What Does Obadiah 1:20 Mean in the King James?
And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
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 Hebrew root behind “captivity” also carries the sense “uncover,” while the people called exiles are named here as inheritors.
THE MEANING
The verse holds Israel’s scattered communities as heirs whose reach extends to Zarephath, Sepharad, and the southern cities. It names possession of territory associated with the Canaanites, so restoration here is concrete land-taking, not an inward metaphor.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that exile cancels Israel’s claim to the land is undone here: the exiles themselves are named as the ones who possess it.
THE ROOT
גָּלוּת
galut
GROWS FROM
גלה
To uncover or reveal; in another form, to carry away into exile.
The word behind “captivity” is גָּלוּת (galut), meaning exile; its root גלה (galah) also carries the senses uncover and reveal. The exiles are not erased from the verse: they are named as the people who possess territory, setting removal beside inheritance.
ALSO GROWS
galah: Uncover, reveal
גָּלָה
This branch shares the root of galut, showing that the word for exile carries an additional sense of exposure or uncovering.
higlah: Carry away or send into exile
הִגְלָה
This causative form makes the root’s exile sense explicit: people are removed from their place.
יִרְשׁוּ
yirshu
GROWS FROM
ירש
Take possession, inherit; also dispossess.
“possess” in this verse is yirshu. The root ירש (yarash) can mean to inherit or to dispossess. The verse’s restoration is therefore material and contested: Israel’s becoming possessor includes taking territory associated with the Canaanites.
ALSO GROWS
yerushah: Inheritance, possession
יְרֻשָּׁה
This noun makes the inheritance sense of the verse’s verb visible.
morashah: Heritage, possession
מוֹרָשָׁה
This related noun names what is inherited or held as a possession, deepening the land claim in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Scripture repeatedly turns dispossession or low status toward inheritance, with the promise reaching beyond a person’s present place or power.
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.THE THREAD
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.Both verses use the root ירש (yarash), “possess” or “inherit.” Verse 1:17 states that Jacob will possess its inheritance; this verse names the dispersed communities and the southern cities included in that claim.
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