Hazael becomes king of Aram
In Damascus Elisha wept because he knew the harm Hazael would do to Israel. Hazael denied he could perform such deeds, but after returning to Ben-hadad he smothered the sick king and took the throne, as Elisha had said (2 Kings 8:7-15).
7Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.” 8So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand, go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” 9So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camel loads of every good thing from Damascus. And he went in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”