Obadiah (disambiguation)

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Obadiah is the name of thirteen different persons mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. As vocalized in the Masoretic Text, it means "worshiper of God".

1. Head steward to King Ahab of Israel. At the time of the persecution of the prophets of Yhwh by Jezebel, Obadiah succeeded in concealing one hundred of them in caves (I Kings xviii. 4-6). During the great famine he was sent by Ahab to search for food. He met the prophet Elijah, and brought Ahab the message that the famine was at an end (ib. 6 et seq.).
2. A descendant of Jeduthun (I Chron. ix. 16).
3. One of the grandchildren of the last king, Jeconiah (ib. iii. 21).
4. A descendant of the tribe of Issachar, and one of David's heroes (ib. vii. 3).
5. A descendant of Saul (ib. viii. 38, ix. 44).
6. A Gadite, the second in the list of David's heroes who joined him in the desert before the capture of Ziklag (ib. xii. 9).
7. Father of Ishmaiah, who was appointed representative of the tribe of Zebulun, under David (ib. xxvii. 19).
8. One of the officers sent by Jehoshaphat to teach in the different towns of Judea (II Chron. xvii. 7).
9. A Levite, who, during the reign of Josiah, was placed over the workmen repairing the Temple (ib. xxxiv. 12)
10. Son of Jehiel; chief of 218 men who returned with Ezra to Palestine (Ezra viii. 9).
11. One of those who signed, with Nehemiah, the covenant to live according to the doctrines of the law of Moses (Neh. x. 6).
12. One of the porters of the gates in the porticoes of the new Temple (ib. xii. 25).
13. A prophet, named in the Book of Obadiah, who lived around 587 B.C. (Ob. 1) .

Because of the tradition that Obadiah the prophet was a convert, the name "Obadiah" was frequently adopted by converts to Judaism, for example Obadiah the Proselyte.

It can also refer to:

• The Book of Obadiah
• Obadiah (king), a Khazar ruler
• One of the 25 Islands described in Abarat, a 2002 book by Clive Barker.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.