Hazael  said,  But  what,  is  thy  sen-ant  a  dog,  that  he  should
do  this   great  thing?     And    Elisha  answered,    The    Lord

14  hath  shewed  me  t/iat  thou  shalt  be  king  over  Syria.  So  he
departed  from  Elisha,  and  came  to  his  master ;  who  said  to
him.   What  said   Elisha  to  thee?     And  he  answered.    He

15  told  me  that  thou  shouldest  surely  recover.  And  it  came
to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that  he  took  a  thick  cloth,  and  dipt
//  in  water,  and  spread  it  on  his  face,  so  that  he  died:
and  Hazael  reigned  in  his  stead.
hints  of  it  are  found.  In  x.  32  it  is  said  'Hazael  smote  them  in  all  the
coasts  of  Israel',  and  in  xiii.  3  we  read  'the  Lord  delivered  Israel  into
the  hand  of  Hazael',  and  in  verse  22  of  that  chapter  'Hazael  king  of
Syria  oppressed  Israel  all  the  days  of  Jehoahaz'.  The  special  instances
of  cruelty  mentioned  in  this  verse  were  those  perpetrated  among  all  the
Eastern  nations  of  Hazael's  time,  and  examples  are  to  be  found  in
several  places  in  Scripture.  Cf.  Is.  xiii.  15,  16;  Hosea  x.  13;  xiii.  16;
Nahum  iii.  10.
