Bible Strands
Obadiah 1:14
Nor should you stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, nor deliver up their survivors in the day of their distress.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Edom regarding its conduct during Judah’s national disaster, commanding the nation to refrain from exploiting the chaos. God issues this warning immediately before pronouncing reciprocal judgment on Edom.
The words — תַּעֲמֹד (ta'amed) translates literally as "you stand," paired with הַפֶּרֶק (ha-perek), meaning "the parting of ways" or crossroads, denoting a strategic ambush location.
The thread — The text links this specific prohibition to the broader principle of divine reciprocity in Obadiah 1:15 and contrasts Edom’s opportunism with God’s faithful deliverance in Psalms 31:8.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to actively restrain themselves from exploiting others’ crises, establishing that justice belongs to divine timing rather than human opportunism.
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
King James Version
Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.
Cross-references
- Genesis 35:3 Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”
- Psalms 31:8 You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.
- Isaiah 37:3 to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
- Jeremiah 30:7 How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
- Amos 1:6 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they exiled a whole population, delivering them up to Edom.
- Amos 1:9 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom and broke a covenant of brotherhood.
- 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.