1 Kings 18:9 (GNV)

Passage

And he said, What haue I sinned, that thou wouldest deliuer thy seruant into the hande of Ahab, to slay me?

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Eliiah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art not thou my lord Eliiah?

1 Kings 18:8 And he answered him, Yea, goe tell thy lord, Behold, Eliiah is here.

1 Kings 18:9 And he said, What haue I sinned, that thou wouldest deliuer thy seruant into the hande of Ahab, to slay me?

1 Kings 18:10 As the Lord thy God liueth, there is no nation or kingdome, whither my lorde hath not sent to seeke thee: and when they sayd, He is not here, he tooke an othe of the kingdome and nation, if they had not found thee.

1 Kings 18:11 And now thou sayest, Goe, tell thy lorde, Beholde, Eliiah is here.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "haue", "sinned", "thou", "wouldest", "deliuer", "seruant", and "hande". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "haue", 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 Yea goe tell..." into verse 10's "As the Lord thy God liueth there...", so "said" and "haue" 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 "haue" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.