person · P0068
Ovadiah עובדיה
Ovadiah is the prophet of the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible. His oracle condemns Edom for violence, gloating, and participation in Judah's disaster, then announces the Day of God and Israel's restoration. Rabbinic tradition identifies him with the God-fearing steward in Ahab's house, but that identification is not explicit in the biblical book.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- עובדיה
- Also known as
- Obadiah
- Era
- bible
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3000–3338 AM; traditional identifications vary
- Academic
- Commonly placed by modern scholars after Jerusalem's destruction in 586 BCE, though proposed dates vary.
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈338 years
- Precision
- disputed
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| The book opens as "the vision of Ovadiah" and announces a divine message concerning Edom.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Ovadiah condemns Edom for violence against Jacob and for standing aloof, rejoicing, looting, and handing over fugitives on Judah's day of calamity.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The oracle announces the Day of God upon the nations and depicts the houses of Jacob and Joseph as fire consuming the house of Esau.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| A Bavli tradition identifies the prophet Ovadiah with Ahab's steward, says he was an Edomite convert, and explains that one raised among two wicked people could prophesy against Esau.
This is a rabbinic identification, not an identification made within the Book of Ovadiah.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★☆☆ | |
| A common academic reconstruction reads Ovadiah 11–14 against Jerusalem's Babylonian destruction and therefore dates the vision after 587/586 BCE; this conflicts with the Bavli's identification of Ovadiah with Ahab's much earlier steward.
The dating rests on literary-historical interpretation, not an explicit date in the book.
|
reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ | |
| Under the rabbinic identification, Ovadiah held the office of supervisor over Achav's household and hid one hundred prophets in two caves, supplying them with bread and water during Izevel's persecution.
Melachim securely describes the royal steward; applying those facts to the prophet depends on the Bavli's identification.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★☆☆ | |
| The royal steward Ovadiah met Eliyahu during the famine while searching the land for pasture on Achav's orders.
Its application to the prophet again depends on the rabbinic identification.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★☆☆ | |
| The traditional placement c. 3000–3338 AM (traditional identifications vary) is a schematic Mesorah Atlas reconstruction spanning the conflict between the Bavli's identification with Ahab's steward and readings of the book against Jerusalem's later catastrophe; the cited sources do not state an absolute AM range.
The cited sources establish relative chronology or regnal duration; they do not state the absolute AM range.
|
tradition reconstruction | ★☆☆☆☆ |