Obadiah was a very wealthy man and he used his monetary blessings to hide many of the prophets, saving their lives.

Ultimately, the economy turned, and Obadiah, his wealth depleted, resorted to borrowing funds to continue protecting the prophets. Deep in debt, he even borrowed from the loan sharks – the sons of the wicked King Ahab. Unable to repay the loans, and with no bankruptcy laws to protect him, they persecuted him until he died from anguish.

The sons of Ahab then focused their harassment on the administrator’s wife, Mrs. Obadiah. Finally, they threatened to come and take her two sons as slaves unless she repaid the money. It is a terrible, sad story.

A Small Flask of Oil

This is where the storyline of our haftarah picks up:

“Ishah achat” – “one woman” (the wife of Obadiah) cried out to Elisha, the great prophet of the time, and said, “Your servant, my husband, died. You knew him; he was a G‑d-fearing man. Now the loan shark is coming to take my two sons. Please help! You’re a miracle man! I need a miracle!”

So Elisha tells her, “Let’s see what I can do; what do you have in your house? Do you have anything of value? Gold, silver, precious stones? Stocks, bonds, securities? Anything at all?”

“I have nothing,” she responds. “All I have left is a small flask of olive oil. That’s it.”

“This is good!” Elisha tells her. “Here’s what you’ll do: go to all your neighbors and borrow as many jugs and jars and Tupperware as you can. Gather all of these vessels into your house. Make sure your children are there, and close the door. Then, take your flask of oil and begin to pour. Pour oil into every jar and into every container and keep pouring. As long as there are containers to fill, the oil will continue to pour.”

And it worked! Suddenly, she had a massive volume of oil! When the last of the containers was filled, the oil stopped.

She ran to Elisha and asked, “What’s next?”

“You’ve got plenty of olive oil,” the prophet told her. “Sell the oil. You’ll be able to pay all your debts and have enough money left to live comfortably for the rest of your life.”

the Prophet Obadiah

The prophet Obadiah was a contemporary of Elijah the prophet. He lived in the days of King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. In fact, he was the manager of their entire estate. We encounter him in the story of Elijah and his confrontations with King Ahab. When Jezebel began hunting down and killing all prophets of G‑d, Obadiah took it upon himself to hide one hundred prophets in two caves and to provide all their needs from his own pocket. The verse there calls him “a very G‑d-fearing man.”1 Albeit nameless, we also encounter him posthumously in the haftarah of Vayeira, with the miracle of Elisha and the oil (see there).

The book of Obadiah contains only one chapter, and it is entirely preoccupied with the fate of Edom—the descendants of Esau. Obadiah was specifically chosen to be the carrier of this message because he was in fact an Edomite who had converted to Judaism. Furthermore, “Obadiah, who dwelt amidst two wicked people (Ahab and Jezebel) and did not learn from their ways—let him come and prophesy the downfall of Esau, who dwelt amidst two righteous people (Isaac and Rebecca) and did not learn from their ways.”2

As we read in our Parshah extensively, Esau and his descendants lived in and ruled the region of Mount Seir known as Edom.3 The people of Edom were a continuous adversary of the Jews in the Land of Israel.4 What is interesting, though, is that Obadiah speaks of the doom that will befall Edom in the days of Moshiach. This is not unique to Obadiah—a number of other biblical prophets speak of this as well.5

The Mishnah6 states it as fact that the descendants of the biblical nations no longer inhabit their original places of origin. As far this prophecy is concerned, however, a fascinating observation is made by a number of commentaries. Rome was founded by the people and culture of Edom, the descendants of Esau. Thus the Romans, who destroyed the Second Temple, and those European nations who continued in their path with centuries of Jewish persecution and torture, are all included in the term “Edom.” It is for this reason that throughout rabbinic literature, the exile we are in now is referred to “the exile of Edom.” The book of Obadiah, then, refers to “Edom” in this broader sense.7 Although the details of how this prophecy might be fulfilled are mostly obscure, the obvious idea is that in time to come G‑d will take retribution upon Edom, who oppressed the Jewish people.8