Obadiah 1:5

Obadiah 1:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
• New International Version (NIV)“If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night— oh, what a disaster awaits you!— would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes?
• English Standard Version (ESV)If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night— how you have been destroyed!— would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings?
• New King James Version (NKJV)“If thieves had come to you, If robbers by night— Oh, how you will be cut off!— Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to you, Would they not have left some gleanings?

Context of Obadiah 1:5

3Your arrogant heart has deceived you, you who live in clefts of the rock in your home on the heights, who say to yourself, “Who can bring me down to the ground?” 4Though you seem to soar like an eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down. This is the Lord’s declaration. If thieves came to you, if marauders by night — how ravaged you would be! — wouldn’t they steal only what they wanted? If grape harvesters came to you, wouldn’t they leave a few grapes? 6How Esau will be pillaged, his hidden treasures searched out! 7Everyone who has a treaty with you will drive you to the border; everyone at peace with you will deceive and conquer you. Those who eat your bread will set a trap for you. He will be unaware of it.

Obadiah 1:5 word by word

אִם־גַּנָּבִ֤ים בָּאֽוּ־לְךָ֙ אִם־שׁ֣וֹדְדֵי לַ֔יְלָה אֵ֣יךְ נִדְמֵ֔יתָה הֲל֥וֹא יִגְנְב֖וּ דַּיָּ֑ם אִם־בֹּֽצְרִים֙ בָּ֣אוּ לָ֔ךְ הֲל֖וֹא יַשְׁאִ֥ירוּ עֹלֵלֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If thievesגַּנָּבgannâb · thiefH1590
• cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• to thee, if robbersשָׁדַדshâdad · to ruinH7703
• by nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• how art thou cut offדָּמָהdâmâh · to ceaseH1820
• would they not have stolenגָּנַבgânab · to stealH1589
• till they had enoughדַּיday · sufficiencyH1767
• if the grapegatherersבָּצַרbâtsar · to gather/restrain/fortifyH1219
• to thee, would they not leaveשָׁאַרshâ'ar · to remainH7604
• grapesעֹלֵלוֹת‛ôlêlâh · gleaningH5955

Cross-references for Obadiah 1:5

• Jeremiah 49:9If grape harvesters came to you, wouldn’t they leave a few grapes? Were thieves to come in the night, they would destroy only what they wanted.
• 2 Samuel 1:19The splendor of Israel lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!
• Isaiah 14:12Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens! You destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground.
• Jeremiah 50:23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and smashed! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
• Lamentations 1:1How she sits alone, the city once crowded with people! She who was great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has been put to forced labor.
• Zephaniah 2:15This is the jubilant city that lives in security, that says to herself: I exist, and there is no one else. What a desolation she has become, a place for wild animals to lie down! Everyone who passes by her scoffs and shakes his fist.
• Revelation 18:10They will stand far off in fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in a single hour your judgment has come.
• Deuteronomy 24:21When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left. What remains will be for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow.
• Isaiah 17:6Only gleanings will be left in Israel, as if an olive tree had been beaten — two or three olives at the very top of the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches. This is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel.
• Isaiah 24:13For this is how it will be on earth among the nations: like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
• Micah 7:1How sad for me! For I am like one who — when the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest — finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.

Commentaries on Obadiah 1:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5If thieves came to thee - That is, if thieves entered thy dwellings, they would not have taken every thing; they would have laid hold on thy wealth; and carried off as much as they could escape with conveniently; if grape-gatherers entered thy vineyards, they would not have taken every bunch; some gleanings would have been left. But the Chaldeans have stripped thee bare; they have searched out all thy hidden things, Obadiah 1:6, they have left thee…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5If thieves came to thee - The prophet describes their future punishment, by contrast with that which, as a marauding people, they well knew. Thieves and robbers spoil only for their petty end. They take what comes to hand; what they can, they carry off shortness of time, difficulty of transport, necessity of providing for a retreat, limit their plunder. When they have gorged themselves, they depart. “Their” plunder is limited. The “grape-gatherer” leaves…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Edom's destroyers would take everything, unlike thieves and harvesters. Thieves would leave anything that might slow their escape. Harvesters would always leave some leftovers for the poor (Deuteronomy 24:19; compare Ruth 2; Matthew 12:1).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. The spoliation which thou shalt suffer shall not be such as that which thieves cause, bad as that is, for these when they have seized enough, or all they can get in a hurry, leave the rest--nor such as grape-gatherers cause in a vineyard, for they, when they have gathered most of the grapes, leave gleanings behind--but it shall be utter, so as to leave thee nothing. The exclamation, "How art thou cut off!" bursting in amidst the words of the image…Read the comment

Topics related to Obadiah 1:5

• Deceit
• Theft and Thieves

In the dictionaries

• Obadiah, Book of

Commentaries on Obadiah 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings