Commentary on Obadiah and a Philological Study of Enoch

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...before they came into the land of Sihon and Og Sihon and Og were two Amorite kings defeated by the Israelites during the Exodus, as described in Numbers 21., as is recorded in the Law The Torah or Pentateuch. in Numbers 20:14 and following; which David also subdued, placing a garrisoned soldier in it, as in 2 Samuel 8:14; and which Nebuchadnezzar desolated, as did the aforementioned Hyrcanus? John Hyrcanus (134–104 BCE), a Hasmonean leader who famously forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism. Or should we truly understand Rome and the other lands of the Christians by "Edom" and "Mount Seir"—those whom our Sages of blessed memory original: "Sapientes nostri p. m." (piae memoriae). A traditional Jewish honorific for deceased rabbis. were accustomed to call the Idumaean A Greek/Latin name for the Edomite people. nation, and Rome, the city of Edom?

THE THIRD QUESTION: How does it happen that this prophecy of Obadiah regarding Idumaea occurs in almost the same words without any change in Jeremiah chapter 49, verse 14 and following? This is especially puzzling since our Sages of blessed memory have long ago warned in the tractate Sanhedrin, folio 89, side 1 A section of the Babylonian Talmud dealing with legal and prophetic matters.: "Two Prophets never prophesy with the same style or tenor." And it is certainly worth our while to know which of these two preceded the other in prophesying: was it Obadiah before Jeremiah, or was it the latter before the former? And what is the necessity or use for two Prophets to occupy themselves with one and the same matter in their vaticination? A formal word for prophecy or predicting the future. Even if God, the Blessed One, wished to reveal His secrets to Obadiah, why did He not indicate something else to him other than what was said about Idumaea?

THE FOURTH QUESTION is about those words: "Thus says the Lord GOD to Edom: We have heard a rumor from the Lord." For what he says: "We have heard a rumor from the Lord," can in no way be understood as being spoken by God the Blessed One Himself, as if this speech and these words were His own. For how could God*, the Blessed One, say of Himself: "We have heard," in the plural? And how could He have heard it "from the Lord"? It would be as if He were outside of Himself. If, however, these are the words of the Prophet speaking about himself, why does he say: "Thus says the Lord"?*

THE FIFTH QUESTION is about what he says: "And there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken it." It is as if he were saying that no one from among them would be left as a survivor or escape, but that absolutely everyone would die in that war. Yet Amos contradicts this at the end of his prophecy in chapter 9, verse 12 The text cites chapter 11, which appears to be a misprint or different numbering for Amos 9:12., saying: "That they may possess the remnant of Edom." For here he teaches that there will be certain remnants who survive, over whom the Israelites shall rule. Whence, then, does such a contradiction occur in their words, since the words of both are of the Living God and all were delivered by the one Divine Shepherd, GOD?

THE SIXTH QUESTION is about those words: "And the captivity of this host, who are among the Canaanites even unto Zarpath" Usually identified as Sarepta in modern-day Lebanon.: For what business is...