Obadiah

2025-10-01T03:18:20Z

2600:1700:53B8:2A90:71AC:A109:5C34:2BF8:

{{Short description|Biblical prophet}}
{{About|the prophet in the Hebrew Bible||}}
{{Infobox saint
|name= Obadiah
|death_date= Unknown
|feast_day=19 November (Catholic, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches)<br /> 15 Tobi (Coptic)
|venerated_in=[[Judaism]]<br />[[Christianity]]<br />
[[Islam]]<br />[[Rastafari]]
|image=Obadiah by James Tissot (cropped).jpg
|caption=''The Prophet Obadiah'' by [[James Tissot]], c. 1900
|birth_place=
|death_place=
|titles= Prophet
|attributes=[[Prophet]] with his index finger of his right hand pointing upward<ref name="Stracke">{{cite web |last1=Stracke |first1=Richard |title= The Prophet Obadiah | url = http://www.christianiconography.info/Edited%20in%202013/Italy/abiasAccademia.html |website=Christian Iconography | date=2015-10-20}}</ref>
|patronage=
|major_shrine=
|major_works=[[Book of Obadiah]]
}}

'''Obadiah''' ({{IPAc-en|oʊ|b|ə|ˈ|d|aɪ|.|ə|}}; {{langx|he|עֹבַדְיָה }} – ''ʿŌḇaḏyā'' or {{Script/Hebrew|עֹבַדְיָהוּ}} – ''ʿŌḇaḏyāhū''; "servant/slave of [[Yahweh|Yah]]"), also known as '''Abdias,'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Abdias |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01030b.htm |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> is a [[Bible|biblical]] [[prophet]]. The authorship of the [[Book of Obadiah]] is traditionally attributed to the prophet Obadiah.

Most scholars date the Book of Obadiah to shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC.<ref>Riding, Charles Bruce. “Dating Obadiah to 801 BC”. Reformed Theological Review 80, no. 3 (December 1, 2021): 189–217. Accessed January 7, 2025. https://rtrjournal.org/index.php/RTR/article/view/286</ref> Other scholars hold that the book was shaped by the conflicts between [[Yehud (Babylonian province)|Yehud]] and the Edomites in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE and evolved through a process of [[redaction]].<ref>{{cite book |last1= Becking |first1= Bob |title= The Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets |editor1= Julia M. O'Brien |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2021 |pages= 437–448 |doi= 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190673208.013.28 |quote= "The constant quarrels between the Persian province Yehud and the Edomites in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE should hence be seen as the delivery room for the traditions leading to the book of Obadiah. This book articulates and ventilates the way in which the inhabitants of Jerusalem and surroundings found a way to cope with the Edomite threat. Not a single event but a string of events stands at the background of this biblical book. This also indicates that Obadiah in its present form is the final product of a process of redaction and rewriting."}}</ref><ref>Ben Zvi, Ehud. 1996. A Historical-Critical Study of the book of Obadiah. BZAW 242. Berlin: de Gruyter.</ref>

== Biblical account ==
{{main|Book of Obadiah}}

===Dating===
The composition date is disputed and difficult to determine due to the lack of information regarding the prophet Obadiah. However, because Obadiah wrote about [[Edom]], there are two generally accepted dates. The first is 853–841 BC, when [[Jerusalem]] was invaded by Philistines and Arabs during the reign of [[Jehoram of Judah]] (recorded in [[2 Kings 8]]:20–22 and [[2 Chronicles 21]]:8-17). This earlier period would place Obadiah as a contemporary of the prophet [[Elijah]]. Jewish traditions favor the earlier date because the Jewish Talmud identifies Obadiah as an Edomite himself, and a descendant of [[Eliphaz the Temanite]],<ref>{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Obadiah}}</ref> the first of the friends of [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]] to speak with him about his tribulations.<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|4:1}}</ref>

The other is 607–586 BCE, when [[Jerusalem]] was attacked by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] of the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], which led to the [[Babylonian captivity]] (recorded in [[Psalm 137]]). The later date would place Obadiah as a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. [[Interpreter's Bible series|The Interpreters' Bible]] states that:
{{blockquote|The political situation implied in the prophecy points to a time after the Exile, probably in the mid-fifth century B.C. No value can be attributed to traditions identifying this prophet with King Ahab's steward (... so Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 39''b'') or with King Ahaziah's captain (... so [[Pseudo-Epiphanius]]...).
: — The Interpreters' Bible.<ref>The Interpreter's Bible, 1953, Volume VI, pp. 857–859, John A. Thompson</ref>}}

== Rabbinic tradition ==
[[File:Obadiah.jpg|thumb|Vision of Obadiah]]

According to the [[Talmud]], Obadiah is said to have been a convert to Judaism from [[Edom]],<ref name = "c">{{Citation| contribution =Tract Sanhedrin, Volume VIII, XVI, Part II (Haggada), Chapter XI | title =The Babylonian Talmud| page=376|place=Boston | publisher =The Talmud Society | url = http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t08/t0814.htm}} Translated by Michael L. Rodkinson</ref> a descendant of [[Eliphaz]], the friend of [[Job (Bible)|Job]]. He is identified with [[Obadiah (1 Kings)|the Obadiah who was the servant of Ahab]], and was chosen to prophesy against Edom because he was himself an Edomite.

