Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because he pursued his brother with the sword, And cast off all pity, And his anger raged continually, And he kept his wrath forever;
They were “his enemies,” and that, round about, encircling Israel, as hunters did their prey. “Edom,” on the south and southeast; “Moab” and “Ammon” on the east; the Syrians of “Zobah” on the north; the Philistines on the west enclosed him as in a net, and he repulsed them one by one. “Whichever why he turned, he worsted” them. It follows “he delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them” 1 Samuel 14:48. The aggression was from Edom, and that in combination with old oppressors of Israel, not from Saul . The wars of Saul and of David were defensive wars. Israel was recovering from a state of depression, not oppressing. “The valley of salt” 2 Samuel 8:13, where David defeated the Edomites, was also doubtless within the borders of Judah, since “the city of salt” was Joshua 15:62; and the valley of salt was probably near the remarkable “mountain of salt,” 5 56 miles long, near the end of the Dead Sea , which, as being Canaanite, belonged to Israel. It was also far north of Kadesh, which was “the utmost boundary” of Edom Numbers 20:16.