Obadiah 1:20 (GNV)

Passage

And the captiuitie of this host of the children of Israel, which were among the Canaanites, shall possesse vnto Zarephath, and the captiuitie of Ierusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possesse the cities of the South.

Nearby Context

Obadiah 1:18 And the house of Iaakob shalbe a fire, and the house of Ioseph a flame, and the house of Esau as stubble, and they shall kindle in them and deuoure them: and there shall bee no remnant of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken it.

Obadiah 1:19 And they shall possesse the South side of the mount of Esau, and the plaine of the Philistims: and they shall possesse the fieldes of Ephraim, and the fieldes of Samaria, and Beniamin shall haue Gilead.

Obadiah 1:20 And the captiuitie of this host of the children of Israel, which were among the Canaanites, shall possesse vnto Zarephath, and the captiuitie of Ierusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possesse the cities of the South.

Obadiah 1:21 And they that shall saue, shall come vp to mount Zion to iudge the mount of Esau, and the kingdome shalbe the Lords.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "captiuitie", "host", "children", "israel", "canaanites", "shall", "possesse", and "vnto". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "captiuitie" and "host", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And they shall possesse the South side..." into verse 21's "And they that shall saue shall come...", so "captiuitie" and "host" 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 "captiuitie" and "host" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.