Obadiah is supposed to have received the gift of prophecy for having hidden the "hundred prophets"<ref>{{Bibleverse|1|Kings|18:4|HE}}</ref> from the persecution of Jezebel.<ref name = "c"/> He hid the prophets in two caves, so that if those in one cave should be discovered those in the other might yet escape.<ref>[[1 Kings]] {{Bibleverse-nb|1|Kings|18:3–4|HE}}</ref>

Obadiah was very rich, but all his wealth was expended in feeding the poor prophets, until, in order to be able to continue to support them, finally he had to borrow money at interest from Ahab's son [[Jehoram of Israel|Jehoram]].<ref>[[Midrash]] ''Exodus Rabbah'' xxxi. 3</ref> Obadiah's fear of God was one degree higher than that of [[Abraham]]; and if the house of Ahab had been capable of being blessed, it would have been blessed for Obadiah's sake.<ref name = "c" />

== Christian tradition ==
In some Christian traditions he is said to have been born in "Sychem" ([[Shechem]]), and to have been the third captain sent out by [[Ahaziah of Israel|Ahaziah]] against [[Elijah]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Kings|1|HE}}</ref><ref name="HAP">{{Citation
| year =1998
| title =The Lives of the Holy Prophets
| page =4
| place =Buena Vista CO
| publisher =Holy Apostles Convent
| isbn =0-944359-12-4
| author =compilation and translation by Holy Apostles Convent. }}
</ref> The [[Book of Obadiah#Scholarly Issues|date of his ministry]] is unclear due to certain historical ambiguities in the book bearing his name, but is believed to be around 586 B.C.

[[Image:Russian Icon XVIII century - Amos and Obadiah.jpg|thumb|upright|Russian icon of Prophets [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] and Obadiah, 18th century.]]

He is regarded as a [[saint]] by several Eastern churches. His [[feast day]] is celebrated on the 15th day of the Coptic Month [[Month of Tobi|Tobi]] (23/24 January) in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Orthodox Church]]. The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and those [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] which follow the [[Byzantine Rite]] celebrate his memory on 19 November. (For those churches which follow the traditional [[Julian Calendar]], 19 November currently falls on 2 December of the modern [[Gregorian Calendar]].)

He is celebrated on 28 February in the [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac]] and [[Malankara Church]]es, and with the other [[Minor prophet]]s in the [[Calendar of Saints (Armenian Apostolic Church)|Calendar of saints]] of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] on 31 July.

According to an old tradition, Obadiah is buried in [[Sebastia, Nablus|Sebastia]], at the same site as [[Elisha]] and where later the body of [[John the Baptist]] was believed to have been buried by his followers.<ref>Denys Pringle, ''The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus. Vol. 2: L-Z (excluding Tyre)'', p. 283.</ref>

== Islamic tradition ==
In [[Islam]], Adbiyya ibn Shāmiyya ([[Arabic|Arabic:]] عَدْبِيَة بن شامِيَة) is considered to be an [[Israʼiliyyat]] [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|prophet]] sent to guide the [[Bani-Israel]] possibly in the era of the Prophet [[Elijah in Islam|Ilyās]] ([[Elijah]]) or shortly after.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} Some Islamic scholars identify the prophet [[Dhu al-Kifl]] with Obadiah.<ref>[[Quran]] [http://quran.com/38/48 38:48]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Abdiel]]
* [[Theodulus]], a Greek name with the same meaning

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

* {{Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Obadiah |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11641-obadiah |first1= Emil G. |last1= Hirsch |first2=Schulim |last2= Ochser |volume=9 |page=369 |ref=none}}
* [[Frederick George Holweck|Holweck, F. G.]], ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.

==External links==
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103326 Prophet Obadiah (Abdias)] Orthodox [[icon]] and [[synaxarion]]

{{Prophets of the Tanakh}}
{{Extra-Quranic Prophets of Islam}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:6th-century BCE Jews]]
[[Category:Christian saints from the Old Testament]]
[[Category:Converts to Judaism from paganism]]
[[Category:Book of Obadiah people]]

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Obadiah