Verse Lens · Concise explanation

2 Kings 8:11 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 11. And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

This verse holds Hazael under Elisha's gaze until the prophet begins to weep.

Read It With

  • 2 Kings 8:7–8:15

Read 2 Kings 8:11 within 2 Kings 8:7–8:15. Ben-hadad sends Hazael to Elisha, who speaks of recovery and death, weeps over future atrocities, and Hazael suffocates the king before taking the throne.

Why This Verse Appears Here

This verse holds Hazael under Elisha's gaze until the prophet begins to weep. This detail is necessary to the thought unit “Hazael hears an oracle and kills Ben-hadad,” but it is not the unit's whole claim.

Read 2 Kings 8:7–15 together

Why these verses belong together: 2 Kings 8:7–8:15 forms one scene or regnal notice: Ben-hadad sends Hazael to Elisha, who speaks of recovery and death, weeps over future atrocities, and Hazael suffocates the king before taking the throne.

Verse 7. And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither.

Verse 8. And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and enquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

Verse 9. So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

Verse 10. And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the LORD hath shewed me that he shall surely die.

Verse 11. And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.

Verse 12. 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.

Verse 13. 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.

Verse 14. So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely recover.

Verse 15. 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.

What Remains True

This verse holds Hazael under Elisha's gaze until the prophet begins to weep. In the complete scene, that detail supports this larger account: Ben-hadad sends Hazael to Elisha, who speaks of recovery and death, weeps over future atrocities, and Hazael suffocates the king before taking the throne.

How It Can Shape Life

  • When teaching 2 Kings 8:11, keep this contribution and 2 Kings 8:7–8:15 together. Prophetic foreknowledge does not authorize Hazael's murder or atrocities, excuse political violence, or make prediction equal moral approval.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read 2 Kings 8:7–8:15 — Hazael hears an oracle and kills Ben-hadad
Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Exact location: 2 Kings 8:7–8:15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Kings

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, royal formulas, clause relationships, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 8:7–8:15

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: 2 Kings with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: A unit-bounded translation comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence is not treated as evidence.

Exact location: NET Bible 2 Kings PDF, printed pp. 638–640, translation and translator notes for 8:7–8:15

Open source ↗
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