John Barton

JOEL AND OBADIAH

A Commentary

© 2001 John Barton

Originally published in hardback in the United States by Westminster John Knox Press in 2001.

2011 paperback edition

Published by Westminster John Knox Press

Louisville, Kentucky

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

ISBN 978-0-664-23726-4 (paper edition)

The Old Testament Library

This book is dedicated with love

to my daughter Katie and her fiancé.

CONTENTS

Preface

Abbreviations

Select Bibliography for Joel

Select Bibliography for Obadiah

The Book of Joel

Introduction

Commentary on Joel

Superscription: Joel 1:1

First Lament Cycle: Joel 1:2–20

Second Lament Cycle: Joel 2:1–17

The Divine Response: Joel 2:18–27

Oracles of Salvation: Joel 2:28–3:21

The Book of Obadiah

Introduction

Commentary on Obadiah

Superscription: Obadiah 1a

First Oracle against Edom: Obadiah 1b–4

Second Oracle against Edom: Obadiah 5–7

Third Oracle against Edom: Obadiah 8–11

Fourth Oracle against Edom: Obadiah 12–14, 15b

An Oracle against the Nations: Obadiah 15a, 16–18

An Oracle about the Restoration of Israel: Obadiah 19–21

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Warm thanks are due to many colleagues and students from whom I have learned much about the biblical prophets and their interpretation. I am specially indebted to Ms. Susan Lake and her colleagues at the Oxford Theology Faculty Library for help in tracking down books and articles. I am grateful to Westminster John Knox Press and to the editors of the Old Testament Library for inviting me to contribute this volume on two books of the Bible that deserve to be more widely studied than they are.

PREFACE

In modern times the study of the twelve Minor Prophets has been uneven. Amos, Hosea, and Micah have been in the forefront of attention, because of their deep engagement with the moral life of Israel, their penetrating analysis of the ills of the society in which they lived, and their conviction that these ills would result in divine judgment. The Old Testament Library has long included volumes on these three prophets, and in the case of Amos no fewer than three commentaries have been published in this series. Those Minor Prophets whom modern scholarship judges to have been involved in the Israelite cult, especially in Second Temple times, have attracted far less interest.1 Joel and Obadiah have been particularly affected by this relative neglect. There are indeed many monographs, commentaries, and articles about them, but students study them much more rarely than the “big three,” and pastors seldom preach about them. As so often with neglected subjects, ...