Obadiah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

Abstract

Obadiah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, by Paul R. Raabe. AB 24D. New York/London/Sydney/Auckland: Doubleday 1997. Pp. xxvi + 310, $34.95. This volume is an important contribution to the study of the book of Obadiah. Raabe's notes and comments will be required reading for any serious scholar of this book. As expected, the volume follows the typical arrangement that characterizes the Anchor Bible series. It includes a new translation, an extended introduction (pp. 3-60), and comprehensive sequential sections of notes and comments on the different subunits that R. proposes for the book, namely, v. la, w. lb-4, w. 5-7, w. 8-21-itself divided into w. 8-15, w. 16-18, and w. 19-21. An excursus on "The Messenger Formula" (pp. 99-105) and a comprehensive excursus on "Drinking the Cup of Yahweh's Wrath (pp. 206-42) further enrich the volume. The first excursus contains a discussion and critique of some aspects of J. T. Greene, The Role of the Messenger and Message in the Ancient Near East (BJS 169; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989). This discussion leads to the conclusion that "Obadiah claimed to have been Yahweh's messenger, commissioned to proclaim the heavenly king's decree to human hearers. He signaled his messenger role with the introduction `Thus spoke the Lord Yahweh' and in this way authenticated the following speech as Yahweh's word" (p. 105). The second excursus is a comprehensive study of the motif. Raabe convincingly points out that "`drinking the cup' is a literary metaphor and should be treated as such" and that "one can discover one single institutional origin no more for the `cup of wrath' than for the `broom of destruction"' (p. 241). Raabe sets out "to avoid an anachronistic reading of the book in the light of contemporary western views and sentiments" (p. 5). He maintains that the book of Obadiah 11 elegantly summarizes many of the great prophetic themes" and "serves as a concise epitome for much of the message of the prophets" (p. 3). Raabe maintains that, unlike other biblical books, Obadiah does not exhibit (much) textual fluidity. He states, "the Hebrew text of the book has been well preserved" (p. 5), though "the text seems corrupt in some places, especially in v 7 and v 20 and possibly in v 16 and v 17" (pp. 3-4). In v. 7 he supports the proposal to emend lah.rka to loh, ame lahmeka (pp. 152, 159-60) and in v. 20 he follows D. N. Freedman's proposal that "the first relative clause, the first verb and the first direct object marker" have dropped out, and he translates: The exiles of this company, those belonging to the Israelites, who are in X the Canaanites up to Zarephath ("X" stands for the name of a place; significantly, according to Raabe, the term "Israelites" points to both the people of Judah and of Israel; see pp. 261-62). Raabe elaborates on the style of the book, places a significant emphasis on metaphors, as well as on syllable and accent counting. He is a careful reader who is sensitive to the use of deliberate ambiguity as a literary device (e.g., the case of hmd in v. 5; p. 142). As expected, the volume also discusses the "conventional," major issues in the study of Obadiah such as the relation between Edom and Judah, and that between the text of Obad 1-7 and Jer 49:14-16, 9-10. Regarding the latter, Rabbe's conclusion is that Obadiah reused and adapted material from Jeremiah and that he may have had access to a Jeremiah scroll. The book deals, of course, with matters of "compositional history and unity." The brief, critical overview of the history of research on these questions is particularly noteworthy (pp. 14-18). Correctly in the opinion of this reviewer, Raabe maintains that ,one's overall working model with its set of expectations and assumptions determines to a great extent one's conclusions regarding the compositional history and unity of the book" (p. 17) and more explicitly that "if we start with the expectation that the original prophet had only one perspective, emphasis, and style, and if we assume that the book of Obadiah in its present form is the result of a lengthy process of development with additions and interpolations made along the way, and if we further assume that these different layers or strata can be identified on the basis of shifts in perspective, emphasis, and style, then we will conclude that the book had several stages in its compositional history" (p. …