Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
But what, is thy servant a dog? - This is a mistranslation, and conveys to the English reader a sense quite different from that of the original. Hazael' s speech runs thus - "But what is thy servant, this dog, that he should do this great thing?" He does not shrink from Elisha' s words, or mean to say that he would be a dog, could he act so cruelly as Elisha predicts he will. On the contrary, Elisha' s prediction has raised his hopes, and his only doubt is whether so much good fortune ("this great thing" ) can be in store for one so mean. "Dog" here, as generally (though not always) in Scripture, has the sense of "mean," "low," "contemptible."
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing 2 Kings 8:13:
Job 30:1
Isaiah 13:16
Amos 1:4
Zechariah 1:4
Philippians 3:2
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