And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
Obadiah feared that obeying Elijah's command to go to Ahab and announce that Elijah had appeared would expose him to death. His question about what he had sinned that he should be delivered into Ahab's hand to be slain expresses alarm at being placed in undeserved danger for no wrong done. He feared being blamed and punished with death despite his faithful service to Ahab. His fear rested on the expectation that Elijah might disappear before Ahab could find him, leaving Obadiah to face the consequences of a report that could not be verified.
The verse belongs to the account of Elijah's return during the drought to confront Ahab, a confrontation in which Elijah declares that Ahab himself, not Elijah, has troubled Israel. The danger Obadiah sensed reflects the peril surrounding Elijah's work at a time of widespread idolatry and famine in Israel.
After the later victory on Mount Carmel, Elijah himself fled from Jezebel's threats in weakness and weariness when his faith failed, cutting short the work he had begun.
Obadiah feared that obeying Elijah's command to go to Ahab and announce that Elijah had appeared would expose him to death. His question about what he had sinned that he should be delivered into Ahab's hand to be slain expresses alarm at being placed in undeserved danger for no wrong done. He feared being blamed and punished with death despite his faithful service to Ahab. His fear rested on the expectation that Elijah might disappear before Ahab could find him, leaving Obadiah to face the consequences of a report that could not be verified.
The verse belongs to the account of Elijah's return during the drought to confront Ahab, a confrontation in which Elijah declares that Ahab himself, not Elijah, has troubled Israel. The danger Obadiah sensed reflects the peril surrounding Elijah's work at a time of widespread idolatry and famine in Israel.
After the later victory on Mount Carmel, Elijah himself fled from Jezebel's threats in weakness and weariness when his faith failed, cutting short the work he had begun.