Obadiah 1:5 (DBY)

Passage

If thieves had come to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen [till] they had had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left some gleanings?

Nearby Context

Obadiah 1:3 The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; he that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

Obadiah 1:4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith Jehovah.

Obadiah 1:5 If thieves had come to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen [till] they had had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left some gleanings?

Obadiah 1:6 How is Esau searched! his hidden things sought out!

Obadiah 1:7 All the men of thy confederacy have pushed thee to the border; the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, they have prevailed against thee; [they that eat] thy bread have laid a snare under thee. There is no understanding in him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thieves", "come", "thee", "robbers", "night", "thou", "stolen", and "till". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thieves" and "come", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle..." into verse 6's "How is Esau searched his hidden things...", so "thieves" and "come" belong inside that flow. In Obadiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thieves" and "come" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.