18 Edom shall be a possession. Seir, his enemies, also shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Seir - The older name of the mountain-land, south of Moab, and east of the Arabah, which the Edomites inhabited Genesis 32:3; Genesis 36:8-9.
And Edom shall be a possession - That is, to David: as it is said: "And all they of Edom became David's servants;" 2-Samuel 8:14.
Seir also shall be a possession - That is, unto the king Messiah; as it is said: "And saviours shall come upon Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's;" Obadiah 1:21. See Ainsworth.
And Edom shall be a possession,.... Of the children of Israel, which was fulfilled in part when the Edomites became the servants of David, 2-Samuel 8:14 and when they were smitten and spoiled by Judas Maccabeus,them a great overthrow, and abated their courage, and took their spoils.'' (1 Maccabees 5:3)and still more so when all the Edomites or the Idumaeans were subdued by Hyrcanus, and they became one people with the Jews, and conformed to their religious rites; which is not only related by Josephus (n), but by Strabo (o), an Heathen historian, who says, that they joined themselves to the Jews, and embraced their laws: but in a spiritual sense this has had a greater accomplishment in the calling of the Gentiles, and introducing them into the church of God; see Amos 9:12 compared with Acts 15:14.
Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; which was a mount in the land of Edom where Esau formerly dwelt, and so signifies the same as before: and also that the most strong and fortified places of the land should fall into the hands of their enemies; See Gill on Obadiah 1:17, Obadiah 1:18, Obadiah 1:19.
Israel shall do valiantly; in fighting with and conquering the Edomites, or shall get much wealth and riches by the spoil of them, see Psalm 60:9. This, and the following verse, are in some ancient writings of the Jews (p) interpreted of the times of the Messiah.
(n) Antiqu. l. 13. c. 9. sect. 1. (o) Geograph. l. 16. p. 523. (p) Zohar in Numb. fol. 85. 4. & 86. 1.
Edom shall be a possession--This prophecy was accomplished by David (2-Samuel 8:14).
Seir--seen in the south, and poetically used for Edom. The double conquest of Moab and Edom is alluded to (Psalm 60:8; Psalm 108:9).
"And Edom becomes a possession, and Seir becomes a possession, its enemies; but Israel acquires power." Whose possession Edom and Seir are to become, is not expressly stated; but it is evident from the context, and from איביו (its enemies), which is not a genitive dependent upon Seir, but is in apposition to Edom and Seir, just as צריו in Numbers 24:8 is in apposition to גּוים. Edom and Seir were his, i.e., Israel's enemies; therefore they were to be taken by the ruler who was to arise out of Israel. Edom is the name of the people, Seir of the country, just as in Genesis 32:4; so that Seir is not to be understood as relating to the prae-Edomitish population of the land, which had been subjugated by the descendants of Esau, and had lost all its independence a long time before. In Moses' days the Israelites were not allowed to fight with the Edomites, even when they refused to allow them to pass peaceably through their territory (see Numbers 20:21), but were commanded to leave them in their possessions as a brother nation (Deuteronomy 2:4-5). In the future, however, their relation to one another was to be a very different one; because the hostility of Edom, already in existence, grew more and more into obstinate and daring enmity, which broke up all the ties of affection that Israel was to regard as holy, and thus brought about the destruction of the Edomites. - The fulfilment of this prophecy commenced with the subjugation of the Edomites by David (2-Samuel 8:14; 1-Kings 11:15-16; 1-Chronicles 18:12-13), but it will not be completed till "the end of the days," when all the enemies of God and His Church will be made the footstool of Christ (Psalm 110:1.). That David did not complete the subjugation of Edom is evident, on the one hand, from the fact that the Edomites revolted again under Solomon, though without success (1-Kings 11:14.); that they shook off the yoke imposed upon them under Joram (2-Kings 8:20); and notwithstanding their defeat by Amaziah (2-Kings 14:7; 2-Chronicles 25:11) and Uzziah (2-Kings 14:22; 2-Chronicles 26:2), invaded Judah a second time under Ahaz (2-Chronicles 28:17), and afterwards availed themselves of every opportunity to manifest their hostility to the kingdom of Judah and the Jews generally, - as for example at the conquest of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 35:15; Ezekiel 36:5; Obadiah 1:10 and Obadiah 1:13), and in the wars between the Maccabees and the Syrians (1 Macc. 5:3, 65; 2 Macc. 10:15; 12:38ff.), - until they were eventually conquered by John Hyrcanus in the year b.c. 129, and compelled to submit to circumcision, and incorporated in the Jewish state (Josephus, Ant. xiii. 9, 1, xv. 7, 9; Wars of the Jews, iv. 5, 5). But notwithstanding this, they got the government over the Jews into their own hands through Antipater and Herod (Josephus, Ant. xiv. 8, 5), and only disappeared from the stage of history with the destruction of the Jewish state by the Romans. On the other hand, the declarations of the prophets (Amos 9:12; Obadiah 1:17.), which foretell, with an unmistakeable allusion to this prophecy, the possession of the remnant of Edom by the kingdom of Israel, and the announcements in Isaiah 34 and Isaiah 63:1-6, Jeremiah 49:7., Ezekiel 25:12. and Ezekiel 35:1-15, comp. with Psalm 137:7 and Lamentations 4:21-22, prove still more clearly that Edom, as the leading foe of the kingdom of God, will only be utterly destroyed when the victory of the latter over the hostile power of the world has been fully and finally secured. - Whilst Edom falls, Israel will acquire power. חיל עשׂה, to acquire ability or power (Deuteronomy 8:17-18; Ruth 4:11), not merely to show itself brave or strong. It is rendered correctly by Onkelos, "prosperabitur in opibus;" and Jonathan, "praevalebunt in opibus et possidebunt eos."
A possession - Which was also foretold, Genesis 25:23, and in part fulfilled, 2-Samuel 8:14; 1-Chronicles 18:13, but more fully by Christ, Amos 9:12; Obadiah 1:18, who shall subdue and possess all his enemies; here signified by the name of Edom, as Jacob or Israel, his brother, signifies all his church and people. Seir - A part and, mountain of Edom.
*More commentary available at chapter level.