Bible Strands
Obadiah 1:3
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses the fortified inhabitants of Edom immediately after pronouncing their reduction among the nations. This declaration identifies the internal condition that triggers the judgment announced in the preceding verse and the reversal described in the following one.
The words — זְדוֹן (ze.Don) translates as the arrogant presumption of the heart, and הִשִּׁיאֶךָ (hi.shi.'E./kha) means it has deceived or led you astray. These terms pinpoint the specific delusion that fuels the claim of invulnerability.
The thread — The image of rock-dwelling pride being deceived recurs in Jeremiah 49:16 and parallels the self-exalting language of Isaiah 14:13. Proverbs 29:23 supplies the governing principle that pride inevitably results in humiliation.
Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment that confidence in physical or social defenses is a self-deception. It requires the reader to abandon claims of personal security and submit to the reality of divine judgment.
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
The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 14:13 You said in your heart: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north.
- Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
- Jeremiah 49:16 The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Kings 14:7 Amaziah struck down 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He took Sela in battle and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this very day.
- Isaiah 16:6 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
- Isaiah 47:7 You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.
- Malachi 1:4 Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever.
- Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- 2 Chronicles 25:12 and the army of Judah also captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.
- Proverbs 18:12 Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.