1 Kings 18:9

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 God’s providence was greater than Ahab’s malice, and effectually secured the prophet, notwithstanding all he could do.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Obadiah thinks that to execute this commission will be fatal to him 1Ki 18:12.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Kill me, as an impostor, or an accomplice of thy escape, if afterwards thou shouldst disappear, ver. 12. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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?

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver Heb. that thou art giving thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He said - Wherein have I offended God, and thee, that thou shouldest expose me to certain ruin.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

How have I sinned ... for him to kill me?

Obadiah asks this question to emphasize the danger to himself because of King Ahab's anger at Elijah. AT: "I have not wronged you ... for him to kill me." (See: Rhetorical Question)

give your servant into the hand of Ahab

"Hand" is metonymy for power and control. AT: "deliver your servant to Ahab" (See: Metonymy)

your servant

Obadiah refers to himself as Elijah's servant in order to honor Elijah.

As Yahweh your God lives

This is an oath used to emphasize that what he is saying is true.

there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent men

Here "no nation or kingdom" is an exaggeration that means that men have traveled very far and gone to many places to find Elijah. This can be expressed positively. AT: "my master has sent men to nations and kingdoms near and far" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization and Double Negatives)

Yet now

This phrase is used to emphasize the danger in what Elijah is telling Obadiah to do.

translationWords

sin

servant

hand

Ahab

Yahweh

God

nation

kingdom

send

oath

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

To kill me. As it [continues and] explains and states, “a wind from Adonoy will carry you away to where I do not know.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.