Obadiah 1:5 (LSB)

Passage

“If thieves came to you, If robbers by night— Oh how you will be ruined!— Would they not thieve only until they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, Would they not allow some gleanings to remain?

Nearby Context

Obadiah 1:3 The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts of the cliff, In the height of your habitation, Who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’

Obadiah 1:4 Though you build loftily like the eagle, Though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” declares Yahweh.

Obadiah 1:5 “If thieves came to you, If robbers by night— Oh how you will be ruined!— Would they not thieve only until they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, Would they not allow some gleanings to remain?

Obadiah 1:6 Oh how Esau will be searched out And his hidden treasures ransacked!

Obadiah 1:7 All the men who have a covenant with you Will send you forth to the border, And the men at peace with you Will deceive you and overpower you. They who eat your bread Will set an ambush for you. (There is no discernment in him.)

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thieves", "came", "robbers", "night", "ruined", "only", and "until". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thieves" and "came", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Though you build loftily like the eagle..." into verse 6's "Oh how Esau will be searched out...", so "thieves" and "came" 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 "came" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.