PROPHET OBADIAH

The prophet of God Obadiah is the fourth of the twelve minor prophets. He is the author of the shortest book of the entire Old Testament, consisting of 21 verses and only one chapter. The name Obadiah is translated from Hebrew as “servant of God” or “servant of Yahweh.”

The book of Obadiah, which the prophet himself calls a “vision,” contains a prophecy about the destruction of Edom (1–16) and the consolation that God prepares for the people of Judah (17–21). Under the image of Edom, the Church Fathers and ancient interpreters of Scripture saw an indication of the coming victory of Christ over the devil, hell, and death, revealed in the Resurrection and which will finally take place at the end of time:

“But even if you, like an eagle, fly high and make your nest among the stars, then from there I will bring you down, says the Lord” (4). The last words of Obadiah’s prophecy proclaim “the kingdom of the Lord” (21).

The book of Obadiah does not contain any information about the prophet himself, who deliberately remains in the shadow of the word of God that he proclaims. It is generally accepted that Obadiah was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah and witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple under Nebuchadnezzar II around 586. Apparently, he came from the Kingdom of Judah and belonged to the tribe of Judah or Benjamin.

According to the testimony of the ancient Bible translator St Jerome (June 15 (28)), in the 5th century, the tomb of the prophet Obadiah, located in Sebastia, on the site of the ancient city of Samaria, not far from the modern Palestinian city of Nablus, was a place of pilgrimage. Like other Old Testament prophets and righteous men, Obadiah was highly revered in the Ancient Church. We owe the autumn day of remembrance of the holy prophet (November 19 (December 2)) to the ancient Roman and Constantinople liturgical calendars.