Hazael

What we know — and how we know it

Oren Rozen — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) ArchaeologyHazael is named in the Assyrian annals of Shalmaneser III, and most scholars hold he is the king who raised the Tel Dan Stele boasting of killing kings of Israel and 'the house of David'.

Tel Dan Stele, excavated at Tel Dan by A. Biran (1993–94), Israel Museum, Jerusalem; published Biran & Naveh, "An Aramaic Stele Fragment from Tel Dan", Israel Exploration Journal 43 (1993) and "The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment", IEJ 45 (1995). Hazael named in the annals of Shalmaneser III (Grayson, Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Assyrian Periods vol. 3 [RIMA 3], University of Toronto Press, 1996, A.0.102)

Where in scripture

Family

In their own words — 4 recorded sayings

“So Hazael went to see him, taking with him forty camels with offerings on their backs of every sort of good thing from Damascus; and when he came before him, he said, Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, Will I get better from this disease?” — 2 Kings 8:9

“And Hazael said, Why is my lord weeping? Then he said in answer, Because I see the evil which you will do to the children of Israel: burning down their strong towns, putting their young men to death with the sword, smashing their little ones against the stones, and cutting open the women who are with child.” — 2 Kings 8:12

“And Hazael said, How is it possible that your servant, who is only a dog, will do this great thing? And Elisha said, The Lord has made it clear to me that you will be king over Aram.” — 2 Kings 8:13

“Then he went away from Elisha and came in to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And his answer was, He said that you would certainly get well.” — 2 Kings 8:14

Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).

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In art