2 Kings 8:7-15
8:7 a Elisha’s freedom to visit Damascus demonstrated the great respect that even Israel’s enemies had for him. The visit fulfilled the commission originally given to Elijah (1 Kgs 19:15 b).8:8 c Will I recover? Cp. 1:2 d.
8:9 e forty camels with the finest products: Although gifts were not unusual when inquiring of a prophet (see 1 Sam 9:6-8 f), Ben-hadad’s gifts were lavish, testifying both to his wealth and to the esteem he had for Elisha.
8:10 g Elisha instructed Hazael to tell the king that he would surely recover because his illness was not life-threatening. Yet Elisha knew that Ben-hadad would surely die.
8:11 h Elisha started weeping because he foresaw the atrocities that Hazael would commit against God’s people when he became king (8:28 i; 9:14-15 j; 10:32-33 k; 12:17-18 l; 13:3 m, 22 n).
8:13 o a nobody like me: Literally a dog. As scavengers, dogs were held in low esteem in the ancient Near East. King Shalmaneser III of Assyria observed in his annals, “Hazael, son of a nobody, seized the throne.”
8:15 p Hazael became the next king of Aram: Although Hazael obediently delivered Elisha’s answer to Ben-hadad, the next day he hastened the fulfillment of Elisha’s prophecy by assassinating the king and taking the throne for himself. Perhaps Hazael falsely reasoned that the prophecy gave him a divine mandate.
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