Obadiah 1:11
“In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →On the day Jerusalem was plundered, Edom stood aloof and was counted as one of the enemy.
What Does Obadiah 1:11 Mean?
The prophet recalls the day enemies sacked Jerusalem, carrying off its people and casting lots to divide the spoil. Edom, the brother, did not help; she stood on the other side. By her detachment in that hour she was reckoned as one of the attackers, no different from the foreign plunderers.
Standing on the other side is itself an act. To watch a brother suffer and do nothing is to side with the harm. The verse confronts the reader with the guilt of passive complicity, the sin of looking on. Love that refuses to cross the road to help is exposed here as a kind of participation in the wrong.