Obadiah 12
12 You should not ▼
▼tn In vv. 12-14 there are eight prohibitions that summarize the nature of the Lord’s complaint against Edom. Each prohibition alludes to something Edom did to Judah that should not have been done by one “brother” to another. It is because of these violations that the Lord has initiated judgment against Edom. In the Hebrew text these prohibitions are expressed by אַל (ʾal, “not”) plus the jussive form of the verb, which is common in negative commands of immediate urgency. Such constructions would normally have the sense of prohibiting something either not yet begun (i.e., “do not start to…”) or something already in process at the time of speaking (i.e., “stop…”). Here, however, it seems more likely that the prohibitions refer to a situation in past rather than future time (i.e., “you should not have…”). If so, the verbs are being used in a rhetorical fashion, as though the prophet were vividly projecting himself back into the events that he is describing and urging the Edomites not to do what in fact they have already done.
have gloated ▼ when your relatives ▼▼tn Heb “your brother” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); cf. NCV “your brother Israel.”
suffered calamity. ▼ You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. ▼
▼tn Heb “in the day of their destruction” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); cf. NAB, NRSV “on the day of their ruin.”
You should not have boasted ▼
▼tn Or “boasted with your mouth.” The Hebrew text includes the phrase “with your mouth,” which is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
when they suffered adversity. ▼▼tn Heb “in the day of adversity”; cf. NASB “in the day of their distress.”
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