Obadiah 1:6
What does Obadiah 1:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Obadiah 1:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Obadiah 1:6 means
The prophet laments the exposure: everything belonging to Esau is being searched; hidden treasures are sought out. Edom’s strategy of concealment—wealth stashed in rocky strongholds and secret places—will fail. God’s judgment reaches both open possessions and guarded reserves. The wording suggests invaders methodically ransacking, leaving nothing untouched. This is the fulfillment of the prior image: not even the gleanings remain. For a nation proud of its cunning and caches, the discovery of all “hidden treasures” is a special humiliation. It shows that what people trust most—their secret securities—cannot shield them from God’s probing justice when the day of reckoning arrives.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000How are the things of Esau searched! how are his hidden treasures sought out!
KJV
King James Version · 1611How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901How are the things of Esau searched! how are his hidden treasures sought out!
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his secret stores looked for!
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862How hath Esau been searched out! Flowed out have his hidden things,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752How have they searched Esau, how have they sought out his hidden things?
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890How is Esau searched! his hidden things sought out!
Context
This verse follows the comparison to thieves and harvesters by stating the reality: Edom’s stores will be fully uncovered. It deepens the sense of total loss and prepares for another layer of judgment—betrayal by friends (verse 7). The progression demonstrates that God’s decree operates through multiple avenues: plunderers, exposure of wealth, and faithless allies. The reader should see the cumulative force: no resource, public or hidden, will avert the downfall previously announced by Jehovah.
v.5If 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?
v.6This passage
v.7All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee on thy way, even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee: there is no understanding in him.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Matthew 6:19
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal:
- Daniel 2:22
he revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
- Psalms 139:1
O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and knownme.
- Isaiah 10:13
For he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down them that sit on thrones:
- Jeremiah 49:10
But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brethren, and his neighbors; and he is not.
- Isaiah 45:3
and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that it is I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel.