Bible Strands
2 Kings 8:12
“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Hazael questions Elisha’s tears immediately after the prophet’s steady gaze unsettles him. Elisha responds by stating he knows the specific violence Hazael will inflict on Israel.
The words — The term מַדּ֖וּעַ (ma.Du.a') translates to “why?” as Hazael asks about the prophet’s weeping. Elisha’s declaration יָדַ֡עְתִּי (ya.Da'.ti) means “I know,” grounding his reply in direct revelation rather than conjecture.
The thread — The imagery of infants dashed to pieces and military slaughter recurs in Hosea 13:16, Nahum 3:10, and 2 Kings 15:16. These references trace a consistent biblical pattern of covenant judgment carried out through brutal conquest.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that prophetic grief accompanies announced judgment, not as sentimental reaction but as witnessed certainty. It forces confrontation with the historical reality of covenant consequences without mitigating the described violence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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 strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.
Cross-references
- Hosea 13:16 Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- Nahum 3:10 Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.
- 2 Kings 15:16 At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
- 2 Kings 12:17 At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 13:3 So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.
- Isaiah 13:16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
- Amos 1:13 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory.
- 2 Kings 13:7 Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
- 2 Kings 10:32 In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory
- Isaiah 13:18 Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children.