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Commentary on 2 Kings 8 verses 7–15
Here, I. We may enquire what brought Elisha to Damascus, the chief city of Syria. Was he sent to any but the lost sheep of the house of Israel? It seems he was. Perhaps he went to pay a visit to Naaman his convert, and to confirm him in his choice of the true religion, which was the more needful now because, it should seem, he was not out of his place (for Hazael is supposed to be captain of that host); either he resigned it or was turned out of it, because he would not bow, or not bow heartily, in the house of Rimmon. Some think he went to Damascus upon account of the famine, or rather he went thither in obedience to the orders God gave Elijah, Kg1 19:15, "Go to Damascus to anoint Hazael, thou, or thy successor."
II. We may observe that Ben-hadad, a great king, rich and mighty, lay sick. No honour, wealth, or power, will secure men from the common diseases and disasters of human life; palaces and thrones lie as open to the arrests of sickness and death as the meanest cottage.
III. We may wonder that the king of Syria, in his sickness, should make Elisha his oracle.
1.Notice was soon brought him that the man of God (for by that title he was well known in Syria since he cured Naaman) had come to Damascus, Kg2 8:7. "Never in better time," says Ben-hadad. "Go, and enquire of the Lord by him." In his health he bowed in the house of Rimmon, but now that he is sick he distrusts his idol, and sends to enquire of the God of Israel. Affliction brings those to God who in their prosperity had made light of him; sometimes sickness opens men's eyes and rectifies their mistakes. This is the more observable, (1.) Because it was not long since a king of Israel had, in his sickness, sent to enquire of the god of Ekron (Kg2 1:2), as if there had been no God in Israel. Note, God sometimes fetches to himself that honour from strangers which is denied him and alienated from him by his own professing people. (2.) Because it was not long since this Ben-hadad had sent a great force to treat Elisha as an enemy (Kg2 6:14), yet now he courts him as a prophet. Note, Among other instances of the change of men's minds by sickness and affliction, this is one, that it often gives them other thoughts of God's ministers, and teaches them to value the counsels and prayers of those whom they had hated and despised.
2.To put an honour upon the prophet, (1.) He sends to him, and does not send for him, as if, with the centurion, he thought himself not worthy that the man of God should come under his roof. (2.) He sends to him by Hazael, his prime-minister of state, and not by a common messenger. It is no disparagement to the greatest of men to attend the prophets of the Lord. Hazael must go and meet him at a place where he had appointed a meeting with his friends. (3.) He sends him a noble present, of every good thing of Damascus, as much as loaded forty camels (Kg2 8:9), testifying hereby his affection to the prophet, bidding him welcome to Damascus, and providing for his sustenance while he sojourned there. It is probable that Elisha accepted it (why should he not?), though he refused Naaman's. (4.) He orders Hazael to call him his son Ben-hadad, conforming to the language of Israel, who called the prophets fathers. (5.) He puts an honour upon him as one acquainted with the secrets of heaven, when he enquires of him, Shall I recover? It is natural to us to desire to know things to come in time, while things to come in eternity are little thought of or enquired after.
IV. What passed between Hazael and Elisha is especially remarkable.
1.Elisha answered his enquiry concerning the king, that he might recover, the disease was not mortal, but that he should die another way (Kg2 8:10), not a natural but a violent death. There are many ways out of the world, and sometimes, while men think to avoid one, they fall by another.
2.He looked Hazael in the face with an unusual concern, till he made Hazael blush and himself weep, Kg2 8:11. The man of God could outface the man of war. It was not in Hazael's countenance that Elisha read what he would do, but God did, at this time, reveal it to him, and it fetched tears from his eyes. The more foresight men have the more grief they are liable to.
