Naked Bible Podcast 107 – Book of Obadiah, Part 2

4 Comments

1. 

   mheiser on July 9, 2016 at 11:14 am

   On Obed-Edom,many think that, since “Edom” is also a deity name, his name means “servant of (the deity) Edom.” The odd thing is that he is a Gittite — from Gath, not Edom. But of course we don’t know if he was native born there. Here’s an excerpt from DDD on the deity Edom:

   EDOM אדם
   I. As a deity, Edom is possibly attested in the Egyptian Leiden Magical Papyrus 343+345 V 7, otherwise only in personal names. ʿObed Edom (LXX Abdedom) 2 Sam 6:10–12 (//1 Chr 13:13–14; 15:25) is a citizen of Philistine Gath—and the owner of an estate between Baalath-Jehudah and Jerusalem—who accommodated the ark for three months. In Chronicles, he is transformed into a Levite (1 Chr 15:18, 21, 24; 16:5, 38) and the ancestor of a Levitical clan (1 Chr 26:4, 8, 15). In Punic, ʾdm is attested in the personal names mlkʾdm and ʿbdʾdm (BENZ 1972: 260).
   II. The deity Edom could be identical with, or derived from, the country of Edom (cf. HALAT 12). As a toponym, Edom (<*ʾudum), ‘reddishness’ refers to the colour of that country’s soil. If the god and the country are to be connected, Obed-Edom would stand for *ʿbd qws ʾl(h)/bʿl ʾdm, ‘Servant of Qaus, the god/lord of Edom’ (cf. similar ancient South Arabian names, e.g. Sabaic ʿbdʾwm for ʿbd ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm, ‘Servant of Ilmaqhâ, the lord of (the sanctuary of) ʾAwwāmʾ, or Nabataean ʿbdʾlgyʾ, i.e. ‘Servant of the god Gaia’; cf. KNAUF 1988: 46–47). The name would then presuppose the establishment of Edomite statehood, which did not exist before the 8th century BCE (→Qôs). . . . Alternatively, *ʾUdum, “Redness”, may be seen as a Canaanite lesser deity, mentioned as the wife of →Resheph in the Leiden Magical Papyrus 343+345 V 7 (cf. DAHOOD 1963:292, who equates her with Arṣay). This theory is not wholly satisfactory either. Egyptian itwm could also relate to Canaanite yātōm, ‘orphan’ (which would match Resheph’s image more appropriately). On the other hand, GÖRG (1987) identified a deity ḥmrq, “→Amalek” in the same papyrus (obv. III, 9 XXIII 3), which lends support to the geographical pertinence of that source’s Edom (cf. for a possible connection between Resheph and the country of Edom Isa 63:1–6; Hab 3). In spite of some additional evidence, it is still not possible to advance the interpretation of a putative deity Edom beyond F. BUHL (1893: 42; cf. also BARTLETT 1989:196).

   E. A. Knauf, “Edom,” ed. Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (Leiden; Boston; Köln; Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: Brill; Eerdmans, 1999), 273–274.

2. 

   mheiser on July 9, 2016 at 11:22 am

   I see no biblical reason to conclude that the principalities and powers are all defeated and destroyed. One would wonder what Paul thought he was talking about then!

3. 

   mheiser on July 26, 2016 at 10:16 am

   I can’t make sense of this wording:

   “does as opposed to the dispensationalist view of the 7 year tribulation judgment on them again, how does 70 AD fit in this”

4. 

   mheiser on July 26, 2016 at 10:16 am

   I can’t make sense of this wording:

   “does as opposed to the dispensationalist view of the 7 year tribulation judgment on them again, how does 70 AD fit in this”