Obadiah 1:4

4 [Even] if you soar like the eagle, [even] if your nest is set among [the] stars, from there I will bring you down!" {declares}^[a] Yahweh:

Obadiah 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Obadiah 1:4

Though thou exaltest [thyself] as the eagle
That soars aloft, flies on high, even out of sight, higher than any other bird does: or, "exaltest thy habitation"; and makest it as high as the eagle's nest; see ( Jeremiah 49:16 ) ; and though thou set thy nest among the stars;
even higher than the eagle's; an hyperbolical expression, supposing that which never was or can be done; yet, if it was possible, would not secure from danger: or should their castles and fortresses be built upon the top of the highest mountains, which seem to reach the heavens, and be among the stars: thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord;
this is said in answer to the question put, or bold challenge made, in ( Obadiah 1:3 ) ; if men cannot do it, God will; and, if he employs instruments to effect it, it shall be done by them; all seeming difficulties are easily surmounted by an omnipotent Being; what are the heights of mountains, or the strength of fortresses, to him? thus the whore of Rome sits upon seven mountains, and mystical Babylon reigns over the kings of the earth; yet shall be thrown down and found no more, for the Lord is strong that judgeth her, ( Revelation 17:9 Revelation 17:18 ) ( Revelation 18:8 Revelation 18:21 ) .

Obadiah 1:4 In-Context

2 "Look, I will make you insignificant among the nations. You [will be] utterly despised!

3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of a rock, the heights of its dwelling, [you who] say in your heart: 'Who can bring me down [to the] ground?'

4 [Even] if you soar like the eagle, [even] if your nest is set among [the] stars, from there I will bring you down!" {declares} Yahweh:

5 "If thieves came to you, if plunderers of [the] night--How you have been destroyed!--would they not steal {what they wanted}? If grape gatherers came, would they not leave gleanings?

6 How Esau has been pillaged; his treasures have been ransacked!

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "a declaration of"