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;
Edom’s overflowing sin that brought divine wrath down on its people was the way the Edomites had treated the Israelites. The Edomites had been very hostile to their "brother," Israel (cf. Genesis 25:29-30; Numbers 20:14; Deuteronomy 2:4; Deuteronomy 23:7; Obadiah 1:12). This hostility existed throughout the history of these two nations. This animosity even led the Edomites to attack the Israelites with the sword (cf. Obadiah 1:10). Consequently God would send destruction on Edom’s chief southern region and a prominent northern city, even on the whole land (a merism). Teman was both a village and a southern region in Edom, but here the region is probably in view. [Note: Niehaus, p. 352.] Bozrah was a northern city.