2 Kings 8:13

13 Hazael responded, “How could a nobody like me ever accomplish such great things?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you are going to be the king of Aram.”

2 Kings 8:13 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 8:13

And Hazael said, but what, [is] thy servant a dog, that he
should do this great thing?
&c.] What dost thou take me to be, a vile, impudent, fierce, and cruel creature, as a dog, to be guilty of so great inhumanity and barbarity as this? or what is thy servant? a dog, a mean abject creature, of no power and authority, incapable of doing such great things spoken of? to which sense not only what is predicted of him, said to be great, inclines, but what follows:

and Elisha answered, the Lord hath showed me that thou shall be king
over Syria;
and that thou shalt have power enough to do this; this declaration, according to Ben Gersom, was the anointing of him, predicted ( 1 Kings 19:15 ) .

2 Kings 8:13 In-Context

11 Elisha stared at Hazael with a fixed gaze until Hazael became uneasy. Then the man of God started weeping.

12 “What’s the matter, my lord?” Hazael asked him. Elisha replied, “I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women!”

13 Hazael responded, “How could a nobody like me ever accomplish such great things?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you are going to be the king of Aram.”

14 When Hazael left Elisha and went back, the king asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” And Hazael replied, “He told me that you will surely recover.”

15 But the next day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and held it over the king’s face until he died. Then Hazael became the next king of Aram.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew a dog.