But how Esau will be pillaged, his hidden treasures sought out!
Parallel translations
- WEB How Esau will be ransacked! How his hidden treasures are sought out!
- KJV How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
- NKJV “Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!
- NASB “Oh how Esau will be searched, And his hidden treasures searched out!
- NLT Every nook and cranny of Edom will be searched and looted. Every treasure will be found and taken.
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
Esau (Edom) will be thoroughly ransacked, his carefully hidden treasures searched out and seized.
Overview
Building on the previous verse, the prophet marvels at how completely Edom will be plundered, even the wealth she concealed. Naming Esau recalls that Edom is the descendant of Jacob's brother, making the coming judgment a sober family tragedy as well as a national one. Nothing hidden escapes God's reckoning, a truth that points forward to the day when all secrets are exposed before Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jer 49:10But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, and he will be unable to conceal himself. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors, and he will be no more.
- Ps 139:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
- Isa 45:3I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
- Matt 6:19–20Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
- Dan 2:22He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
- Jer 50:37A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
- Isa 10:13–14For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 1:6 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.