2nd Kings Chapter 8 verse 15 Holy Bible
And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.
read chapter 8 in ASV
Now on the day after, Hazael took the bed-cover, and making it wet with water, put it over Ben-hadad's face, causing his death: and Hazael became king in his place.
read chapter 8 in BBE
And it came to pass the next day, that he took the coverlet and dipped [it] in water, and spread it over his face, so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his stead.
read chapter 8 in DARBY
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.
read chapter 8 in KJV
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.
read chapter 8 in WBT
It happened on the next day, that he took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his place.
read chapter 8 in WEB
And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that he taketh the coarse cloth, and dippeth in water, and spreadeth on his face, and he dieth, and Hazael reigneth in his stead.
read chapter 8 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 15. - And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth. Macber is a cloth of a coarse texture - a mat, or piece of carpeting. It has here the article prefixed to it (ham-macber), which implies that there was but one in the sick-room. We may conjecture that it was a mat used as a sort of pillow, and interposed between the head-rest (so common in Egypt and Assyria) and the head (compare the c'bir of 1 Samuel 19:13). And dipped it in water. The water would fill up the interstices through which air might otherwise have been drawn, and hasten the suffocation. A death of the same kind is recorded in the Persian history entitled 'Kholasat el Akhbar,' which contains (p. 162) the following passage: "The malik ordered that they should place a carpet on Abdallah's mouth, so that his life was cut off." And spread it on his face, so that he died. It has been supposed by some commentators, as Luther, Schultz, Geddes, Boothroyd, that Benhadad put the wet macber on his own face for refreshment, and accidentally suffocated himself; but this is very unlikely, and it is certainly not the natural sense of the words. As "Hazael" is the subject of "departed" and "came" and "answered" in ver. 14, so it is the natural subject of "took" and "dipped" and "spread" in ver. 15. Ver. 11 also would be unintelligible if Hazael entertained no murderous intentions. Why Ewald ('History of Israel,' vol. 4. p. 93, Eng. trans.) introduces a "bath-servant," unmentioned in the text, to murder Benhadad for no assignable reason, it is difficult to conjecture. And Hazael reigned in his stead. The direct succession of Hazael to Benhadad is confirmed by the inscription on the Black Obelisk, where he appears as King of Damascus (line 97) a few years only after Benhadad (Bin-idri) had been mentioned as king.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(15) He took--i.e., Hazael, the nearest subject. Ewald objects that if Hazael were meant, his name would not occur where it does at the end of the verse. But the objection does not hold, for in relating who succeeded to the throne, it was natural to give the name of the new king. Further, a considerable pause must be understood at "he died." The Judaean editor of Kings then appropriately concludes: "So Hazael reigned in his stead." The mention of the name significantly reminds us that Elisha had designated Hazael as the future king. Besides, after the words "and he died," it would have been more ambiguous than usual to add, "and he reigned in his stead."A thick cloth.--Rather, the quilt, or coverlet. So the LXX., Vulg., Targum, and Arabic. The Syriac renders "curtain;" and, accordingly, Gesenius and others translate, "mosquito net." The Hebrew term (makb?r) means, etymologically, something plaited or interwoven. It is not found elsewhere, but a word of the same root occurs in 1Samuel 19:13. It is clear from the context that the makb?r must have been something which when soaked in water, and laid on the face, would prevent respiration.Josephus says Hazael strangled his master with a mosquito net. But this and other explanations, such as that of Ewald, do not suit the words of the text. The old commentator, Clericus, may be right when he states Hazae?s motive to have been ut hominem facilius suffocaret, ne vi interemptus videretur. And, perhaps, as Thenius supposes, the crown was offered to Hazael as a successful warrior. (Comp. 2Kings 10:32, seq.) When Duncker (Hist. of Antiq., 1:413) ventures to state that Elisha incited Hazael to the murder of Ben-hadad, and afterwards renewed the war against Israel, not without encouragement from the prophet as a persistent enemy of Jehoram and his dynasty, he simply betrays an utter incapacity for understanding the character and function of Hebrew prophecy. The writer of Kings, at all events, did not intend to represent Elisha as a deceiver of foreign sovereigns and a traitor to his own; and this narrative is the only surviving record of the events described.Hazael reigned in his stead.--On the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II. (B.C. 860-825), now in the British Museum, we read: "In my 18th regnal year for the 16th time I crossed the Euphrates. Haza'ilu of the land of Damascus came on to the battle: 1,121 of his chariots, 470 of his horsemen, with his stores, I took from him." And again: "In my 21st year for the 21st time I crossed the Euphrates: to the cities of Haza'ilu of the land of Damascus I marched, whose towns I took. Tribute of the land of the Tyrians, Sidonians, Giblites, I received."
