(obadiah (pronounced /ˌoʊbəˈdaɪ.ə/, hebrew: עובדיה ʿOvadyah or עבדיהו ʿOvadyahu, or in modern hebrew Ovadyah; “slave of god”) is a biblical theophorical name, meaning “servant of god” or “worshipper of yah”)
The form of Obadiah’s name used in the Septuagint is Obdios; in Latin it is Abdias. The Bishops’ Bible has it as Abdi.
“the political situation implied in the prophecy points to a time after the Exile, probably in the mid-fifth century B.C. no value can be attributed to traditions identifying this prophet with King Ahab’s steward (… so Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 39b) or with King Ahaziah’s captain (… so pseudo-epiphanius…)”
– the Interpreters’ Bible
(according to the talmud, obadiah is said to have been a convert to judaism from edom, a descendant of eliphaz, the friend of job)
(he is identified with the obadiah who was the servant of ahab, and it is said that he was chosen to prophesy against Edom because he was himself an edomite)
Moreover, having lived with two such godless persons as Ahab and Jezebel without learning to act as they did, he seemed the most suitable person to prophesy against Esau (Edom).
Obadiah is supposed to have received the gift of prophecy for having hidden the “hundred prophets” (1 Kings 18:4) from the persecution of Jezebel.
(he hid the prophets in two caves, so that if those in one cave should be discovered those in the other might yet escape (1 kings 18:3-4))
(obadiah was very rich, but all his wealth was expended in feeding the poor prophets, until, in order to be able to continue to support them, finally he had to borrow money at interest from Ahab’s son jehoram)
(obadiah’s fear of god was one degree higher than that of abraham; and if the house of ahab had been capable of being blessed, it would have been blessed for obadiah’s sake)