He rent his clothes. — As if he had heard blasphemy. (Comp. Matthew 26:65.)
Am I God, to kill and to make alive? — Deuteronomy 32:39, “I kill, and I make alive;” 1 Samuel 2:6, “The Lord killeth, and maketh alive.” Leprosy was a kind of living death. (Comp. Numbers 12:12, Heb., “Let her not become as the dead, who, when he cometh forth of his mother’s womb, hath half his flesh consumed.”)
Wherefore. — Heb., For only know (i.e., notice), and see. Plural verbs are used, because the king is addressing his grandees, in whose presence the letter would be delivered and read.
He seeketh a quarrel. — This form of the verb (hithpael) occurs here only. (Comp. the noun, Judges 14:4.) Jehoram was hardly in a position to renew the war, after the severe defeat of his father (1 Kings 22:30, seq.).