Obadiah 1:16

16 Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been.

Obadiah 1:16 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
English Standard Version (ESV)
16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been.
New Living Translation (NLT)
16 Just as you swallowed up my people on my holy mountain, so you and the surrounding nations will swallow the punishment I pour out on you. Yes, all you nations will drink and stagger and disappear from history.
The Message Bible (MSG)
16 Just as you partied on my holy mountain, all the godless nations will drink God's wrath. They'll drink and drink and drink - they'll drink themselves to death.
American Standard Version (ASV)
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
16 As you, Israel, drank on my holy mountain, so all nations will drink in turn. They will drink and guzzle down everything in it. They will be like those who have never existed.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
16 For as you have drunk on My holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp down and be as though they had never been.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
16 You Edomites polluted my holy mountain of Zion by drinking and celebrating there. So all of the nations will drink from the cup of my anger. And they will keep on drinking from it. They will vanish. It will be as if they had never existed.

Obadiah 1:16 Meaning and Commentary

Obadiah 1:16

For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, [so] shall all the
Heathen drink continually
Which is either spoken to the Edomites; and the sense be, according to the Targum,

``as ye have rejoiced at the blow (given unto or at the subversion and destruction) of the mountain of my holiness, all people shall drink the cup of their vengeance;''
or punishment; and to the same sense Jarchi and Japhet interpret it; and so Kimchi,
``as ye have made a feast, rejoicing at the destruction of my holy mountain, so thou and all nations shall drink of the cup of trembling;''
but Aben Ezra thinks the words are spoken to the Israelites,
``as ye have drank the cup, so shall all nations;''
the cup of vengeance began with them, and so went round the nations, according to the prophecy in ( Jeremiah 25:17 Jeremiah 25:18 ) for, if judgment begins at the house and people of God, it may be expected it will reach to others; wherefore Edom had no reason to rejoice at the destruction of the Jews, since they might be assured by that the same would be their case before long; and with this difference, that whereas the Jews only drank this cup for a while, during the seventy years' captivity, these nations, and the Edomites among the rest, should be "continually" drinking it: yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down;
not only drink of the cup, but drink it up; not only take it into their mouths, but swallow it down their throats; not only sip at it, but "sup [it] up" {a}, as it may be rendered. The phrase denotes the fulness of their punishment, and their utter and entire ruin and destruction, which the next clause confirms: and they shall be as though they had not been;
as now are the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, and so the Edomites; their names are not heard of in the world, only as they are read in the Bible; and thus it shall be with mystical Babylon or Edom, it shall be thrown down, and found no more, ( Revelation 18:21 ) .
FOOTNOTES:

F1 (welw) "absorbebunt", V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "deglutient", Montanus, Mercerus. Gussetius renders it "absorbebantur".

Obadiah 1:16 In-Context

14 You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble.
15 “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
16 Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been.
17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
18 Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The LORD has spoken.

Cross References 4

  • 1. Isaiah 51:17
  • 2. S Exodus 15:17
  • 3. Jeremiah 25:15; Jeremiah 49:12; S Lamentations 4:21-22
  • 4. S Lamentations 4:21; S Ezekiel 25:12-14
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