the fourth of the minor prophets according to the Hebrew, the fifth according to the Greek, and the eighth according to the chronological arrangement, is supposed to have prophesied about the year B.C. 599. (Jahn's Introd.) We possess but a small fragment of his prophecies, and it is impossible to determine anything with certainty respecting himself or his history. Several persons of this name occur about the same period, one of whom presided at the restoration of the temple in the reign of Josiah, B.C. 624, and is considered by many to have been the author of the prophecy. Another, who was governor of the house of Ahab, was regarded by the ancient Jews as the author of the book; an opinion followed by Jerome (Hieron. Comm. in Obdiam; Sixtus Senens. Bib. Sanct.). Others place the author in the reign of Ahaz, B.C. 728-699; while some think him to have been a contemporary of Hosea, who prophesied B.C. 722. Jahn maintains, from the warnings to the Edomites, ver. 12-14, that Obadiah prophesied before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; while De Wette infers from ver. 20, that the composition of the book must be placed after the destruction of that city. From a comparison of Obad. ver. 1-4 with Jer. xlix. 14-16; Obad. ver. 6 with Jer. xlix. 9, 10; and Obad. ver. 8 with Jer. xlix. 7, it is evident that one of these prophets had read the other's work. That Jeremiah was the original writer has been maintained by Bertholdi, Cremer, De Wette, and others. (See Eichhorn's Introd., sec. 512; Rosenmüller's Scholia; and Jäger, Ueb. die Zeit Obadjah.) His prophecies are directed against the Edomites, and in this respect correspond with Amos i. 11, Jer. xlix. 22, Ezek. xxv. 12-14, and Ps. cxlvii. 7; but he consoles the Jews with a promise of restoration from their captivity—a prophecy which was fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees, under John Hyrcanus, B.C. 125. The language of Obadiah is pure, but he is too fond of the interrogatory form of expression; his sentiments are noble, and his figures bold and striking. (In addition to the works already specified, the reader may consult Leusden's Obadiah; Pfeiffer, Comm. in Obad.; Schürer, Der Prophet Obad., &c.; Venema, Lect. in Obad., with the additions of Verschuir and Kohler; Anmerk. Schnurrer's Dissert. Philol.; Hende-worth, Obadiah Prophetæ Oraculum in Idumææ.)