מלכים ב, פרק ח׳, פסוק י״ב

Elisha’s tears flow not from sadness over the impending death of the current Aramean king, as Hazael mistakenly assumes, but from a harsh prophetic vision. The prophet foresees the terrible cruelty that Hazael himself will soon unleash against the Israelites, and he weeps at the sight of this future disaster [אברבנאל, מצודת דוד].

The prophet details a chain of hostility that begins with attacks on infrastructure and escalates to the most vulnerable members of society. Hazael will first target the fortified cities by setting them ablaze. The fire will not simply burn; it will act as a swift messenger, spreading with immense speed and power from place to place until it consumes everything in its path [מצודת ציון].

After the destruction of the cities, the cruelty will turn toward little children and infants. The primary approach among commentators is that this involves severe physical violence, such as tearing and ripping the children apart [רש״י, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ], or cruelly smashing them against the ground, rocks, and walls to crush them [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. However, another perspective suggests that the harm inflicted on the children is not direct murder. Instead, it refers to complete abandonment, where the young ones will be left orphaned, forsaken, and exposed to the elements after their mothers and fathers are killed [רלב״ג].

The peak of this brutality is directed at the most fragile targets. Most commentators agree that this refers to pregnant women, whose bellies will be cruelly split open to remove their unborn children [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ, אברבנאל]. In stark contrast, a unique interpretation proposes that this final act of violence does not involve women at all. According to this view, the destruction refers to tall, strong structures and fortified towers built on mountains, with the splitting action representing the violent breaching and breaking of their massive walls [רלב״ג].