Bible Strands
2 Kings 8:15
But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. So Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned in his place.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Hazael acts on the day after his interview with Elisha, covering the reigning king Ben-hadad with a soaked cloth to cause his death and secure his own accession. The words — הַ/מַּכְבֵּר֙ (ha./makh.Ber) = the coverlet and וַ/יִּפְרֹ֥שׂ (va/i.yif.Ros) = and he spread [it] out, describing the mechanical act of suffocation. The thread — The narrative of a servant usurping a throne through treachery echoes the pattern in 2 Kings 8:13 and finds a parallel in the sudden divine deliverance described in 1 Samuel 24:4. Why it lands — The text records a political assassination executed by a seemingly mundane object, demanding the reader recognize the fulfillment of prophecy through human violence rather than divine intervention.
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 it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 8:13 “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.”
- 1 Samuel 16:12 So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”
- 1 Samuel 24:4 So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you wish.’” Then David crept up and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
- 1 Samuel 24:13 As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand will never be against you.
- 1 Samuel 26:9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can extend a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”
- 1 Kings 11:26 Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon, but he rebelled against the king,
- 1 Kings 15:28 In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha killed Nadab and reigned in his place.
- 1 Kings 16:10 So in the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri went in, struck Elah down, and killed him. And Zimri reigned in his place.
- 1 Kings 16:18 When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the royal palace and burned it down upon himself. So he died
- 1 Kings 19:15 Then the LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram.