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Obadiah is a Biblical theophorical name, meaning "servant of Yahweh" or "worshipper of Yahweh." It is cognate to the Arabic name ‘Abdullah. Another similar name in Arabic is Obaidullah/ `Ubaydullah (Arabic: ???? ?????) is a male Arabic given name that means "little servant of God". The form of his name used in the Septuagint is Obdios; in Latin it is Abdias.
The Prophet Obadiah In the Old Testament The prophet named Obadiah is credited with authorship of the shortest book in the Old Testament,
In some Christian traditions he is said to have been born in "Sychem" (Shechem), and to have been the third centurion sent out by Ahab against Elijah.
See
In Rabbinic tradition According to the Talmud, Obadiah is said to have been a convert to Judaism from Edom,[ Translated by Michael L
. Rodkinson] a descendant of [[Eliphaz]], the friend of [[Job (Bible)|Job]]. He is identified with the Obadiah who was the servant of Ahab, and it is said that he was chosen to prophesy against Edom because he was himself an Edomite. Moreover, having lived with two such godless persons as [[Ahab]] and [[Jezebel]] without learning to act as they did, he seemed the most suitable person to prophesy against [[Esau]] (Edom), who, having been brought up by two pious persons, [[Isaac]] and [[Rebekah]], had not learned to imitate their good deeds.
Obadiah is supposed to have received the gift of prophecy for having hidden the hundred and twenty eight prophets from the persecution of Jezebel.
Obadiah was very rich, but all his wealth was expended in feeding the poor prophets, until, in order to be able to continue to support them, finally he had to borrow money at interest from Ahab's son Jehoram. Obadiah's fear of God was one degree higher than that of Abraham; and if the house of Ahab had been capable of being blessed, it would have been blessed for Obadiah's sake.
In Catholicism
He is regarded as a saint by several Catholic churches. His feast day is celebrated on January 10 in the Coptic Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite celebrate his memory on November 19 (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, November 19 currently falls on December 2 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). He is celebrated on February 28 in the Syriac and Malankara Churches, and with the other Minor prophets in the Calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 31.
According to an old tradition, Obadiah is buried in Samaria.
Other Obadiahs in the Old Testament Other individuals named Obadiah in the Old Testament are listed as:
- the servant of king Ahab of Israel (Kings). According to both rabbinic tradition and the tradition of the Orthodox Church, this is the same individual as the prophet.
- the son of Hananiah, a descendant of king David of Israel through Solomon (1 Chronicles Chronicles)
- the son of Uzzi, a descendant of the Hebrew patriarch Issachar (Chronicles)
- the son of Azel, a descendant of king Saul of Israel through Jonathan (Chronicles)
- the son of Shemaiah, a descendant of the Hebrew patriarch Levi (Chronicles)
- a warrior descended from the Hebrew patriarch Gad that served king David (Chronicles)
- the father of Ishmaiah, governor of the tribe of Zebulun during the reign of king David (Chronicles)
- a prince of the southern kingdom of Judah during the reign of king Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles Chronicles)
- a Levite, overseer of the reconstruction efforts during the reforms of king Josiah of Judah (Chronicles)
- the son of Joab, one of the individuals who returned from the Babylonian captivity with the priestly scribe Ezra, and possibly the Levite mentioned in (Nehemiah Nehemiah) as a porter of Jerusalem's gates after the city's reconstruction under Nehemiah (Ezra Ezra)
Copyright Citations
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