Ovadia is the prophet to whom tradition attributes the book bearing his name, the fourth of the Twelve Minor Prophets, between Amos and Yonah. It is the shortest book in the Tanakh: a single chapter of twenty-one verses, a vision foretelling the downfall of Edom, which had stood aside on the day of Israel's calamity. The book is read as the haftarah of Parashat Vayishlach. The date of the prophecy is debated; Jewish tradition places it in the time of the prophet Eliyahu.

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 39b) identifies the prophet with Ovadia, the steward of King Achav's household, of whom the Book of Kings says that he "feared the Lord greatly." According to Rabbi Yitzchak, he merited prophecy because when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, he hid a hundred of them, fifty to a cave, and fed them bread and water. Rabbi Abba teaches that the praise said of Ovadia is greater than that said of Avraham: of Avraham the verse says "you fear God," while of Ovadia it adds "greatly."

The Talmud further states that Ovadia was a convert of Edomite origin, which is why he was chosen to prophesy against Edom; Rabbi Yitzchak explains that Ovadia, who lived between two wicked people, Achav and Jezebel, without learning from their deeds, was sent against Esav, who lived between two righteous people, Yitzchak and Rivkah, without learning from theirs. The Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 31:3) relates that he spent his entire fortune feeding the hidden prophets.

According to an old tradition, Ovadia is buried in Sebastia, in Samaria, at the same site as the prophet Elisha; a Crusader cathedral, today the Nabi Yahya mosque, was built over these tombs.