John Calvin Commentary Obadiah 1:19-20

"And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the lowland the Philistines; and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin [shall possess] Gilead. And the captives of this host of the children of Israel, that are [among] the Canaanites, [shall possess] even unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South." — Obadiah 1:19-20 (ASV)

The Prophet proceeds with the same subject: that God would not only gather the remnants of his people from the Babylonian exile, but would also restore the exiles, so that they might rule far and wide, and that their condition might be better than it was before. For the Prophet, as I think, directs attention to the first blessing of God, which had been entrusted to Abraham.

God had promised to the descendants of Abraham the whole land from the Euphrates to the sea. Now this land had never been possessed by the children of Abraham. This happened, as is well known, through their sloth and ingratitude. David in his time enlarged the borders; but he only made tributary those whom God had commanded to be destroyed.

So this blessing had never been fulfilled, because the people obstructed it. The Prophet now, speaking of the restoration of the Church, tells the people who would return from exile that they were to occupy the country which had been promised to their fathers, as if he said, “A full and complete inheritance will come to you.”

Now it is certain that this prophecy has never been completed: we know that only a small portion of the land was possessed by the Jews. What then are we to understand by this prophecy? It unquestionably appears that the Prophet speaks here of the kingdom of Christ.

We know that the Church was then truly restored, and that the Jews not only recovered their former state from which they had fallen, but also that their kingdom was increased. For how great did the splendor of the kingdom and of the temple become under Christ? This then is what the Prophet now means when he promises the Jews the heritage which they had lost; indeed, God then enlarged the borders of Judea. Therefore, he shows that they would not only be restored to their former condition, but that the kingdom would be increased in splendor and wealth when Christ would come. Let us now consider the words.

Possess then shall they the south of the Mount of Esau. The area was undoubtedly great: even when David reigned, the Jews did not possess that part, or southern portion, of Mount Seir. Then the Prophet, as I have said, shows that the borders of the kingdom would be more extensive than they had been.

And the plain, he says, of the Philistines. On that side also, the Lord would cause the Jews to extend farther. And possess they shall the fields of Ephraim. I will not spend much effort here describing the land, but it is enough for us to understand that the Prophet's design was to show that the state of the people after their exile would be far more splendid than it had been before, even under the reign of David.

What he means by Gilead is not very clear, but it is not probable that Mount Gilead is referred to here, which was not far from the tribe of Benjamin. Rather, it is more likely that a town or some place distant from that part, and not included in their portion, is indicated.

He afterwards adds, And the migrations of this host of the children of Israel, etc. There is some obscurity in the words here. By Canaan, the Hebrews mean the Illyrians and Germans, as well as the Gauls; for they say that the exiles dispersed in Gaul, Germany, and these distant regions will possess the southern cities.

By Zarephath, they understand Spain. But we know, as we have said elsewhere, that the Jews are very bold in their glosses, for they are not ashamed to trifle and to mix in frivolous things. They assert this as if it were evident from history and easily discovered. Thus they prattle about things unknown to them, and they do this without any reason or discrimination.

The Prophet, I do not doubt, means here that all those territories which had been previously promised to the children of Abraham would come into their possession when the Lord would send his Christ, not only to restore what had fallen but also to make the state of the people blessed in every way. The meaning of the whole, then, is that the Jews will not only recover what they had lost but also what had not until now been given them to possess. All this the Lord would bestow on them when Christ came.