Let my master (Esav) pass please before his servant, and I will lead on slowly according to the pace of the cattle that goes before me, and that of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir.

Rashi: Until I come to my lord to Seir - … But he did not go. And when will he go? In the days of Mashiach, as it is stated (Ovadiah 1:21): “And liberators shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the Mountain of Esav.”

Rashi implies that Ya’akov knew that he himself would not reunite with Esav – that his peace with Esav would be temporary, and that the descendants of Esav would be the enemies of his descendants until the ultimate redemption. This reality is expressed by Ovadiah as follows:

איך נחפשו עשו נבעו מצפניו…. מחסם אחיך יעקב תכסך בושה ונכרת לעולם.ביום עמדך מנגד ביום שבות זרים חילו ונכרים באו שערו ועל ירושלם ידו גורלגם אתה כאחד מהם. ואל תרא ביום אחיך ביום נכרו ואל תשמח לבני יהודה ביום אבדם…. כי קרוב יום ה' על כל הגוים כאשר עשית יעשה לך גמלך ישובבראשיך.-עובדיה א: ו, י-יב, טו

How has Esav been pillaged…. For your violence against your brother Ya’akov, shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers entered into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem, you were also one of them. But you should not have on the day of your brother on the day of his misfortune, nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Yehudah on the day of their destruction… For the day of the Lord is near upon all of the nations; as you have done, so shall it be done to you, your deeds shall return upon your head. - Ovadiah 1: 6, 10-12, 15

Who is Edom that is referred to by the prophet? In what manner and when will the prophecy be fulfilled?

Two Exiles and Two Redemptions

Ibn Ezra claims that the prophecy refers to the nation of Edom that was destroyed by Babylonia shortly after the destruction of the first temple:

מחסם אחיך יעקב תכסך בושה- זאת הנבואה על אדום הוא אחר גלות ירושליםעל בבל. וכן אמר המקונן (תהילים קלז:ז) זכור ה' לבני אדום שהיו אומרים לבבליים ערו. וכתיב (איבה ד:כב) תם עונך בת ציון לא יוסיף להגלותיך פקד עונך בת אדום. ונבוכדנצר השחית אדום ותהי ארצם שממה.

For your violence against your brother Ya’akov, shame shall cover you - This prophecy refers to Edom after the exile of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to Babylonia. And so the lamenter said (Tehillim 137:7): “Remember, oh Lord, the children of Edom” who said to the Babylonians “Destroy it !” And it is written (Eichah 4:22): “The punishment of your iniquity is complete, daughter of Zion, He will no more carry you away into exile; He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom.

In this commentary, Ibn Ezra relates the prophecy in the first section of Ovadiah as well as the prophecy quoted from the book of Eichah to Shivat Zion, the return of the captives from Babylonia during the time of Cyrus. Yet, the prophecy that is found at the end of Ovadiah, he relates to the future redemption:

ועלו מושעים בהר ציון לשפוט את הר עשו והיתה לה' המלוכה.- עובדיה א:כא

אבן עזרא: ועלו מושעים הם שופטי ישראל לשפוט השרידים בהר עשו, אזתהיה לה' המלוכה בגלוי כדרך "והיה ה' למלך על כל הארץ", שהוא לעתיד.

And liberators shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the Mountain of Esav, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. - Ovadiah 1:21

Ibn Ezra: “And the liberators shall ascend” refers to the judges of Israel who will judge the remnants on the Mountain of Esav. Then, the kingdom will openly be God’s as in “God will be king over all of the earth”, which refers to the future.

Thus, according to Ibn Ezra, Ovadiah refers to two different exiles and two different redemptions – 1) the exile following the destruction of the first temple which concluded with the return of the exiles and the building of the second temple, and

2) the exile following the second temple which will end with the advent of Mashiach.

One Long Exile, A Future Redmption

Ramban disagrees with Ibn Ezra’s analysis:

ותמה אני איך לא כסתה בושה פניו של הראב"ע בכתבו על ספר שעל החרבן שעשה נבוכדנצר לאדום ועל פקידת בית שני נאמר: "תם עונך בת ציון, לא יוסיף להגלותך, פקד עונך בת אדום …" (איכה ד) – איך יתכן לבוא "תם עונך" על בית שני, ואיך נתקיים שם "לא יוסיף להגלותך"? ואם הכתוב ההוא אי אפשר שיפורש כי אם על הגאולה העתידה, אם כן אי אפשר שיפורש "פקד עונך בת אדום" כי אם על החרבן העתיד לבוא עליהם

באחרית הימים. והדבר הזה ראוי שתדע הוא, שסוף נבואת עובדיה מוכיח על תחילתו. שהיא כולה לעתיד לבוא.

