Obadiah 1:20
What does Obadiah 1:20 mean?
A plain-English look at Obadiah 1:20 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Obadiah 1:20 means
The promise reaches scattered exiles. The captives of “this host of the children of Israel” among the Canaanites will possess land as far as Zarephath to the north, while the captives of Jerusalem in Sepharad will possess the cities of the South. God’s restoration gathers people from diverse dispersions and settles them across the breadth of the land. The mention of specific regions assures the hearers that no exile is beyond Jehovah’s reach. Those once displaced will become possessors. This is a concrete answer to the shame of defeat and displacement described earlier, affirming that God’s purposes include both the return of His people and the reordering of territory under His promise.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And 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.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And those of the children of Israel who were the first to be taken away as prisoners, will have their heritage among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and those who were taken away from Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will have the towns of the South.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And the removed of this force of the sons of Israel, That <FI>is with<Fi> the Canaanites unto Zarephat, And the removed of Jerusalem that <FI>is<Fi> with the Sepharad, Possess the cities of the south.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, all the places of the Chanaanites even to Sarepta: and the captivity of Jerusalem that is in Bosphorus, shall possess the cities of the south.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890and the captives of this host of the children of Israel [shall possess] what belonged to the Canaanites, unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who [were] in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
Context
Building on the territorial restoration of verse 19, this verse emphasizes the return and settlement of exiles from various locations. It completes the picture of a reassembled people inhabiting a restored land. With people and place addressed, the book is ready to close with the political-spiritual outcome: leaders rising on Zion to administer justice over Edom and the formal declaration of Jehovah’s kingdom (verse 21). The trajectory is from judgment to restoration to established rule.
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.
v.20This passage
v.21And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah’s.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Jeremiah 33:13
In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him that numbereth them, saith Jehovah.
- Jeremiah 32:44
Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill-country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith Jehovah.
- Jeremiah 33:26
then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.
- Jeremiah 3:18
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers.
- Jeremiah 13:19
The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive.
- 1 Kings 17:9
Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee.