1 Kings 18:9 (ASV)

Passage

And he said, Wherein have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it thou, my lord Elijah?

1 Kings 18:8 And he answered him, It is I: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah [is here].

1 Kings 18:9 And he said, Wherein have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

1 Kings 18:10 As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

1 Kings 18:11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah [is here].

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "wherein", "sinned", "thou", "wouldest", "deliver", "servant", and "hand". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "wherein", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And he answered him It is I..." into verse 10's "As Jehovah thy God liveth there is...", so "said" and "wherein" belong inside that flow. In 1 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "wherein" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.