Obadiah 1:5
What does Obadiah 1:5 mean?
A plain-English look at Obadiah 1:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Obadiah 1:5 means
Obadiah contrasts ordinary loss with the devastation awaiting Edom. Thieves and night robbers usually take only what they can carry; grape-gatherers, by law and practice, leave some gleanings. But Edom’s coming judgment will be more severe—there will be no merciful remainder. The parenthetical cry, “how art thou cut off!” underscores the shock and completeness of the ruin. God’s judgment will not be a partial trimming but a stripping bare. The image corrects any hope that Edom might survive with a remnant of wealth or security. When the Lord turns from patience to punishment, what remains is not a manageable setback but a comprehensive reckoning that empties former storehouses.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000If 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?
KJV
King James Version · 1611If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901If 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?
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949If thieves came, attacking you by night, (how are you cut off!) would they not go on taking till they had enough? if men came cutting your grapes would they take them all?
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862If thieves have come in to thee, If spoilers of the night, How hast thou been cut off! Do they not steal their sufficiency? If gatherers have come in to thee, Do they not leave gleanings?
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752If thieves had gone in to thee, if robbers by night, how wouldst thou have held thy peace? would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers had come in to thee, would they not have left thee at the least a cluster?
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890If thieves had come to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen [till] they had had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left some gleanings?
Context
After asserting God will bring Edom down, the prophecy emphasizes just how complete that downfall will be. The comparison with thieves and grape-gatherers prepares the reader to hear that Edom’s resources and defenses will be thoroughly searched out (verse 6). This shift from metaphor to explicit statement heightens the seriousness of the judgment. The flow now moves from the fact of devastation to the uncovering of Edom’s hidden reserves and to the treachery of their allies as the practical means God will use.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 2 Samuel 1:19
Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the mighty fallen!
- Isaiah 24:13
For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive-tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.
- Lamentations 1:1
How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!
- Zephaniah 2:15
This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
- Jeremiah 49:9
If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had enough?
- Deuteronomy 24:21
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it after thee: it shall be for the sojourner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.