Obadiah 1:12

But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet addresses Edom during Judah’s military defeat and the plundering of Jerusalem. The command targets the neighboring nation that stood by while foreigners seized the city’s wealth.

The words — The Hebrew תִּשְׂמַח (tis.Mach) translates literally as “you rejoice,” paired with אָחִיךָ (a.Chi.kha), “your brother,” to define the prohibited attitude. The text explicitly forbids looking on, rejoicing, or boasting during Judah’s day of distress.

The thread — This prohibition against celebrating another’s calamity appears in Proverbs 17:5 and Ezekiel 35:15, while Micah 4:11 records the identical posture of surrounding nations mocking Zion.

Why it lands — The verse commands readers to reject schadenfreude and refuse to treat a neighbor’s disaster as entertainment. It requires active restraint rather than passive neutrality when others face ruin.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאַל־ve./'al-and/ may not תֵּ֤רֶאTe.re'you look בְיוֹם־ve./yom-on/ [the] day of אָחִ֙יךָ֙'a.Chi./khabrother/ your בְּי֣וֹםbe./Yomon/ [the] day of נָכְר֔וֹna.khe.R/omisfortune/ his וְאַל־ve./'al-and/ may not תִּשְׂמַ֥חtis.Machyou rejoice לִבְנֵֽי־li/v.nei-to/ [the] people of יְהוּדָ֖הye.hu.DahJudah בְּי֣וֹםbe./Yomon/ [the] day אָבְדָ֑ם'a.ve.Da/mperish/ they וְאַל־ve./'al-and/ may not תַּגְדֵּ֥לtag.Delyou make big פִּ֖יךָPi./khamouth/ your בְּי֥וֹםbe./Yomon/ [the] day of צָרָֽה׃tza.Rahtrouble

King James Version

But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

Cross-references

Proverbs 17:5 He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
Ezekiel 35:15 As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Micah 4:11 But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
1 Samuel 2:3 Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
Proverbs 24:17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
Matthew 27:40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
Ezekiel 25:6 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you clapped your hands and stomped your feet and rejoiced over the land of Israel with a heart full of contempt,
Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
2 Peter 2:18 With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
Job 31:29 If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—