2 Kings 8:11

11 Elisha then stared hard at Hazael, reading his heart. Hazael felt exposed and dropped his eyes. Then the Holy Man wept.

2 Kings 8:11 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 8:11

And he settled his countenance steadfastly
Refrained himself as much as possible, that he might not weep, as some Jewish writers interpret it; or, as others, he turned his face on one side, and covered it with his hands, that Hazael might not see him weep; or rather he set his face on Hazael, and looked at him so wistly:

until he was ashamed;
that is, Hazael; the prophet looked him out of countenance:

and the man of God wept;
at the thought of what calamities the man before him, he looked on, would be the cause of in Israel, as the following words show.

2 Kings 8:11 In-Context

9 Hazael went and met with Elisha. He brought with him every choice thing he could think of from Damascus - forty camel-loads of items! When he arrived he stood before Elisha and said, "Your son Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, sent me here to ask you, 'Am I going to recover from this sickness?'"

10 Elisha answered, "Go and tell him, 'Don't worry; you'll live.' The fact is, though - God showed me - that he's doomed to die."

11 Elisha then stared hard at Hazael, reading his heart. Hazael felt exposed and dropped his eyes. Then the Holy Man wept.

12 Hazael said, "Why does my master weep?" "Because," said Elisha, "I know what you're going to do to the children of Israel: burn down their forts, murder their youth, smash their babies, rip open their pregnant women."

13 Hazael said, "Am I a mongrel dog that I'd do such a horrible thing?" "God showed me," said Elisha, "that you'll be king of Aram."