10 And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die.
10 Elisha answered, "Go and say to him, 'You will certainly recover.' Nevertheless,
10 And Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You shall certainly recover,' but the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die."
10 Elisha answered, "Go and tell him, 'Don't worry; you'll live.' The fact is, though - God showed me - that he's doomed to die."
10 And Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You shall certainly recover.' However the Lord has shown me that he will really die."
10 And Elisha replied, "Go and tell him, 'You will surely recover.' But actually the Lord has shown me that he will surely die!"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 8:10
Commentary on 2 Kings 8:7-15
(Read 2 Kings 8:7-15)
Among other changes of men's minds by affliction, it often gives other thoughts of God's ministers, and teaches to value the counsels and prayers of those whom they have hated and despised. It was not in Hazael's countenance that Elisha read what he would do, but God revealed it to him, and it fetched tears from his eyes: the more foresight men have, the more grief they are liable to. It is possible for a man, under the convictions and restraints of natural conscience, to express great abhorrence of a sin, yet afterwards to be reconciled to it. Those that are little and low in the world, cannot imagine how strong the temptations of power and prosperity are, which, if ever they arrive at, they will find how deceitful their hearts are, how much worse than they suspected. The devil ruins men, by saying they shall certainly recover and do well, so rocking them asleep in security. Hazael's false account was an injury to the king, who lost the benefit of the prophet's warning to prepare for death, and an injury to Elisha, who would be counted a false prophet. It is not certain that Hazael murdered his master, or if he caused his death it may have been without any design. But he was a dissembler, and afterwards proved a persecutor to Israel.