Obadiah

Smith's Bible Dictionary

 

Obadi'ah. (servant of the Lord).

1. A man, whose sons are enumerated, in the genealogy of the tribe of Judah. 1Ch_3:21. (B.C. 470).

2. A descendant of Issachar, and a chief man of his tribe. 1Ch_7:3. (B.C. 1014).

3. One of the six sons of Azel, a descendant of Saul. 1Ch_8:33; 1Ch_9:44. (B.C. 720).

4. A Levite, son of Shemaiah, and descended from Jeduthun. 1Ch_9:16; Neh_12:25.

5. The second of the lion-faced Gadites, who joined David at Ziklag. 1Ch_12:9. (B.C. 1054).

6. One of the Princes of Judah, in the reign of Jehoshaphat. 2Ch_17:7. (B.C. 909).

7. The son of Jehiel, of the sons of Joab, who came up in the second caravan with Ezra. Ezr_8:9.

8. A priest, or family of priests, who settled the covenant with Nehemiah. Neh_10:5.

9. The fourth of the twelve minor prophets. We know nothing of him, except what we can gather, from the short book, which bears his name. The question of his book's date must depend upon the interpretation of the 11th verse of his prophecy. He, there, speaks of the conquest of Jerusalem, and the captivity of Jacob as having occurred. He probably refers to the captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 688. It must have been uttered, at some time, in the five years which intervened between B.C. 588 and 583.

The book of Obadiah is a sustained denunciation of the Edomites, melting into a vision of the future glories of Zion, when the arm of the Lord should have wrought her deliverance, and have repaid double upon her enemies.

10. An officer of high rank, in the court of Ahab. 1Ki_18:3. He was a devout worshipper of Jehovah, and at the peril of his life, concealed over a hundred prophets, during the persecution by Jezebel; 1Ki_18:3-16. (B.C. 904).

11. The father of Ishmaiah, who was chief of the tribe of Zebulun, in David's reign. 1Ch_27:19. (B.C. before 1014).

12. A Merarite Levite, in the reign of Josiah, and one of the overseers of the workmen, in the restoration of the Temple. 2Ch_34:12. (B.C.623).

 

Taken from: Smith's Bible Dictionary by Dr. William Smith (1884)