Obadiah 1:5–7, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Obadiah 1:5–7
Edom Is Thoroughly Plundered and Betrayed by Allies
Edom's defeat will be more complete than normal theft, reaching hidden stores and exposing the failure of allies who deceive, expel, and trap it.
Why this sits here
The plunder images and ally reversal explain how Edom's asserted security fails in practice: neither hidden wealth nor diplomatic bonds preserve it.
The oracle moves from inaccessible heights to the inside of Edom's stores and alliances. The people who expected secure terrain and dependable partners face searching loss and political betrayal.
How the passage moves
Two rhetorical comparisons observe that ordinary robbers take only enough and ordinary harvesters leave gleanings.
Edom's fate is worse: Esau's possessions and hidden stores are thoroughly searched.
Confederates bring Edom to the border.
Peace partners and bread companions deceive and overpower Edom.
The final clause describes an unseen injury, trap, or snare and concludes that Edom lacks understanding.
What the author is communicating
Why this reading fits
Normal loss versus total search
The thief and grape-gatherer questions establish a normal remainder, while verse 6 exclaims that Esau's hidden things are searched out.
Alliance vocabulary
Confederacy, peace, and shared bread intensify the betrayal because these are trusted relationships, not obvious enemies.
Understanding withheld
The unit ends by saying there is no understanding in Edom, preparing for the destruction of wise men in verse 8.
A needed correction
Reading Obadiah 1:5–7 in Obadiah's historical and literary movement rules out these uses:
The passage does not promise that every dishonest alliance will collapse immediately or visibly.
Verse 7 does not identify the historical allies or permit invented names where the oracle is silent.
The textual difficulty does not justify presenting one reconstruction of 'wound' or 'trap' as certain Hebrew fact.
What remains true
Wealth and alliances cannot guarantee security or moral immunity.
How this should shape us
How should this shape us today?
Hold wealth and partnerships humbly, build alliances around truth and justice, and do not treat every failed partnership as proof of divine judgment.
Teach it back
Explain Obadiah 1:5–7 in your own words. Include the Edom-Judah setting, the unit's movement, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Normal loss versus total search
The thief and grape-gatherer questions establish a normal remainder, while verse 6 exclaims that Esau's hidden things are searched out.
Alliance vocabulary
Confederacy, peace, and shared bread intensify the betrayal because these are trusted relationships, not obvious enemies.
Understanding withheld
The unit ends by saying there is no understanding in Edom, preparing for the destruction of wise men in verse 8.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
hidden things
The rare form points to concealed stores or treasures and reinforces the image of exhaustive searching.
How certain? strongwound / trap
The disputed noun in verse 7 is difficult; proposals include a wound, trap, snare, or stumbling device laid beneath Edom.
How certain? strongWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
First historical horizon and its limits
The text portrays Edom as relying on covenant partners, peace partners, and bread companions, but it does not name a particular treaty partner or invading coalition. Claims about Nabateans or a specific displacement go beyond what these verses identify.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
KJV wording and material alternatives
The KJV's parenthetical 'how art thou cut off!' interrupts the two comparisons with an exclamation of horror. Verse 7's 'wound' represents a difficult Hebrew term; 'trap' or a related hidden device is a serious alternative.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Edom, Judah, and Israel's Scriptures
Calling Edom 'Esau' keeps the ancestral relationship in view. Prophetic texts elsewhere also portray false confidence in wealth and alliances, but this oracle's accusation remains directed to Edom.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Responsible canonical connections
Jeremiah 49:9–10 shares the grape-gatherer and hidden-place imagery. The close parallel is material, while its direction of dependence remains uncertain.
How certain? probableTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
Textual and grammatical care
Obadiah 7's final line is among the book's hardest clauses. Some interpreters emend or repunctuate it; others argue that the Masoretic wording can describe a politically charged hidden trap. The exact image is uncertain, but betrayal by trusted allies is clear from the surrounding parallel lines.
