The vision of Obadiah — the shortest prophetic book in the Hebrew Bible — is entirely about the punishment of Edom. Rabbi Berachiah asked: why did God choose Obadiah specifically for this prophecy? Because Obadiah was a convert who had lived in the house of Ahab and Jezebel, protected by their power, a righteous man in a wicked household — just as Esau was a wicked man who had come from a righteous household. The parallel is exact: one man maintained virtue surrounded by evil; the other abandoned virtue while surrounded by good. Each received the prophecy appropriate to his life.
Eliphaz, the Temanite, was Esau's firstborn son. He became Job's friend and comforter. The rabbis noted that Eliphaz rebuked Job — only in a vision, only cautiously, only when absolutely necessary (Job 4:1-2). He had learned gentleness from somewhere. The midrash suggests he learned it from watching his grandfather Isaac, from hearing about Abraham's hospitality. Righteousness can pass through even the most unlikely bloodlines.
God repays both the hater and the lover according to their deeds — precisely, without excess. Edom would fall. Obadiah would be vindicated. But the precision of divine justice includes the merit of Esau's descendants who retained some goodness from the patriarchal house. The rabbis were careful: condemning Edom did not mean condemning every person who descended from Esau. The prophecy was about kingdoms, not about every individual life within them.
Chapter (54) 55: Torah [1] And Jacob sent messengers (Genesis 32:4). He sent angelic soldiers, but see what is written above: "angels of God met him, and Jacob said when he saw them" (Genesis 32:2-3). And Jacob sent messengers. This is the meaning of "You shall be surrounded by eyes" (Isaiah 60:4). From the day Jacob came out of his mother's womb, God foresaw that Esau would seek to kill him, and therefore God assigned angels to guard him. Similarly, David said, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1), for He will command His angels concerning you. (Psalms 91:11). And the ministering angels guarded him all the days that he was in the land of Israel. When he left to go to Laban, those ministering angels left him and others were appointed to guard him. This is why the angels who serve in the land of Israel do not serve outside of it. Jacob saw these angels when he left his father's home, as it is said, "and he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth... and behold, angels of God were ascending and descending on it" (Genesis 28:12). It should have said "descending and then ascending," but their way is always to descend from above and then to ascend. So those angels who were guarding him in the land of Israel, when they saw him leaving for outside of the land, left him and other angels descended and served him outside of the land. When he returned to his father's home, God said to the first group of ministering angels who had guarded him in the land of Israel, "you do not go to accompany him to his destination." This is similar to the kings of Rome who left their spear men and soldiers behind and went to the barbarians, and his father entrusted him to many gentile rulers to serve him. After some time, when he returned from the barbarians, the king said to his soldiers, "we do not go to meet the barbarians, for he is coming." The son was afraid to come, but when he lifted his eyes and saw his father and all the soldiers, as he came back to his father, the Lord said to the first angels who were guarding him in the land of Israel, "You shall not go to the threshold of my sons, a parable to a king's son who left his Rome and San'kalitine*, and came to his father-in-law and his father gave him many servants to serve him. After some time, when he returned from his father-in-law, the king said to his San'kalitine, 'We shall not go to the threshold of my son, for he is coming.' The son was afraid to come, but when he raised his eyes and saw his father and all his San'kalitine who went out to meet him, he began to rejoice. Similarly, Jacob, when he returned to his father, the Lord said to the first angels, 'Let us go to the threshold of Jacob.' When Jacob heard that they were coming, he became afraid. The Lord said to him, 'Raise your eyes and see who is coming to your threshold.' As it is written, 'Lift up your eyes and look around you' (Isaiah 60:4). Immediately Jacob said, 'This is God's camp' (Genesis 32:3), as it is written, 'They called to one another' (Isaiah 6:3). And he said to them, 'Since you have come to meet me, go on my behalf.' And to Jacob [God] sent an angels, and David cried out and said, 'The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him' (Psalm 34:8). [* סנקליטיקוס- senator, councilor, counselor] [2] another interpretation: And Jacob sent angels. The scriptures says: "He sent forth Your light and Your truth" so on... (Psalms 43:3). Rabbi Berechia said: "When the righteous are in a world of light with them, as it says 'Light is sown for the righteous' (Psalms 97:11). And similarly, Jeremiah says, 'Give glory to the Lord your God' (Jeremiah 13:16). Make repentance before Him, for there is no glory except through repentance, as Joshua said to Achan, 'My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel' (Joshua 7:19), before it gets dark... until He removes the light from you, and takes the righteous away, and then you find yourself in darkness, before it gets dark and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight, until you do not remove those who pray and precede the twilight, as it says, 'I anticipated the dawn and cried out' (Psalms 119:147)","To teach you that just as long as the righteous exist in the world, there is light in the world, so too, as long as Jacob was in the Land of Israel, the light was with him. And when he left, the light was removed, as it says, "And he encountered the place..." (Genesis 28:11). And when he returned, the Torah returned to its place because of him, as it says, "And the sun shone upon him" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, he said, "I will not return to the Land of Israel until the light that was with me is sent," as it says, "Send forth Your light and Your truth" (Psalms 43:3), as it says, "You will give truth to Jacob" (Micah 7:20). Just as Jacob sent angels, so too, in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, does the same, as it says, "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the nations, but upon you the Lord will shine, and His glory will be seen over you" (Isaiah 60:2).
