2 Kings 8:13

8:13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, who is as insignificant as a dog, accomplish this great military victory?” ¹  Elisha answered, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria.” ² 

2 Kings 8:1

Elisha Again Helps the Shunammite Woman

8:1 Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while, ³  for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years.”

2 Kings 19:15

19:15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubs! ⁴  You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky ⁵  and the earth.

¹ tn Heb “Indeed, what is your servant, a dog, that he could do this great thing?” With his reference to a dog, Hazael is not denying that he is a “dog” and protesting that he would never commit such a dastardly “dog-like” deed. Rather, as Elisha’s response indicates, Hazael is suggesting that he, like a dog, is too insignificant to ever be in a position to lead such conquests.

² tn Heb “The Lord has shown me you [as] king over Syria.”

³ tn Heb “Get up and go, you and your house, and live temporarily where you can live temporarily.”

⁴ sn This refers to the cherub images that were above the ark of the covenant.

⁵ tn Or “the heavens.”