What is Obadiah about?
A short oracle concerning Edom, violence and the reversal of pride.
This page brings together selected questions about Obadiah, with context, references and links for further study. The aim is not to impose a doctrinal interpretation, but to help you recognise what appears in the text and verify each answer in its cited passage.
What this quiz helps you practise
Questions span different difficulty levels and may cover names, places, narrative sequences, teachings, references and connections within the book itself.
Sample questions and answers
Obadiah has only twenty-one verses, so each question points to a precise line of the book rather than relying on general Old Testament trivia.
Which Old Testament book is shortest by verse count and announces judgment against Edom?
Reference: Obadiah 1–21
Obadiah has 21 verses, making it the shortest Old Testament book by verse count, and it announces judgment against Edom.
A three-part reading map
- Verses 1–9: Edom’s pride, false security and coming loss.
- Verses 10–14: violence against Jacob and a sequence of warnings about Edom’s conduct during Jerusalem’s disaster.
- Verses 15–21: the day of the Lord, recompense, Mount Zion and the book’s closing declaration.
Names and relationships to track
Edom is associated with Esau, while Jacob represents the related people of Israel. That family relationship makes the accusation of violence especially important to the book’s argument. Obadiah also names Mount Esau and Mount Zion, using geography to organise the contrast between judgment and deliverance.
How to study Obadiah
Read the entire book aloud—it is short enough to hear as one unit. On a second reading, mark every command beginning with “do not” in verses 12–14. Then trace the movement from Edom’s high dwelling place to Mount Zion. Finally, answer the quiz from memory and return to the exact verse for each missed item. This method tests sequence, repeated language and relationships rather than only the book’s position in the canon.
Translation note
English translations may differ in their rendering of particular verbs and place names. The quiz therefore gives verse references and focuses on details that remain identifiable across commonly used translations. Historical questions about the precise date and event behind the oracle are treated cautiously because scholarly proposals differ.