Obadiah, << `oh` buh DY uh, >> Book of, is a book of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, named for an Israelite prophet. The book, which has 21 verses, is the shortest in the Bible. It was probably composed after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 587 or 586 B.C.
The Book of Obadiah has three sections. They deal with the destruction of Edom (verses 1-9), the misdeeds of Edom against Israel (verses 10-14), and the restoration of Israel at the expense of other nations (verses 15-21). Edom was an ancient kingdom in what is now Jordan. Obadiah (verses 1-9) closely parallels the Book of Jeremiah (49:7-21), which also predicts the destruction of Edom. The familiarity of Obadiah’s author with such prophetic themes as “The Day of the Lord” (verses 15-21), places him in the mainstream of late Biblical prophecy.
