1599 Geneva Note on Obadiah 1:20

sastark · #1 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 07:41 PM

I noticed this interesting note in my 1599 Geneva Bible this last Lord's Day as the elder (filling in for our pastor) preached on the second half of Obadiah.

The text reads:
1:20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

And the note reads:
By the Canaanites, the Jews mean the Dutchmen, and by Zarephath, France, and by Sepharad, Spain.

Anyone care to elaborate and/or explain why this verse is referring to the Dutch, France and Spain? I'm really confused by this note. It also does not seem to be consistent with the rest of the notes in Obadiah.

Exagorazo · #2 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 07:47 PM

sastark · #3 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exagorazo

Yeah, that's basically what I did when I read the note Sunday.

I'm sure there is a reason behind this note, though. I just have no idea what it is!

et · #4 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 08:11 PM

et · #5 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 08:12 PM

Maybe the Jews thought Dutch-Treat was a rip.

Exagorazo · #6 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 08:13 PM

Calvin's commentary on the verse:

Quote:

The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, — that God would not only gather the remnants of his people from the Babylonian exile, but would restore the exiles, that they might rule far and wide, and that their condition might be better than it was before: for the Prophet, as I think, directs the attention to the first blessing of God, which had been deposited in the hand of Abraham. God had promised to the posterity of Abraham the whole land from Euphrates to the sea. Now this land had never been possessed by the children of Abraham. This happened, as it is well known, through their sloth and ingratitude. David in his time enlarged the borders; but yet he only made those tributaries whom God had commanded to be destroyed. So this blessing had never been fulfilled, because the people put a hindrance in the way. The Prophet now, speaking of the restoration of the Church, tells the people, who would return from exile, that they were to occupy the country which had been promised to their fathers as though he said, “There will come to you a full and complete inheritance.”

Now it is certain that this prophecy has never been completed: we know that but a small portion of the land was possessed by the Jews. What then are we to understand by this prophecy? It does unquestionably appear that the Prophet speaks here of the kingdom of Christ; and we know that the Church was then really restored, and that the Jews not only recovered their former state from which they had fallen, but that their kingdom was increased: for how great became the splendor of the kingdom and of the temple under Christ? This then is what the Prophet now means, when he promises to the Jews the heritage which they had lost; yea, God then enlarged the borders of Judea. Hence he shows that they should not only be restored to their former condition, but that the kingdom would be increased in splendor and wealth, when Christ should come. Let us now run over the words.

Possess then shall they the south of the mount of Esau. The space was no doubt great: even when David reigned, the Jews did not possess that part or south portion of mount Seir. Then the Prophet, as I have said, shows that the borders of the kingdom would be more extensive than they had been. And the plain, he says, of the Philistines On that side also the Lord would cause that the Jews would extend farther than their kingdom. And possess they shall the fields of Ephraim. Here I will not spend much labor in describing the land: but it is enough for us to understand that the design of the Prophet was to show, that the state of the people after their exile would be far more splendid than it had been before, even under the reign of David. What he means by Gilead is not very clear: but it is not probable that mount Gilead is referred to here, which was not far distant from the tribe of Benjamin, but rather that a town or some place distant from that part, and not included in their portion, is pointed out.

He afterwards adds, And the migrations of this host of the children of Israel, etc. There is here an obscurity in the words. The Hebrews by Canaan mean the Illyrians as well as Germans, and also the Gauls: for they say, that the migration, which shall be dispersed in Gaul, and in Germany, and in these far regions, shall possess the southern cities. Now by Zarephath they understand Spain.

But we know, as we have elsewhere said, that the Jews are very bold in their glosses: for they are not ashamed to trifle and to blend frivolous things; and they assert this as though it were evident from history, and easily found out. Thus they prattle about things unknown to them, and this they do without any reason or discrimination. The Prophet, I doubt not, means here that all those territories, which had been formerly promised to the children of Abraham, would come into their possession when the Lord would send his Christ, not only to restore what had fallen, but also to render the state of the people in every way blessed. The import of the whole then is, that the Jews shall not only recover what they had lost, but what had not hitherto been given them to possess: all this the Lord would bestow on them when Christ came.

et · #7 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 08:19 PM

I stand by my Dutch-Treat theory.

MrMerlin777 · #8 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I follow Jesus

I stand by my Dutch-Treat theory.

LadyFlynt · #9 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 09:35 PM

Thank you for that clarification, Mr. Smith.

bookslover · #10 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sastark

And the note reads: By the Canaanites, the Jews mean the Dutchmen, and by Zarephath, France, and by Sepharad, Spain.

I didn't know they had those funny-smelling illegal cigarettes back then! Shoulda waited until after he was writing his notes to smoke it...

LadyFlynt · #11 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 10:43 PM

Who said they were illegal?

in the 1500's ppl!

**turmeric** · #12 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 11:22 PM

So I'm thinking that Talmudic scholars may have come up with those meanings, and the Reformed of that day accepted their scholarship.

Poimen · #13 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 10:24 AM

There is no Obadiah 1 in the Bible. Are you sure you aren't reading the Apocrypha?

:P

sastark · #14 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turmeric

So I'm thinking that Talmudic scholars may have come up with those meanings, and the Reformed of that day accepted their scholarship.

