Ben-hadad

Ben-hadad appears here as Hazael's son and successor, extending Syria's oppression of Israel into the next generation — the pressure on God's people doesn't let up just because one oppressor dies.

Ben-hadad is here making his most aggressive move yet — no longer sending raiding parties but marshaling his full army to lay siege to Samaria, creating the famine that drives the chapter to its darkest point.

Ben-hadad is the ailing Syrian king who hears Elisha has arrived in Damascus and sends his servant Hazael on an urgent mission to learn whether God says he will recover from his illness.

Ben-hadad, king of Syria, is here the foreign power Asa bribes to break his alliance with Baasha — a politically successful but spiritually catastrophic choice that will define the rest of Asa's reign.