In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;
In those days the Lord began to weaken and cut short Israel by permitting Hazael, king of Syria, to strike its territories on every border. Hazael's assaults were a divine judgment upon Israel that imperiled the kingdom and threatened it with loss of control. In the continued wars with the Syrians that followed, Jehoahaz lost cities east of the Jordan.
In those days the Lord began to weaken and cut short Israel by permitting Hazael, king of Syria, to strike its territories on every border. Hazael's assaults were a divine judgment upon Israel that imperiled the kingdom and threatened it with loss of control. In the continued wars with the Syrians that followed, Jehoahaz lost cities east of the Jordan.