3.When Hazael asked him why he wept he told him what a great deal of mischief he foresaw he would do to the Israel of God (Kg2 8:12), what desolations he would make of their strong-holds, and barbarous destruction of their men, women, and children. The sins of Israel provoked God to give them up into the hands of their cruel enemies, yet Elisha wept to think that ever Israelites should be thus abused; for, though he foretold, he did not desire the woeful day. See what havock war makes, what havock sin makes, and how the nature of man is changed by the fall, and stripped even of humanity itself.
4.Hazael was greatly surprised at this prediction (Kg2 8:13): What, says he, Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? This great thing he looks upon to be, (1.) An act of great power, not to be done but by a crowned head. "It must be some mighty potentate that can think to prevail thus against Israel, and therefore not I." Many are raised to that dominion which they never thought of and it often proves to their own hurt, Ecc 8:9. (2.) An act of great barbarity, which could not be done but by one lost to all honour and virtue: "Therefore," says he, "it is what I shall never find in my heart to be guilty of: Is thy servant a dog, to rend, and tear, and devour? Unless I were a dog, I could not do it." See here, [1.] What a bad opinion he had of the sin; he looked upon it to be great wickedness, fitter for a brute, for a beast of prey, to do than a man. Note, It is possible for a wicked man, under the convictions and restraints of natural conscience, to express great abhorrence of a sin, and yet afterwards to be well reconciled to it. [2.] What a good opinion he had of himself, how much better than he deserved; he thought it impossible he should do such barbarous things as the prophet foresaw. Note, We are apt to think ourselves sufficiently armed against those sins which yet we are afterwards overcome by, as Peter, Mat 26:35.
5.In answer to this Elisha only told him he should be king over Syria; then he would have power to do it, and then he would find in his heart to do it. Honours change men's tempers and manners, and seldom for the better: "Thou knowest not what thou wilt do when thou comest to be king, but I tell thee this thou wilt do." Those that are little and low in the world cannot imagine how strong the temptations of power and prosperity are, and, if ever they arrive at them, they will find how deceitful their hearts were and how much worse than they suspected.
V. What mischief Hazael did to his master hereupon. If he took any occasion to do it from what Elisha had said the fault was in him, not in the word. 1. He basely cheated his master, and belied the prophet (Kg2 8:14): He told me thou shouldst certainly recover. This was abominably false; he told him he should die (Kg2 8:10), but he unfairly and unfaithfully concealed that, either because he was loth to put the king out of humour with bad news or because hereby he might the more effectually carry on that bloody design which he conceived when he was told he should be his successor. The devil ruins men by telling them they shall certainly recover and do well, so rocking them asleep in security, than which nothing is more fatal. This was an injury to the king, who lost the benefit of this warning to prepare for death, and an injury to Elisha, who would be counted a false prophet. 2. He barbarously murdered his master, and so made good the prophet's word, Kg2 8:15. He dipped a thick cloth in cold water, and spread it upon his face, under pretence of cooling and refreshing him, but so that it stopped his breath, and stifled him presently, he being weak (and not able to help himself) or perhaps asleep: such a bubble is the life of the greatest of men, and so much exposed are princes to violence. Hazael, who was Ben-hadad's confidant, was his murderer, and some think, was not suspected, nor did the truth ever come out but by the pen of this inspired historian. We found this haughty monarch (1 Kings 20) the terror of the mighty in the land of the living, but he goes down slain to the pit with his iniquity upon his bones, Eze 32:27.
“Elisha went to Damascus while King Ben-hadad was ill.” His illness had derived from his unhappiness. For he had been deeply afflicted by the fact that, in the war of Samaria, his armies had been defeated and that, at the same time, his people had been chased from the city when he had hoped that his victory would occur immediately. His entire army had fled and sunk into shame and dishonor, and he was troubled in his mind because of this. In addition, the anguish of his thoughts was due to something that was not responsible for his fall: he had been deceived in believing that a countless and powerful army would march against him, whereas it was later shown that there was no army at all to oppress him.Therefore the king, when he heard of the coming of Elisha, sent Hazael, one of his noble men, to meet him. He ordered him to persuade the prophet to take care of his healing, and since he thought that this request must be accompanied with gifts and offerings, according to secular customs, he sent him, through his ambassador, all sorts of goods from Damascus and forty camels. But certainly the prophets refused, just as Elisha had refused and had not accepted the offerings of Naaman, the Aramean.
“Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover;’ but the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die.” These were the words of Elisha to the king, who asked him, “Will I live after this illness?” But it seems that they do not agree with the truth of the events, and not even with each other. However, after the words reported above in the story of the prophet Micah, it is evident that they do not cancel each other out or contradict each other. In fact, both prophets answer in the same manner, and the words of their reply pursue the same aim in the fact that they announce to their interlocutor good and death at the same time. But in the reply of Micah a particular aspect must be considered, that is, the fact that Ahab could not escape from death, because he so ardently and savagely wanted to go to the war, which was the real cause of his fall.But the case of Ben-hadad is quite different: it would have been easy for him to get rid of his illness, because it was not serious or fatal. He would have recovered from his illness, as Elisha had said to him and as Ben-Hadad had asked him by saying, “Will I live after my illness?” However, he died in a natural course but by a hostile means: he was misled by Hazael, his ambassador, the one who spread the bed cover on his master, killed him and reigned in his place, as Elisha had predicted.
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SUMMARY
This verse records the pivotal moment when Hazael, an officer of King Ben-Hadad of Aram, returns from his encounter with the prophet Elisha and delivers a meticulously crafted, deceptive report to his ailing master. This verse captures Hazael's calculated omission of Elisha's dire prophecy that Ben-Hadad would die by Hazael's own hand, choosing instead to relay only the reassuring news of the king's recovery from his illness. This act of dissimulation immediately precedes Hazael's violent usurpation of the throne, setting in motion the grim fulfillment of divine foreknowledge and starkly illustrating the dangerous interplay of human ambition, treachery, and the manipulation of truth.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The narrative of 2 Kings 8:14 masterfully employs several literary devices to heighten its dramatic tension and thematic impact. Dramatic Irony is profoundly evident, as the reader is privy to the full, chilling scope of Elisha's prophecy to Hazael (detailed in 2 Kings 8:10-13), while King Ben-Hadad remains tragically unaware of the impending doom and his trusted officer's treacherous intentions. This creates a powerful tension, as the audience anticipates the inevitable and grim fulfillment of the prophecy. Foreshadowing is also powerfully at play; Hazael's immediate act of calculated deception in this verse strongly hints at the more violent and treacherous actions he will undertake in the very next verse (2 Kings 8:15). The stark Contrast between Elisha's full, nuanced, and divinely revealed prophecy and Hazael's truncated, self-serving report underscores the pervasive theme of deception and highlights Hazael's manipulative and ruthless character. Furthermore, the scene functions as a Peripeteia or turning point, as Hazael's decision to deceive marks his decisive step towards fulfilling the dark prophecy and seizing power, irrevocably altering the course of events for both Aram and Israel.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
2 Kings 8:14 profoundly illustrates the complex tension between divine foreknowledge and human free will, particularly in the context of sin and moral responsibility. God, through His prophet Elisha, reveals a future event—Ben-Hadad's death and Hazael's ascent to power—that involves human agency and wicked intent. This revelation does not imply divine causation or endorsement of Hazael's evil; rather, it demonstrates God's sovereign knowledge and His ability to incorporate even human sin into His overarching purposes, without diminishing human accountability. Hazael's deliberate deception underscores the destructive nature of falsehood and the insidious power of partial truths to manipulate and betray. It serves as a stark reminder that unchecked ambition, fueled by deceit, inevitably leads to violence, moral decay, and tragic consequences. The narrative also highlights the inherent vulnerability of those in positions of power to betrayal, especially when trust is misplaced. Ultimately, this passage affirms God's ultimate sovereignty over the affairs of nations and individuals, demonstrating that His plans will prevail regardless of human machinations, even the darkest and most treacherous intentions.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The chilling account of Hazael's calculated deception in 2 Kings 8:14 offers profound and enduring lessons for our lives today. It serves as a powerful warning against the seductive allure of ambition that compromises integrity and the grave dangers inherent in wielding partial truths. In a world saturated with information and often rife with misinformation, discerning truth from manipulation is more critical than ever. We are called to cultivate a spirit of unwavering honesty and transparency, recognizing that even subtle omissions, convenient silences, or artful distortions can lead to devastating consequences, both for ourselves and for those within our sphere of influence. Hazael's story reminds us that while God's sovereign plan unfolds, our choices remain our profound responsibility, and we are held accountable for the integrity of our words and the righteousness of our actions. It challenges us to examine our own hearts for any seeds of self-serving ambition or a willingness to compromise the truth for personal gain. Instead, we are encouraged to pursue righteousness and truthfulness in all our dealings, trusting that God's way, though sometimes challenging and demanding, is always the path to genuine life, lasting blessing, and true flourishing.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did Elisha tell Hazael that Ben-Hadad would recover if he knew he would die?
