Obadiah 1:18
What does Obadiah 1:18 mean?
A plain-English look at Obadiah 1:18 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Obadiah 1:18 means
The reunited people of God—house of Jacob and house of Joseph—are pictured as a consuming fire and flame. The house of Esau is like stubble before them, easily burned. This signifies decisive victory: Edom will not recover—“there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau.” The guarantee rests on Jehovah’s word. The imagery also suggests the healing of Israel’s own division; Jacob (Judah) and Joseph (Ephraim/Israel) act together under God. Their unity serves God’s purpose to judge persistent, unrepentant hostility. The verse is not about human vengeance but about God’s settled decree that those who oppose His people and purposes will finally be consumed.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, 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.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And the children of Jacob will be a fire and those of Joseph a flame, and the children of Esau dry stems of grass, burned up by them till all is gone: and there will be no people living in Esau; for the Lord has said it.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And the house of Jacob hath been a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame, And the house of Esau for stubble, And they have burned among them, And they have consumed them, And there is not a remnant to the house of Esau, For Jehovah hath spoken.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble: and they shall be kindled in them, and shall devour them: and there shall be no remains of the house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble; and they shall kindle in them and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau: for Jehovah hath spoken [it].
Context
After promising escape and holiness on Zion, the prophecy declares the outcome for Edom when God restores His people—complete defeat. This sets the stage for the geographic descriptions of restored inheritance (verses 19–20), showing the breadth of the reversal. The flow is from identity (God’s united people), to action (judgment as a consuming fire), to territory (possession of lands). The cumulative effect readies the reader for the book’s climactic declaration of Jehovah’s kingdom in verse 21.
v.17But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
v.18This passage
v.19And they of the South shall possess 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.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Obadiah 1:9
And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter.
- Joel 2:5
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
- Psalms 83:6
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagarenes;
- Isaiah 31:9
And his rock shall pass away by reason of terror, and his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign, saith Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
- 1 Corinthians 3:12
But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble;
- Isaiah 5:24
Therefore as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and as the dry grass sinketh down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.