Commentary on Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah and Nahum John Calvin (continued)
Obadiah 1
Obadiah 1:1
1. The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; 76 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.
1. Visio Obadiae. Sic Dominus Jehova contra Edom, Rumorem audivimus a Jehova, et legatus ad gentes missus est, Surgite et surgamus contra eam ad proelium.
Obadiah's preface is, that he brought nothing human, but only declared the vision presented to him from above. We indeed know that it was God alone that was ever to be heard in the Church, as even now he demands to be heard: but yet he sent his prophets, as afterwards the apostles; yea, as he sent his only begotten Son, whom he has set over us to be our only and sovereign Teacher. Obadiah then by saying that it was a vision, said the same, as though he declared, that he did not presumptuously bring forward his own dreams, or what he conjectured, or discovered by human reason, but that he adduced only a celestial oracle: for {,}חזוןchezun, as we have observed in other places, was a vision, by which God revealed himself to his Prophets.
He then adds, Thus saith Jehovah. Here is a fuller expression of the same declaration. We thus see that the Prophet, in order that the doctrine he brought forward might not be suspected, made God the author; for what faith can be put in men, whom we know to be vain and false, except as far as they are ruled by the Spirit of God and sent by Him? Seeing then that the Prophet so carefully teaches us, that what he declared was delivered to him by God, we may hence learn what I have lately referred to, --- that the Prophets formerly so spoke, that God alone might be 76The Septuagint renders the words, "to Edom" — {Ταδε} {λεγει} {κυριος} {ὁ} {Θεὸς} {τη} {Ιδουμαία}
---''Thus saith the Lord God to Idumea;'' which is an exact rendering of the original, for it is, to''---{}לאדוםEdom.'' It was a message from God to that people. May we not hence conclude that this prophecy was sent to them by Obadiah? They are often personally addressed: and this seems to favor such a supposition. It is indeed true that {}לprefixed to a word after the verb, to say or to speak, is often rendered, of, or, concerning; but it is also rendered by, to, meaning that the address is made to the person. --- Ed.