Hay´zay-uhl; Heb., “God has seen”
An Aramean king of Damascus during the latter half of the eighth century BCE. According to the Bible, he was to have been anointed by Elijah (1Kgs 19:15). An officer of King Ben-hadad, he was sent to learn from Elisha whether his master would recover from an illness, at which time the prophet foresaw the troubles Hazael would bring to Israel (2Kgs 8). Hazael returned and murdered Ben-hadad, then ascended the throne (v. 15). He was able to conquer Ramoth-gilead in the Transjordan (2Kgs 10:32; Amos 1:3), leaving the son of Israel’s King Jehu with only limited forces (2Kgs 13:7). After conquering Gath, his attention turned to Jerusalem, which bought its freedom with tribute (2Kgs 12:17-18). He was succeeded by his son Ben-hadad, who lost to Israel’s King Jehoash the cities Hazael had conquered (2Kgs 13:25).