Can anyone back up this claim? I mean, it seems the most logical one offered thus far. It still seems to me that Calvin (and the 1599 GB) go from "dispersion" to very specific place names that I've never before heard associated with France, Spain and the Netherlands. Do we have some other source for associating the places named with Western Europe?

sastark · #15 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exagorazo

Calvin's commentary on the verse:

Thanks for posting that.

But, on what basis does Calvin associate these placenames with France, Germany, Spain, etc?

VirginiaHuguenot · #16 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 10:03 PM

The reference here seems pretty obscure (as Calvin says). But it is worth noting that Calvin and the Geneva Annotators are not, strictly speaking, asserting that Europe is here referred to, but rather that the Jews are asserting this (Calvin's last paragraph does not commend the Jewish interpretation -- far from it). Matthew Henry and Matthew Poole make this point as well.

Poole (Henry Hurst):

Quote:

Obad 20. The captivity of this host of the children of Israel, those of the ten tribes that were carried away captive by Shalmaneser, one hundred and thirty years before Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, shall possess that of the Canaanites; all the country they anciently possessed, with this addition also, that what the Canaanites held by force, and the Israelites could not take from them, shall now be possessed by these returned captives. Zarephath, called Sarepta, Luke 4:26, near Sidon. The captivity of Jerusalem; the two tribes, carried captive when Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. In Sepharad; the modern Jews call Spain Sepharad, but without any good ground, nor was it so called anciently, nor doth the Chaldee paraphrase so interpret it; nor do I meet with any thing better than a tacit confession, that most believe it is a city of Chaldea or Assyria, and toward the northern and farthest bounds of it, but where it was exactly they know not. Shall possess the cities of the south; all the cities, which were once their own, in Judea, which lay southward from this Sepharad, where the captives dwelt, and whence they return.

Henry:

Quote:

2. How far this possession shall extend, Obad 19-20. This is described in Jewish language, which speaks the accession made to the land of Israel, after the return out of captivity into Babylon. The captivity of this host of Israel, that is, this host of Israel that have been so long in captivity and now they have come back are still called the children of the captivity, these shall not only recover their own land, but shall gain ground upon their neighbours adjoining to them, some of whom shall become proselytes and shall incorporate with the Jews, who, by possessing them in a holy communion, possess their land. We must reckon ourselves truly enriched by the conversion of our neighbours to the fear of God and the faith of Christ, and their coming to join with us in the worship of God. Such an accession to our Christian communion we must reckon to be more our wealth and strength than an accession to our estates. Or, The ancient inhabitants of those lands that were carried away into captivity being lost, and never returning to their estates, the children of Israel shall take possession of that which lies next them; for their numbers shall so increase that their own land shall be too strait for them, and their neighbours' estates shall escheat to them ob defectum sanguinis—through default of heirs. They shall enter upon that which is adjoining to them. The country of Esau shall be possessed by those of the south parts of Canaan, for to them it lies contiguous. Those of the plain, on the west of Canaan, which was a champaign country, shall enter upon the land of the Philistines, their neighbours. Those of Judah, which was the chief of the two returning tribes, shall possess the field of Ephraim and Samaria, which before belonged to the ten tribes; and Benjamin, the other tribe, shall possess Gilead on the other side of Jordan, which had belonged to the two tribes and a half. The kingdom of Israel shall join with that of Judah both in civil and sacred interests, and, as friends and brethren, shall mutually possess and enjoy one another; and both together shall possess the Canaanites, even to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon; and Jerusalem shall possess the cities of the south, even to Sepharad. Thus did the Jews enlarge their borders on all sides. The modern rabbin teach their scholars by Zarephath and Sepharad to understand France and Spain, grounding upon this a foolish groundless expectation that some time or other the Jews shall be masters of those countries; and they call and count the Christians Edomites, over whom they are to have dominion. But the promise here, no doubt, has a spiritual signification, and had its accomplishment in the setting up of the Christian church, the gospel-Israel, in the world, and shall have its accomplishment more and more in the enlargement of it and the additions made to it, till the mystical body is completed. When ministers and Christians prevail with their neighbours to come to Christ, to yield themselves to the Lord, they possess them. The converts that Abraham had are said to be the souls that he had gotten, Gen 12:5. The possession is gained, not vi et armis—by force and arms; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual; it is by the preaching of the gospel, and the power of divine grace going along with it, that this possession is got and kept.

George Hutcheson says: "...Sepharad (conceived to be a place in Chaldea)..."

Diodati says:

Quote:

Sepharad] the name (as it is imagined) of some city or country of Chaldea.

Pemberton (English Annotations) says:

Quote:

unto Zarephath]A Citie of the Sidonians, in the uttermost confines of the Countrey of Canaan. I King. 17.9

which is in Sepharad]Or, shall possesse that which is in Shepharad. It is thought to be a citie in the countrey of Chaldea: others say it is a compound word, signifying in the end of the dominion; meaning, that when the four beasts which have made havock of the Church, shall be destroyed at the coming of the Messiah, then the Church shall be made Catholike, and the Gospel from Jerusalem shall be spread into all Countries. Isa. 2. 2, 3, 4.

Dutch Annotations:

Quote:

unto Zarphath [See 1 King. 17. on vers. 9.]*

Of this Sepharad, what it was, opinions varie, &c.

*I King 17.9: Get thee up, go to Zarphath, [Otherwise called Sarepia, Luke 4. 26. A city lying in the tribe of Aser, between Tyre and Zidon: of which see also Obad. ver. 20.]