Hazael

Hazael (meaning whom God beholds or that sees God) was an officer of Ben-hadad II of Syria who became king of Damascus through assassination and subsequently became one of Israel's most formidable enemies. Elijah was commissioned by God at Horeb to anoint Hazael as king over Syria (1 Kings 19:15), and the prophet Elisha fulfilled this commission: when Hazael came to inquire of the prophet about Ben-hadad's illness, Elisha told him that Ben-hadad would recover but wept because he foresaw the devastation Hazael would inflict on Israel — burning their cities, killing their young men, dashing their infants, and ripping open their pregnant women (2 Kings 8:12). The next day Hazael smothered the bedridden king with a wet cloth and assumed the throne.

Hazael's long reign (approximately 842–796 BC) was indeed catastrophic for Israel: he defeated Jehu's forces and seized all Israelite territory east of the Jordan (2 Kings 10:32–33), reduced Israel to a remnant under Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:3–7), threatened Jerusalem until Joash paid him tribute from the temple treasury (2 Kings 12:17–18), and reached as far as Gath. His oppression fulfilled the prophetic words of Elisha and the Deuteronomistic warnings about the consequences of covenant unfaithfulness. Amos 1:4 pronounces judgment on the house of Hazael for his atrocities.