Obadiah 1 with Metaphysical Footnotes (ASV)

^1:1The vision of Obadiah1

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom2:

We have heard tidings from Jehovah,

and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying,

Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

^1:2Behold, I have made thee small among the nations:

thou art greatly despised.

^1:3The pride of thy heart3 hath deceived thee,

O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock,

whose habitation is high;

that saith in his heart,

Who shall bring me down to the ground?

^1:4Though thou mount on high as the eagle,4

and though thy nest be set among the stars,

I will bring thee down from thence,

saith Jehovah.

1. Obadiah. The higher thoughts in man that serve and worship God through the I AM, Jehovah, indwelling Christ. They are faithful and true. They are thoughts that are obedient to spiritual ideals, that hear and heed the voice of Spirit.
2. Edom. A nation descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother. As Jacob and Esau had a contentious relationship, so did Edom and Israel. When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, Edomites took advantage and earned the ire of the Jews. Metaphysically represents the outer man, the body, or the carnal, physical phase of man's consciousness and organism; sense consciousness.
3. The pride of thy heart. Edom was located on higher elevations in the mountains of Seir; Edomites thought very highly of themselves and superior to the Israelites. Metaphysically, sense thoughts seem more important than spiritual ones and thus can be easily prioritized.
4. Though thou mount on high as the eagle. When operating apart from God, pridefully, and dominated by sense consciousness, man will be brought down, humbled.

^1:5If thieves came to thee,

if robbers by night

(how art thou cut off!),

would they not steal only till they had enough?

if grape-gatherers came to thee,

would they not leave some gleaning grapes?

^1:6How are the things of Esau searched!

how are his hidden treasures sought out!

^1:7All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee on thy way,

even to the border:

the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee;

they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee:

there is no understanding in him.

^1:8Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah,

destroy the wise men out of Edom,1

and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

^1:9And thy mighty men, O Teman2 , shall be dismayed,

to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter.

1. Destroy the wise men out of Edom. As Edom has done to the Israelites, so it will be done to them.
2. Teman. Refers to the realm of the subconsciousness with its inherently rich stores of substance and good. Here this realm is under the influence of the Edom phase of mind in the individual; under material thought.

^1:10For the violence done to thy brother1 Jacob,

shame shall cover thee,

and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

^1:11In the day that thou stoodest on the other side,

in the day that strangers carried away his substance,

and foreigners entered into his gates,

and cast lots upon Jerusalem,

even thou wast as one of them.

^1:12But look not thou on the day of thy brother

in the day of his disaster,

and rejoice not over the children of Judah

in the day of their destruction;

neither speak proudly in

the day of distress.

^1:13Enter not into the gate of my people

in the day of their calamity;

yea, look not thou on their affliction

in the day of their calamity,

neither lay ye hands on their substance

in the day of their calamity.

^1:14And stand thou not in the crossway,

to cut off those of his that escape;

and deliver not up those of his that remain

in the day of distress.

^1:15For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations:

as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; 2

thy dealing shall return upon thine own head.

^1:16For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain,

so shall all the nations drink continually;

yea, they shall drink, and swallow down,

and shall be as though they had not been.

1. For the violence done to thy brother. Referencing the violence Edomites committed against the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites. The atrocities are detailed here.
2. as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. Obadiah’s message is now applied to all nations and peoples. Those who act pridefully, and harm others, will one day receive what they’ve given. Prideful nations will be judged.

^1:17But in mount Zion1 there shall be those that escape,

and it shall be holy;

and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

^1:18And the house of Jacob shall be a fire,

and the house of Joseph a flame,

and the house of Esau for stubble2,

and they shall burn among them, and devour them;

and there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau;

for Jehovah hath spoken it.

^1:19And they of the South shall possess3 the mount of Esau,

and they of the lowland the Philistines;

and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria;

and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

^1:20And the captives of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites,

shall possess even unto Zarephath;

and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad,

shall possess the cities of the South.

^1:21And saviours shall come up on mount Zion

to judge the mount of Esau;

and the kingdom shall be Jehovah's.

1. Mount Zion. Dwelling place of high, holy thoughts and ideals; love’s abode. As we learn to harmonize ourselves with God, we escape the harms that come with living in sense consciousness; we experience holiness or wholeness [Turner, Let There Be Light].
2. Stubble. Cut stalks of grain plants left sticking out of the ground after the grain is harvested. Joseph is Jacob’s son. Metaphysically, spiritual or I AM consciousness (Jacob) and imagination (Joseph) will overcome the animal mind (Esau).
3. Shall possess. Metaphysically, a description of change in consciousness culminating in higher forms of thought overcoming those of sense conscioussness.