Obadiah
See Obadiah (disambiguation).''See also
Book of Obadiah.:''For the Khazar ruler, see
Obadiah (Khazar).:''For one of the 25 Islands described in the 2002 book by Clive Barker, see
Abarat.
Obadiah (
עֹבַ"ְיָ" "Servant of
the LORD",
Standard Hebrew ʿOvadya,
Tiberian Hebrew ʿŌḇaḏyāh,
Vulgate Abdias) is the name of many people mentioned in the
Hebrew Bible, the
Old Testament.
According to the
Talmud, Obadiah was a proselyte of Edomite origin (Tracate Sanhedrin 39b), and is said to have been a descendant of Eliphaz, the friend of Job. He is identified with the Obadiah who prophesied against Edom. It is said that he was chosen to prophesy against Edom because he was himself an Edomite. Moreover, having lived with two such godless persons as Ahab and Jezebel without learning to act as they did, he seemed the most suitable person to prophesy against Esau (Edom), who, having been brought up by two pious persons, Isaac and Rebekah, had not learned to imitate their good deeds.
Obadiah is supposed to have received the gift of prophecy for having hidden the hundred prophets from the persecution of Jezebel. He hid the prophets in two caves, so that if those in one cave should be discovered those in the other might yet escape.
Obadiah was very rich, but all his wealth was expended in feeding the poor prophets, until, in order to be able to continue to support them, finally he had to borrow money at interest from Ahab's son Jehoram (Midrash
Exodus Rabbah xxxi. 3). Obadiah's fear of God was one degree higher than that of Abraham; and if the house of Ahab had been capable of being blessed, it would have been blessed for Obadiah's sake (Sanh. l.c.)
