What Does Obadiah 1:17 Mean in the King James?
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse makes escape a doorway into inheritance: on Zion, deliverance opens into set-apartness and the recovery of what belongs to Jacob.
THE MEANING
For you now, deliverance is more than getting out: it opens a set-apart place where what belongs to you can be restored. The verse holds escape and inheritance together, so deliverance reaches its fullness in recovery.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that deliverance only gets you away from danger: here, escape opens into restored inheritance.
THE ROOT
פְּלֵיטָה
peleitah
GROWS FROM
פלט
p-l-ṭ
To escape or slip free from danger.
The root names slipping free, while a related form names the one who gets free. Deliverance on Zion is an actual emergence from danger, and the next clauses show where that opening leads.
ALSO GROWS
palat: Escape or bring someone through safely.
פָּלַט
This verb shows the movement inside deliverance: getting clear of danger.
palit: One who has escaped; a survivor.
פָּלִיט
The same root names both the escape and the person who emerges from it.
מוֹרָשֵׁיהֶם
morashehem
GROWS FROM
ירש
y-r-sh
To inherit or take possession.
The verse’s verb for possessing and its noun for possessions share the same root: Jacob inherits its inheritance. The repetition makes deliverance more than escape; it arrives at the recovery of what belongs to the house.
ALSO GROWS
yarash: Inherit or take possession.
יָרַשׁ
This is the root behind the house of Jacob coming into possession.
morashah: Inheritance or possession.
מוֹרָשָׁה
This noun echoes the root of the verb, making inheritance the destination of deliverance.
קֹדֶשׁ
qodesh
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
To set apart or mark as distinct.
The word translated holiness belongs to the family of set-apartness: a condition of being made distinct. Beside deliverance, it shows that the opening from danger leads into a place held apart for wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart.
קָדוֹשׁ
This form carries the same quality of distinctness named in the verse.
miqdash: Sanctuary; set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
This branch gives set-apartness a place, echoing the verse’s movement from escape into a distinct space.
THE PATTERN
Deliverance reaches its full shape when escape opens into renewed belonging and inheritance.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.THE THREAD
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.Joel uses the same Hebrew word, פְּלֵיטָה (peleitah, deliverance or escape), and places it on Mount Zion as Obadiah does. The shared root makes Zion a recurring place where escape becomes visible and opens into restoration.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us