Elisha weeps over Hazael’s future violence
Divided Kingdom · Draft · BSB
Content revision: d9ff800d8799c873 · No editorial review date recorded
Date: Aram · Hazael succeeds Ben-hadad
At Damascus, Hazael consults Elisha about the sick Ben-hadad. Elisha knows that Hazael will become king and weeps over the suffering he will inflict on Israel. Hazael then kills Ben-hadad with a wet cloth and succeeds him.
Elisha distinguishes an illness from which the king could recover from the death he foresees. His knowledge of Hazael’s future is not approval of the murder or atrocities. The tears are part of the account’s response to the coming violence.
Primary Scripture
8:7 Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”
8:8 So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand, go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
8:9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camel loads of every good thing from Damascus. And he went in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
8:10 Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that in fact he will die.”
8:11 Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.
8:12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”
8:13 “But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
8:14 So Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.”
8:15 But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. So Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned in his place.
Related Scripture
The commission at Horeb anticipated Hazael’s kingship and its place in coming judgment.
Location evidence
Damascus is identified, but the royal sickroom and the place of Elisha’s conversation are unknown.
Event map marker: Identified site; [longitude, latitude] = [36.30639, 33.511112]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Damascus: Identified site. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [36.30639, 33.511112]. Classification source: editorial.
OpenBible.info: Damascus (CC BY 4.0)
OpenBible.info: Damascus (CC BY 4.0)
For the class
How does Elisha’s grief affect the way we read the prediction of Hazael’s rise?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: editorial (content/authored/divided-kingdom.json)
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm