Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
Behold, I have made thee small - thy reduction to insignificance is as sure as if it were already accomplished: therefore the past tense is used. Edom then extended from Dedan of Arabia to Bozrah in the north (Jeremiah 49:8; Jeremiah 49:13). Calvin explains it, 'Whereas thou wast made by me an insignificant people, why art thou so proud?' (Obadiah 1:3.) But if this explanation were right, why should the pagan peoples be needed to subdue one so insignificant? Jeremiah 49:15 ("Lo, I will make thee small among the pagan, and despised among men"), evidently quoted from this passage of Obadiah, confirms the former view.