Obadiah 1:10 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob - By this term the Israelites in general are understood; for the two brothers, - Jacob, from whom sprang the Jews, and Esau, from whom sprang the Idumeans or Edomites, - are here put for the whole people or descendants of both. We need not look for particular cases of the violence of the Edomites against the Jews. Esau, their founder, was not more inimical to his brother Jacob, who deprived him of his birthright, than the Edomites uniformly were to the Jews. See 2 Chronicles 28:17, 2 Chronicles 28:18. They had even stimulated the Chaldeans, when they took Jerusalem, to destroy the temple, and level it with the ground. See Psalms 137:7.