How certain? probableWhere careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The main disagreement concerns the final line of verse 7. The Hebrew noun is a hapax legomenon and the syntax is compressed. 'Wound,' 'trap,' 'snare,' and proposed emendations each attempt to explain it. The surrounding three descriptions of trusted partners deceiving Edom provide the strongest interpretive control.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
Judgment exposes the fragility of wealth and alliances when they are used as substitutes for justice and dependence on the LORD.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
This unit contributes to Obadiah's movement from Edom's violence and reversal toward the LORD's just kingdom: Edom's defeat will be more complete than normal theft, reaching hidden stores and exposing the failure of allies who deceive, expel, and trap it.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
The passage does not promise that every dishonest alliance will collapse immediately or visibly.
The vivid alliance reversal can make immediate, visible collapse sound like a universal rule.
Edom's stored wealth and network of trusted partners cannot preserve it. The rhetoric makes the betrayal fittingly ironic: the people who relied on advantage and alliance cannot perceive the trap beneath them.
Wealth and alliances cannot guarantee security or moral immunity.
The oracle announces Edom's particular reversal; it does not give a timetable for every dishonest partnership.
Verse 7 does not identify the historical allies or permit invented names where the oracle is silent.
Historical reconstructions can sound more satisfying when the unnamed allies receive a definite name.
Edom's stored wealth and network of trusted partners cannot preserve it. The rhetoric makes the betrayal fittingly ironic: the people who relied on advantage and alliance cannot perceive the trap beneath them.
Wealth and alliances cannot guarantee security or moral immunity.
Trusted partners deceive Edom, but the text leaves their identities unstated.
The textual difficulty does not justify presenting one reconstruction of 'wound' or 'trap' as certain Hebrew fact.
A rare Hebrew noun encourages interpreters to treat a preferred lexical solution as settled.
Edom's stored wealth and network of trusted partners cannot preserve it. The rhetoric makes the betrayal fittingly ironic: the people who relied on advantage and alliance cannot perceive the trap beneath them.
Wealth and alliances cannot guarantee security or moral immunity.
Betrayal is clear from the parallel lines even though the final image may be rendered wound, trap, snare, or another related term.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Obadiah 1:5–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew forms, clause boundaries, repeated roots, names, and the base wording behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2 (commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00), wlc/Obad.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 1:5–7
Supports: Material translation, syntax, text, date, geography, and uncertainty notes for the unit.
NET Bible Obadiah PDF, pp. 1723–1727, translation and notes on 1:5–7
Supports: Historical alternatives, literary structure, imagery, Edomite setting, and verse-level interpretation within the inspected preview's limits.
Patterson, Obadiah, pp. 223–226 (commentary on 1:2–7)
Supports: The previewed proposal that verse 7's difficult line may be coherent political metaphor without textual emendation.
Nogalski, 'Obadiah 7,' stable chapter record and preview summary
Supports: Edom's brother relationship, first historical horizon, and explicitly disputed readings within the preview.
Dicou, Edom, Israel's Brother and Antagonist, preview pp. 13–23, especially annotated translation of 1:5–7
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Obadiah 1:5–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Obadiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew forms, clause boundaries, repeated roots, names, and the base wording behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2 (commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00), wlc/Obad.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 1:5–7
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Obadiah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Material translation, syntax, text, date, geography, and uncertainty notes for the unit.
Exact location: NET Bible Obadiah PDF, pp. 1723–1727, translation and notes on 1:5–7
Open source ↗commentary
Obadiah
Richard D. Patterson
Tyndale House Publishers, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, volume 10, 2008
Supports: Historical alternatives, literary structure, imagery, Edomite setting, and verse-level interpretation within the inspected preview's limits.
Exact location: Patterson, Obadiah, pp. 223–226 (commentary on 1:2–7)
Open source ↗scholarly essay preview
Obadiah 7: Textual Corruption or Politically Charged Metaphor?
James D. Nogalski
SBL Press, in The Book of the Twelve and Beyond, 2017
Supports: The previewed proposal that verse 7's difficult line may be coherent political metaphor without textual emendation.
Exact location: Nogalski, 'Obadiah 7,' stable chapter record and preview summary
Open source ↗scholarly monograph preview
Edom, Israel's Brother and Antagonist: The Role of Edom in Biblical Prophecy and Story
Bert Dicou
JSOT Press, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 169, 1994
Supports: Edom's brother relationship, first historical horizon, and explicitly disputed readings within the preview.
Exact location: Dicou, Edom, Israel's Brother and Antagonist, preview pp. 13–23, especially annotated translation of 1:5–7
Open source ↗