Hazael Murders Ben-hadad

Elisha comes to Damascus during Ben-hadad’s illness, and the king sends Hazael with gifts to ask whether he will recover. Elisha says Hazael should report recovery, though the LORD has shown that the king will in fact die.

T⁷hen Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.” ⁸So 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?’” ⁹So 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?’” ¹⁰Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that in fact he will die.”

Elisha fixes his gaze on Hazael and begins to weep. When Hazael asks why, Elisha names the harm he will do to Israel, and Hazael recoils at the picture of such violence.

¹¹Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep. ¹²“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. ¹³“But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael.

Hazael returns to Ben-hadad and reports only the favorable part of Elisha’s message. The next day he suffocates the king and takes his place.

¹⁴So Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” ¹⁵And he replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.” But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face.