Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 18:9
And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
9. What [R.V. wherein ] have I sinned ] Obadiah’s fear is very natural. He is asked to carry a message to Ahab, which another disappearance of Elijah may make to seem untrue. He thinks in his alarm that the prophet does not know how great a friend he has been to the cause of Jehovah’s servants, and so asks why his life should be put in jeopardy who had done so much to save the lives of the prophets.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Obadiah thinks that to execute this commission will be fatal to him 1Ki 18:12.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
What have I sinned? wherein have I so offended God and thee, that thou shouldst inflict this punishment upon me, and expose me to certain ruin by this means?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said, what have I sinned,…. Or in what have I offended God or his prophet, that revenge should be taken on me in this way:
that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me? for that he supposed would be the consequence of it, as he argues and more plainly expresses his sense in the following words.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
9. What have I sinned For Obadiah to announce the presence of Elijah to Ahab would, in his judgment, expose him to the suspicion that he had concealed him during all these years of famine, and thus draw down on him the wrath of the king and queen a fate to which he deserved not to be exposed. It appears also, from 1Ki 18:12, that this pious Israelite had a superstitious fear of Elijah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 18:9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
Ver. 9. Into the hand of Ahab, to slay me, ] sc., For not laying hands on thee, to bring thee unto him, for whom he had so long, so anxiously sought.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
What. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
wouldest deliver = art giving.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
What have I sinned: 1Ki 18:12, 1Ki 17:18, Exo 5:21
Reciprocal: 1Sa 16:2 – How can I go 2Ki 4:16 – do not lie Act 9:13 – Lord
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 18:9-10. What have I sinned, &c. Wherein have I so offended God, and thee his prophet, that thou shouldest inflict this punishment upon me, and thus expose me to certain ruin? For that he concluded would be the effect of such a message delivered by him to Ahab, as he shows by what follows. There is no nation or kingdom, &c. Namely, near to his own, where he could in reason think Elijah had hid himself. We must often understand general expressions with such limitations. He took an oath of the kingdom and nation, &c. Such was the inveteracy and eagerness with which Ahab sought Elijah, that he was not content with merely sending messengers throughout his own and the neighbouring kingdoms to seek him, but even required an oath of the chief persons in each kingdom, (having obtained the consent of the ruling powers therein for that purpose,) that they did not know any thing of him; and probably further, that they would immediately deliver him up, if they should find that he had come among them. But Gods providence was greater than Ahabs malice, and effectually secured the prophet, notwithstanding all he could do.