Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he could do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “Yahweh has shown me that you will be king over Syria.”
Parallel translations
- KJV And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.
- BSB “But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
- NKJV So Hazael said, “But what is your servant—a dog, that he should do this gross thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will become king over Syria.”
- NASB Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant—a lowly dog—that he could do this great thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
- NLT Hazael responded, “How could a nobody like me ever accomplish such great things?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you are going to be the king of Aram.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Hazael protests his lowliness, and Elisha declares he will be king of Syria. The prophecy announces his sudden rise to power.
Overview
Hazael feigns humility, calling himself 'but a dog,' yet Elisha reveals his coming kingship. The disclosure fulfills the commission given to Elijah to anoint a king over Aram. It exposes the ambition that will drive Hazael's treachery. The verse shows God directing even the rise of foreign rulers to accomplish His purposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Sam 17:43The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- 1 Kgs 19:15Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
- 2 Sam 9:8He bowed down, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look at such a dead dog as I am?”
- 2 Kgs 8:10Elisha said to him, “Go, tell him, ‘You will surely recover;’ however Yahweh has shown me that he will surely die.”
- Ps 22:20Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.
- Matt 7:6“Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
- Mic 2:1Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
- Ps 22:16For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
- Matt 26:33–35But Peter answered him, “Even if all will be made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble.”
- Jer 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?
- Phil 3:2Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.
- Isa 56:10–11His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
- Rev 22:15Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 8:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.