And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
When the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes. According to an ancient practice among the Eastern people, the main object only was stated in the letter that was carried by the party concerned, while other circumstances were left to be explained at the interview. This accounts for Jehoram's burst of emotions-not horror at supposed blasphemy, but alarm and suspicion that this was merely made an occasion for a quarrel.
Am I God, to kill and to make alive? All this show of offended piety was only a pretence, for Jehoram himself was an idolater, and he assumed a zeal for the divine glory merely to excite a fiercer rage against a monarch whom he supposed to be meditating his ruin. But how did he not think of Elisha? A moment's reflection on the character, association, and habits of this king of Israel will suffice to convince any one that such a prince as he was would not readily think of Elisha, or, perhaps, have heard of his miraculous deeds.