Obadiah (VIII)

VIII. OBADIAH, the Prophet. He foretold the Return from the Captivity in these Terms according to the Vulgate. The Army of the Children of Israel, who had been transplanted out of their own Country, shall possess all the Land of the Canaanites as far as Sarepta, and the Cities of the South shall be in Subjection to those that had been carried away from Jerusalem as far as the Bosphorus. The Hebrew [and English Translation] read it thus: The Captivity of this Host of the Children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites even unto Zarephath; and the Captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad shall possess the Cities of the South. Some Hebrews by the Name of Canaanites here understand Germany, and France by the Name of Zarephath, and Spain by the Name of Sepharad. The Jew that taught St. Jerom the Hebrew Tongue, by the Name of Sepharad, understood the Bosphorus, which he connected with the Preposition Be, signifying within, and made but one Word of them. But it will be better to follow the Reading of the Septuagint. The Israelites¹ at their Return from the Captivity shall possess the Land of the Canaanites, or of the Phenicians, as far as the City of Sarepta, which was near to Tyre and Sidon, the Capital of Phenicia. And the Captives that should return to Jerusalem shall possess the Country that reaches from Ephrata towards the South of the Land of Promise.

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