Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Kings 8:13

"And Hazael said, But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, Jehovah hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria." — 2 Kings 8:13 (ASV)

But what, is your servant a dog? — This is a mistranslation that conveys a meaning to the reader quite different from the original.

Hazael’s speech is more accurately translated as, “But what is your servant, this dog, that he should do this great thing?” He is not recoiling from Elisha’s words or suggesting that he would be a dog if he could act as cruelly as Elisha predicts.

On the contrary, Elisha’s prediction has raised his hopes, and his only doubt is whether such great fortune (“this great thing”) can be in store for one so lowly. Here, as is generally the case in Scripture (though not always), “dog” has the sense of being mean, low, or contemptible.