2 Kings 8:10

ELISHA'S ANSWER TO BENHADAD THROUGH HAZAEL

"And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him. Thou shalt surely recover; howbeit Jehovah hath showed me that he shall surely die. And he settled his countenance stedfastly upon him, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept. And Hazael said, Why weepeth my Lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child. And Hazael said, But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, Jehovah hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria."

We find some of the comments scholars have made about this reply of Elisha to the question of Benhadad very disgusting. Snaith declared that, "The purpose of the oracle (the prophecy) was to lure Benhadad into false confidence," and that, "Elisha at once took steps to insure the death of Benhadad."[15] "Some even attribute Hazael's foul crime to Elisha's instigation."[16] Such opinions are wrong and sinful.

Harold Stigers gives us the proper understanding of what is written here. "Thou mayest certainly recover (2 Kings 8:10). This means, Go, say to the king, as you have already intended to do, `Thou shalt surely live'; however, the Lord has shown me that he shall surely die (by your hand)."[17]

The very thing overlooked by those who miss the true interpretation here is, that Elisha did NOT say that, "Jehovah says the king will recover," because the Lord did not say that, nor did Elisha declare that God did say it. He merely told Hazael, the cruel assassin who stood in front of him, "Go ahead and assure him of his recovery as you have already decided to do, but God has revealed to me that HE WILL DIE." Those who speak of the prophet's "apparent lie" in this passage have simply failed to read what is written.

The prophet gave only one answer to Benhadad through Hazael, namely, that he would die, but Hazael concealed that answer from Benhadad, and then went ahead and lied to him about his recovery just exactly as Elisha had said he would do. The proof of this is evident in the shame of Hazael as he could not stand before the withering gaze of God's prophet. "Elisha's fixed gaze upon Hazael surely revealed to Hazael that his guilty purpose of usurping Benhadad's throne was certainly known to Elisha."[18]

Hazael lied to his lord, promising him recovery, when Elisha had plainly told him, "Thus saith the Lord, he shall surely DIE." The promise of recovery was never a part of what the Lord said through Elisha. That lie originated entirely in the evil heart of Hazael, as detected and exposed by Elisha.

"I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel" (2 Kings 8:12). The terrible crimes mentioned here, which Elisha stated that Hazael would commit, were in no sense offensive to that evil usurper. Hazael even referred to them as "a great thing" (2 Kings 8:13).

"What is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing" (2 Kings 8:13). "Hazael here should not have maligned the more noble brute than himself (the dog), suggesting that any creature except man was capable of such villainy."[19] This remark by Hazael should not be misunderstood. He was merely saying that he was only a SLAVE of Benhadad and that he had no power to do such things as Elisha had mentioned. Then Elisha plainly told him of the Divine prophecy of his accession to the throne of Syria.

The horrible atrocities which Elisha here prophesied would mark Hazael's actions against Israel are very similar to those terrible deeds mentioned by Amos in the first two chapters of his prophecy. Such deeds were characteristic of the warfare of all nations in that era; and we might add that, even today, there is no such thing as a "kind" war.