Obadiah 1:21 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S. And saviours shall come up - Certain persons whom God may choose to be deliverers of his people; such as Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Maccabees.

Some think these saviours, מושיעים moshiim, mean the apostles of our Lord. Several MSS. have מושעים mushaim, the preserved; those that are saved, i.e., they who were delivered from the captivity; and those of Mount Zion shall judge, that is, shall execute judgment on the Edomites. And as the Asmonean princes joined the priesthood to the state, it might be what the prophet means when he says, "the kingdom shall be the Lord's," the high priest having both the civil and ecclesiastical power in his own hands. And these actually were masters of Edom, and judged and governed the mountain of Esau. And thus this prophecy appears to have had a very literal fulfillment.

But if we take the whole as referring to the times of the Gospel, which I believe is not its primary sense, it may signify the conversion and restoration of the Jews, and that under Jesus Christ the original theocracy shall be restored; and thus, once more, in the promised land, it may be said: -

המלוכה ליהוה והיתה hammeluchah laihovah vehayethah

"And the kingdom shall belong to Jehovah"

Commentary on the Bible, by Adam Clarke [1831].

Obadiah 1:21

21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.