Answer: Elisha's statement in 2 Kings 8:10 is crucial for understanding this apparent paradox. He actually delivered a nuanced, two-part prophecy to Hazael: "Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die." Elisha clarified that Ben-Hadad's illness itself was not fatal, and he would indeed recover from it. However, God had also revealed to Elisha that Ben-Hadad's ultimate demise would come by other means—specifically, through Hazael's hand. Hazael's profound deception in 2 Kings 8:14 was in reporting only the first, comforting part ("thou shouldest surely recover") and deliberately omitting the second, critical part about the king's ultimate, violent demise. Elisha delivered the full, divinely revealed truth, but Hazael chose to manipulate it for his own treacherous purposes.
Does this passage imply that God caused or approved of Hazael's wicked actions?
Answer: No, the passage does not imply that God caused or approved of Hazael's wickedness. Instead, it powerfully demonstrates God's foreknowledge and sovereignty. God, through Elisha, revealed what Hazael would do, not what God made him do. Hazael's actions were a direct result of his own free will, unchecked ambition, and sinful choices. The Bible consistently teaches that God is holy and does not tempt anyone to evil (James 1:13). However, God is sovereign over all human affairs, meaning He knows all things, and He can even permit and use the wicked choices of humanity to accomplish His ultimate, righteous purposes, without Himself being the author or approver of evil. This is a complex theological point, but it highlights God's ability to work His will and bring about His plans even amidst human sin and rebellion, as seen in other biblical narratives like the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers, which Joseph himself later affirmed was intended for good by God (Genesis 50:20).
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The narrative of Hazael's deception and his ascent to power through treachery, though divinely foretold by Elisha, finds its ultimate contrast and profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Hazael embodied the deceitful, self-serving ambition that leads to death and destruction, seizing an earthly kingdom through manipulation and violence. In stark and glorious contrast, Jesus is the very embodiment of truth, declaring, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). While Hazael employed partial truths to orchestrate a king's demise and seize power, Jesus came to expose all darkness and usher in eternal life, not through manipulation or force, but through self-sacrificial love and perfect obedience. The divine foreknowledge demonstrated through Elisha's prophecy points forward to the countless prophecies meticulously fulfilled in Christ, revealing God's perfectly orchestrated plan for salvation from eternity past (Ephesians 1:4). Unlike Hazael, who brought suffering, devastation, and a reign of terror, Jesus, the true and eternal King, establishes His kingdom not by earthly might or deceit, but by humbly laying down His life, conquering sin and death on the cross, and offering reconciliation to all who believe (Colossians 1:13-14). He is the sovereign Lord who truly recovers us from our spiritual illness and ultimately delivers us from the bondage of sin and death, not by a partial truth, but by the full, glorious, and life-giving truth of His resurrection (Romans 6:4) and His triumphant reign.