And I am surprised how Ibn Ezra did not cover his face in shame for writing that the phrase “the punishment of your iniquity is complete, daughter of Zion, He will no more carry you away into exile; He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom” refers to Nevuchadnezar’s destruction of Edom and the period of the second temple? How could it be that “the punishment of your iniquity is complete” refers to the second temple when “He will no more carry you away into exile” has not been fulfilled? That verse can only be explained to refer to the future redemption, and the phrase “He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom” can only refer to their future destruction that will come at the end of days. And it is important to note that the end of the prophecy of Ovadiah proves that the beginning refers completely to the future redemption.

Abarbanel contends that the prophets foresaw only one exile and one redemption extending from the destruction of the first temple until the advent of the Mashiach. He expands on this point in his commentary on Devarim 28:16:

ומי האיש בעל שכל יאמין, שיהיה עניין בית שני גאולה שלמה, כי הנה לא היה שם קבוץ גלויות, כי אם אנשים מעט 40.000 זכרים שעלו מיהודה ובנימין ומן הנלווים אליהם מבבל, אבל מעמון ומואב ומצרים, ויון וצרפת וספרד וארצות המערב שהיו שם יהודים מפוזרים מחורבן בית ראשון, לא עלו לבית שני. כי אם מאותם שהיו בבבל בלבד, וגם לא עלו כל אשר היו בבבל, רק הפסולת שבהם, וגם הם בעלותם לירושלם לא היו בני חורין שמה, כי בהיותם שמה נשתעבדו למדי ופרס, וזמן גדול אחר ליונים, וזמן רב אחר לרומיים, ופעמים היו מורדים בהם ומולכים החשמונאים, ולא מלך עליהם אדם מזרע בית דוד. … לא היו בבית שני ארון וכרובים, אורים ותומים, ושכינה נראית, ורוח הקודש, שמן המשחה, ואש מן השמים.

What intelligent person would believe that the second temple represented a complete redemption when there was not an ingathering of the exiles, for only 40,000 men went up from the tribes of Binyamin and Yehudah and those who were with them in Babylonia, but the Jews who were scattered to Moav, Egypt, Greece, France, Spain, and the western countries during the time of the first temple did not go to Israel for the second temple. Only those in Babylonia went, and even all of those who were in Babylonia went up, only the refuse among them. And also those who did go up to Jerusalem were not free there, but were under the sovereignty of Medea, Persia, Greece for a long period, and Rome for a long period, and nobody from the House of David ruled over them…. In the second temple, there was no ark, keruvim, urim and tumim, presence of the Shechinah, holy spirit, annointing oil, or fire from Heaven.

Abarbanel adds that the Torah itself actually alludes to the fact that the exile will include the destruction of two temples and will be characterized by great suffering in the lands of dispersion:

והנה התוכחות שבאו בתורת כהנים בברית הראשון אין ספק שהן בעצם וראשונה על חרבן בית ראשון לפי שבו התחיל הגלות הזה, אבל גם כן נכלל בהם חרבן בית שני ושאר הצרות שעברו על ישאל בגלות, והכתובים מורים על זה בלי ספק. גם אמר "והשימותי את מקדשיכם" (ויקרא כו, לא) לשון רבים … ופירוש "ואבדתם בגויים ואכלה אתכם ארץ אויבכם" (שם פסוק לח), על הצרות

והרציחות שעברו על ישראל בגלות, שמתו הרבה מהם ברעב ובדבר ובחרב מכלל הרג קהילות קדושות וגירוש היהודים מארץ אנגלטיר"ה, ושאר ארץ המערב, ובפרט גירושים מכל ארץ צרפת, שמתו מהם כפלים מיוצאי מצרים. … ועתה ביאר (משה) שהגלות הוא הראשון שזכר בברית הראשון יכלול חרבן שני הבתים, ראשון ואחרון…

There is no doubt that the rebukes that come in Vayikra refer primarily to the destruction of first temple because that was the beginning of this exile, but they also include the destruction of the second temple and the other troubles that Israel suffered in exile. The scripture point to this without a doubt, as it also says: “and I will destroy your temples” in the plural. And the meaning of “and you will be lost among the nations, and the lands of your enemies will devour you” refers to the troubles and murders that Israel suffered in exile when many of them died from starvation, illness, and the sword, including the killing of holy communities and the expulsion of the of the Jews from England and other western countries, and their complete expulsion from France, where many more died than among those who left Egypt…. And now he (Moshe) explains that the first exile, mentioned in the first covenant, will include the destruction of two temples, the first and the last…

Although Abarbanel brings scriptural support for his position, he bases himself largely on his perception of historical reality. An important element for him is the fact that the exile after the destruction of the second temple proves that the prophecy in Eichah, “He will no more carry you away into exile”, has not been fulfilled. Abarbanel contends that the redemption will be characterized by three factors: 1) the complete ingathering of the exiles, 2) Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel, and

3) the renewal of the temple service in its original form. These characteristics were not fulfilled in the return from Babylonia, and will only be fulfilled in the final redemption.

