ABSTRACT
Hazael is mentioned twenty-one times in the Bible, all in three Old Testament books: Kings, Chronicles and Amos (1 Kgs 19:15-18; 2 Kgs 8:7-15; 8:28-10:31; 10:32-33; 12:18-19[17-18]; 13; 2 Chron. 22:5-9; Amos 1:3-5). Besides these explicit mentions, Hazael is indirectly present in other parts of the books of Kings and he has a great inuence on the book of Jonah as well. Although Hazael’s empire is never mentioned as such in the Bible, it has impacted biblical literature to such a way that, as is argued below, goes way beyond the mere appearances of or references to his name or kingdom. Hazael’s empire is turned by the biblical writers into a crucial theological paradigm that dominates the books of Kings, Amos and Jonah. at paradigm is developed to explain how YHWH deals with Israel and with Israel’s enemies. It sheds a dierent light on the biblical literature and theology and contribes, as argued below, to a better understanding of the interaction between the Bible and history.
