1 Kings 18:9
in 1 Kings 18But Obadiah replied, “How have I sinned, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Wherein have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
KJV
And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
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This verse in 1 Kings 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Is it you, my lord Elijah
on 1 Kings 18:7-14
Obadiah's long protest measures Elijah's standing, since Ahab has searched every “nation or kingdom” and made each swear “that they had not found you”. He fears that “the Spirit of the LORD may carry you off”, leaving him to face the king alone. The text gives his fear six verses.
This site's exposition
How have I sinned
Obadiah calls himself the servant of Elijah, yet he runs the palace of Ahab. Charles Spurgeon calls him a quiet believer, true and steadfast, in a very hard place at court. The errand sets his two loyalties against each other.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Art thou he that troubleth Israel--A violent altercation took place. Ahab thought to awe him into submission, but the prophet boldly and undisguisedly told the king that the national calamity was traceable chiefly to his own and his family's patronage and practice of idolatry. But, while rebuking the sins, Elijah paid all due respect to the high rank of the offender.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Obadiah thinks that to execute this commission will be fatal to him 1Ki 18:12.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
That they did not find you. For the nation was unable to find you. 2 Below v.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֖אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מֶ֣ה | meh | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| חָטָ֑אתִי | chatati | have I sinned | H2398 → | 238 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתָּ֞ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| נֹתֵ֧ן | noten | [are] giving | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֛ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| בְּיַד־ | beyad- | in [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אַחְאָ֖ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| לַהֲמִיתֵֽנִי׃ | lahamiteni | to put to death me | H4191 → | 839 times |
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מֶ֣הwhat?
mehH4100 →752 times
חָטָ֑אתִיhave I sinned
chatatiH2398 →238 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אַתָּ֞הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
נֹתֵ֧ן[are] giving
notenH5414 →2011 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַבְדְּךָ֛servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
בְּיַד־in [the] hand of
beyad-H3027 →1618 times
אַחְאָ֖בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
לַהֲמִיתֵֽנִי׃to put to death me
lahamiteniH4191 →839 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 17:18“O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”
it leads to
- Luke 5:8
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
- 2 Kings 3:13
Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for…
- John 2:4
“Woman, why does this concern us?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
- Luke 4:34
“Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
- Luke 5:8
Through
1 Kings 18:12I do not know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you off when I leave you. Then when I go and tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 2:16
“Look now,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty valiant men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and put…
- Acts 8:39
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.
- Ezekiel 8:3
He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God…
- 2 Kings 2:16
Through
Exodus 5:21“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill…
it leads to
- Genesis 34:30
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if…
- Genesis 34:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 584: “A Hearer In Disguise” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil, The Books of the Kings.