Edom and Rome

Abarbanel explains that the ultimate redemption will involve the destruction of Rome, the seat of Christianity, which, in his opinion descends directly from Edom[1]:

אדום הסמוכה לארץ ישראל משם יצאו המלכים אשר מלכו באיטליה ואשרבנו רומי … ומפני זה כינו הנביאים האומה כולה אדום ועשו לפי שהוא היההתחלת היחס … והם כלל הנוצרים.

The kings that ruled in Italy and built Rome descended from Edom that is near to Israel…For this reason, the prophets referred to the whole people as Edom and Esav, because that was the beginning of the relationship…And they are all of the Christians.

Thus, Abarbanel sees the book of Ovadiah as a unified prophecy beginning with the transgressions of Edom and concluding with the judgement of the descendants of Edom.

Ibn Ezra does not accept the link between Edom and Rome:

וישנים שלא הקיצו משנת האיוולת יחשבו כי אנחנו בגלות אדום ןלאכן הדבר …. ואומה שהגלתנו הוא מזרע כתים. - בראשית כז:מ

And the slumberers who have not awakened from their sleep of folly think that we are in the exile of Edom, but it is not so…. The nation that exiled us descends from the Catheans. – Bereshit 27:40

Ibn Ezra is driven by a different historical fact than Abarbanel. – that Edom was destroyed by Nevuchadnezar before the return from the Babylonian exile. This perspective, however, poses an apparent difficulty for Ibn Ezra – it seems peculiar to assume that Ovadiah is referring to two different redemptions in this concise prophecy. Yet, a closer look reveals that Ibn Ezra’s explanation reflects sensitivity to the structure of the text. The first part of the prophecy clearly refers to the nation of Edom within the specific context of the Babylonian exile. In verse 15, the prophet refers suddenly to “all of the nations”:

כי קרוב יום ה' על כל הגוים כאשר עשית יעשה לך גמלך ישוב בראשיך. כיכאשר שתיתם על הר קדשי ישתו כל הגויים תמיד ושתו ולעו והיו כלוא היו… ועלו מושעים בהר ציון לשפוט את הר עשו והיתה לה' המלוכה. - עובדיה א: טו-טז, כא

For the day of the Lord is near upon all of the nations; as you have done, so shall it be done to you, your deeds shall return upon your head. For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so shall all of the nations drink continually, indeed they shall drink and swallow, and they shall be as though they had not been…. And liberators shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the Mountain of Esav. - Ovadiah 1: 15-16,21

At this point, Ibn Ezra might contend, the name “Esav” is not used to refer to Edom, but serves rather as a symbol of nations that oppress the Jewish people.

Man’s Role in the Process of Redemption

The controversy between Abarbanel and Ibn Ezra regarding the prophecy of Ovadiah extends beyond their reading of the text and their perceptions of historical reality. It reflects two opposing views regarding the redemptive potential of “Shivat Zion” and the second temple period. Abarbanel sees “Shivat Zion” as a significant historical event with little theological significance. Ibn Ezra, on the other hand, holds that “Shivat Zion” had the potential to become the final redemption, but remained a missed opportunity. Had the people awakened and returned en masse to Israel, they would have fulfilled their destiny, as communicated by the prophets, and the redemption would have been realized. This concept is expressed by Ibn Ezra in his commentary on Zecharia 2:14:

רני ושמחי בת ציון: על תנאי אם התחברו ישראל מכל הגוים.

Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion - On condition that Israel joins together from among the nations.

In any case, both commentators look forward to the ultimate fulfillment of Ovadiah’s concluding prophecy:

ובהר ציון תהיה פליטה והיה קודש וירשו בית יעקב את מורשיהם. והיה בית יעקב אש ןבית יוסף להבה ובית עשו לקש ודלקו בהם ואכלום ולא יהיה שריד לבית עשו כי ה' דבר." -עובדיה 1: 17-18

But upon Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness, and the house of Ya’akov shall inherit those who dispossessed them. And the house of Ya’akov shall be fire and the house of Yosef flame, and the house of Esav will be straw, and they shall kindle them and devour them; and there shall be no remnant of the house of Esav, for the Lord has spoken. – Ovadiah 1: 17-18