The phrase refers to Edom’s attitude and actions toward Judah in its calamity, described as looking on with joy and speaking proudly in the day of distress (Obadiah 1:12). Obadiah frames this as wrongdoing against a “brother,” tying it to Edom’s violence against Jacob (Obadiah 1:10).
Obadiah 1:12–14 lists a string of actions Edom is told not to do when Judah is being crushed. These verses sit inside the charge that Edom acted violently against “Jacob” during Jerusalem’s disaster (Obadiah 1:10–14). Verses 12–14 function as a catalogue: a rapid series of “don’t” statements describing what Edom did or was tempted to do.
Obadiah 1:12–14 presents a tightly packed list of forbidden actions connected to one historical crisis (“in the day of…”). The text portrays Edom as Judah’s “brother,” so the wrongdoing is not only political opportunism but betrayal of kinship obligations.
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Obadiah 1:12, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
12But don`t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don`t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don`t speak proudly in the day of distress.