2 Kings 8:13

8:13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, who is as insignificant as a dog, accomplish this great military victory?” ¹  Elisha answered, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria.” ² 

2 Kings 16:6

16:6 (At that time King Rezin of Syria ³  recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there. ⁴  Syrians ⁵  arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.)

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¹ tn Heb “Indeed, what is your servant, a dog, that he could do this great thing?” With his reference to a dog, Hazael is not denying that he is a “dog” and protesting that he would never commit such a dastardly “dog-like” deed. Rather, as Elisha’s response indicates, Hazael is suggesting that he, like a dog, is too insignificant to ever be in a position to lead such conquests.

² tn Heb “The Lord has shown me you [as] king over Syria.”

³ tc Some prefer to read “the king of Edom” and “for Edom” here. The names Syria (Heb “Aram,” אֲרָם, ’aram) and Edom (אֱדֹם, ’edom) are easily confused in the Hebrew consonantal script.

⁴ tn Heb “from Elat.”

⁵ tc The consonantal text (Kethib), supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac version, and some mss of the Targum and Vulgate, read “Syrians” (Heb “Arameans”). The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the LXX, Targums, and Vulgate, reads “Edomites.”