Hazael was the governor of Damascus.50The Gentile King of Aram had more interest in inquiring of Yahweh than Jehoram's predecessor did (v. 8; cf. 1:2). It was customary in the Near East to make a great show of giving gifts. It was also common to have one camel carry only one gift to make the present appear even greater.
Ben-Hadad would have recovered (v. 10) if Hazael had not murdered him (v. 15). Elisha probably knew Hazael would murder him. The prophet fixed his gaze steadily on Hazael perhaps hoping to embarrass him out of doing the deed (v. 11). Hazael evidently became ashamed because he felt Elisha could read his mind (v. 11). Hazael would be God's instrument of judgment on Israel (v. 12; cf. 1 Kings 19:15). He referred to himself humbly as a mere dog incapable of such a feat (v. 13). Hazael did come from lowly stock. On one Assyrian record Shalmaneser referred to him as "the son of a nobody."51
Like Saul, David, and Solomon, Hazael learned he would be king by special revelation from the Lord (v. 13). Whether this announcement accompanied Elisha's anointing by Elijah (1 Kings 19:15) or whether that took place at another time we do not know. Rather than waiting for God to place him on Aram's throne at the proper time, as David so admirably did, Hazael murdered Ben-Hadad. He did so in a manner that made it look as though the king had died of natural causes (v. 15).
Ben-Hadad II died in 841 B.C. and Hazael ruled from 841-801 B.C. during the reigns of Jehoram, Jehu, and Jehoahaz of Israel, and Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Joash of Judah.
The incidents in this Elisha narrative (2:1-8:15) give us many insights into Jehoram and his reign over Israel. Like Ahab and Ahaziah before him he had little regard for Yahweh. Consequently he did not enjoy much blessing from God personally, and Israel experienced severe discipline in the form of famines, invasions by foreign neighbors, and lack of influence. Nevertheless there were a few in Israel who remained faithful to the Lord including the prophets (about 7,000 individuals; 1 Kings 19:18).
The meanings of the miracles Elisha performed that I have suggested rest on standard principles of historical grammatical interpretation. I have sought to understand what the original readers of Kings would have seen these miracles as signifying. The meanings of the words in the text, the relationship of the miracle to its context, and the meaning of symbols as biblical and extrabiblical references reveal are key interpretive factors. Commentators differ, of course, in their understandings of these matters as well as the interpretive problems. However on the basis of the study I have done the views expressed above seem to me to be what these miracles signified when they occurred.53
