On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them.
Parallel translations
- WEB In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them.
- KJV In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
- NKJV In the day that you stood on the other side— In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem— Even you were as one of them.
- NASB “On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem— You too were as one of them.
- NLT When they were invaded, you stood aloof, refusing to help them. Foreign invaders carried off their wealth and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem, but you acted like one of Israel’s enemies.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When invaders plundered Jerusalem and cast lots for it, Edom stood aloof and was as guilty as the foreign attackers.
Overview
Edom's sin was not only active aggression but standing by while strangers looted Jerusalem, even sharing in the spoil. Passive complicity in the suffering of God's people made Edom 'like one of them,' equally accountable. The verse reminds us that indifference to others' affliction is itself a moral failure in God's eyes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 137:7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Nah 3:10Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.
- Joel 3:3They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.
- 2 Kgs 25:11Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population.
- Ps 50:18When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.
- Jer 52:28–30These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
- 2 Kgs 24:10–16At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.
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Christ at the center
The day of the LORD against proud Edom and the promise that 'the kingdom shall be the LORD's' anticipate the final reign of Christ over every hostile power.
How Obadiah 1:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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