contemporary of elijah and elisha, and wrote the book of. The prophet zechariah wrote chapters 18 approximately 520518 b. This obadiah is in the time of king ahab and elijah is not the same obadiah the prophet that wrote the book named after him.
462 540 1546 81 1036 958 1347 1356 386 1126 166 958 582 1406 86 24 1491 839 1450 982 575 1110 772 1359 1298 704 1466 1082 1174 998 466 616 97 514 1274 1432 561 1493 130 906 1185 554 381 1126 273 1026 50