1 vision. A supernatural revelation to the prophet’s inner sight or hearing. Obadiah introduces the message he received from the Lord about Edom.

Thus says the Lord God. God revealed the content of the prophecy (cf. 2 Pet. 1:21). This raises the moral quality of its severity above human vengefulness to the purity of divine justice.

Edom. The bitterness between Edom and Israel began in the patriarchal period. God blessed Isaac and Rebekah with twin sons, Esau and Jacob (Gen. 25:21–26; cf. Mal. 1:2, 3; Rom. 9:10–13). The personal rivalry between Jacob and Esau (Gen. 27), from whom the nations of Israel and Edom descended, developed into longstanding national conflict (Ex. 15:13–15; Num. 20:14–21; 1 Sam. 14:47; 2 Sam. 8:13, 14; 1 Kin. 11:14, 15; 2 Kin. 8:20–22; 14:7). Edom also symbolically represents the enemies of God’s people (Is. 63:1–6).

Let us rise against her. Speaking for his people, the prophet sees divine significance in the news of a conspiracy against Edom. Behind the human plot the Sovereign Lord is at work. That such news reached Obadiah’s ears in connection with this vision was no coincidence; it was a token of the prophecy’s fulfillment.