7 Then Elisha came to Damascus . Now Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick , and it was told him, saying , " The man of God has come here e ." 8 The king said to Hazael , " Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God , and inquire of the Lord by him, saying , 'Will I recover from this sickness ?' " 9 So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand , even every kind of good thing of Damascus , forty camels' loads ; and he came and stood before him and said , " Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying , 'Will I recover from this sickness ?' " 10 Then Elisha said to him, " Go , say to him, 'You will surely recover ,' but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die ." 11 He fixed his gaze steadily on him until he was ashamed , and the man of God wept . 12 Hazael said , "Why does my lord weep ?" Then he answered , "Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel : their strongholds you will set on fire , and their young men you will kill with the sword , and their little ones you will dash in pieces , and their women with child you will rip up." 13 Then Hazael said , "But what is your servant , who is but a dog , that he should do this great thing ?" And Elisha answered , " The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram ." 14 So he departed from Elisha and returned to his master , who said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" And he answered , "He told me that you would surely recover ." 15 On the following day , he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face , so that he died . And Hazael became king in his place .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 8:7-15
Commentary on 2 Kings 8:7-15
(Read 2 Kings 8:7-15)
Among other changes of men's minds by affliction, it often gives other thoughts of God's ministers, and teaches to value the counsels and prayers of those whom they have hated and despised. It was not in Hazael's countenance that Elisha read what he would do, but God revealed it to him, and it fetched tears from his eyes: the more foresight men have, the more grief they are liable to. It is possible for a man, under the convictions and restraints of natural conscience, to express great abhorrence of a sin, yet afterwards to be reconciled to it. Those that are little and low in the world, cannot imagine how strong the temptations of power and prosperity are, which, if ever they arrive at, they will find how deceitful their hearts are, how much worse than they suspected. The devil ruins men, by saying they shall certainly recover and do well, so rocking them asleep in security. Hazael's false account was an injury to the king, who lost the benefit of the prophet's warning to prepare for death, and an injury to Elisha, who would be counted a false prophet. It is not certain that Hazael murdered his master, or if he caused his death it may have been without any design. But he was a dissembler, and afterwards proved a persecutor to Israel.