All the men of thy confederacy - The Chaldeans are here intended, to whom the Idumeans were attached, and whose agents they became in exercising cruelties upon the Jews.

Have brought thee even to the border - Have hemmed thee in on every side, and reduced thee to distress. Or, they have driven thee to thy border; cast thee out of thy own land into the hands of thine enemies.

The men that were at peace with thee - The men of thy covenant, with whom thou hadst made a league.

That eat thy bread - That professed to be thy firmest friends, have all joined together to destroy thee.

Have laid a wound - Placed a snare or trap under thee. See Newcome.

There is none understanding in him - Private counsels and public plans are all in operation against thee; and yet thou art so foolish and infatuated as not to discern thy own danger.

All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border,.... Or of "thy covenant" (r); that are in league with thee; thine allies, even all of them, prove treacherous to thee, in whom thou trustedst; when they sent their ambassadors to them, they received them kindly, promised great things to them, dismissed them honourably, accompanied them to the borders of their country, but never stood to their engagements: or those allies came and joined their forces with the Edomites, and went out with them to meet the enemy, as if they would fight with them, and them; but when they came to the border of the land they left them, and departed into their own country; or went over to the enemy; or these confederates were the instruments of expelling them out of their own land, and sending them to the border of it, and carrying them captive; or they followed them to the border of the land, when they were carried captive, as if they lamented their case, when they were assisting to the enemy, as Kimchi; so deceitful were they. The Targum is to the same purpose,

"from the border all thy confederates carried thee captive (s):''

the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; outwitted them in their treaties of peace, and got the advantage of them; or they proved treacherous to them, and joined the enemy against them; or they persuaded them to declare themselves enemies to the Chaldeans, which proved their ruin; and so they prevailed against them:

they that eat thy bread: so the Targum and Kimchi supply it; or it may be supplied from the preceding clause, "the men of thy bread"; who received subsidies from them, were maintained by them, and quartered among them:

have laid a wound under thee; instead of supporting them, secretly did that which was wounding to them. The word signifies both a wound and a plaster; they pretended to lay a plaster to heal, but made a wound; or made the wound worse. The Targum is,

"they laid a stumbling block under thee;''

at which they stumbled and fell: or snares, as the Vulgate Latin version, whereby they brought them to ruin:

there is none understanding in him; in Esau, or the Edomites; they were so stupid, that they could not see into the designs of their pretended friends, and prevent the execution of them, and their ill effects.

(r) "viri foederis tui", V. L. Montanus, Vatablus, Burkius. (s) So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 51. 2. and 52. 1.

Men of thy confederacy--that is, thy confederates.

brought thee . . . to the border--that is, when Idumean ambassadors shall go to confederate states seeking aid, these latter shall conduct them with due ceremony to their border, giving them empty compliments, but not the aid required [DRUSIUS]. This view agrees with the context, which speaks of false friends deceiving Edom: that is, failing to give help in need (compare ). CALVIN translates, "have driven," that is, shall drive thee; shall help to drive thee to thy border on thy way into captivity in foreign lands.

the men that were at peace with thee--literally, "the men of thy peace." Compare ; , Margin, where also the same formula occurs, "prevailed against thee."

they that eat thy bread--the poorer tribes of the desert who subsisted on the bounty of Edom. Compare again , which seems to have been before Obadiah's mind, as his words were before Jeremiah's.

have laid a wound under thee--"laid" implies that their intimacy was used as a SNARE laid with a view to wound; also, these guest friends of Edom, instead of the cushions ordinarily laid under guests at table, laid snares to wound, that is, had a secret understanding with Edom's foe for that purpose. MAURER translates, "a snare." But English Version agrees with the Hebrew, which means, literally, "a bandage for a wound."

none understanding--none of the wisdom for which Edom was famed (see ) to extricate him from his perilous position.

in him--instead of "in thee." The change implies the alienation of God from Edom: Edom has so estranged himself from God, that He speaks now of him, not to him.