II Kings 5:7
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When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Two more of Elisha's miracles are recorded in this chapter. I. The cleansing of Naaman, a Syrian, a stranger, from his leprosy, and there, 1. The badness of his case (Kg2 5:1). 2. The providence that brought him to Elisha, the intelligence given him by a captive maid (Kg2 5:2-4). A letter from the king of Syria to the king of Israel, to introduce him (Kg2 5:5-7). And the invitation Elisha sent him (Kg2 5:8). 3. The method prescribed for his cure, his submission, with much ado, to that method, and his cure thereby (Kg2 5:9-14). 4. The grateful acknowledgments he made to Elisha hereupon (Kg2 5:15-19). II. The smiting of Gehazi, his own servant, with that leprosy. 1. Gehazi's sins, which were belying his master to Naaman (Kg2 5:20-24), and lying to his master when he examined him (Kg2 5:25). 2. His punishment for these sins. Naaman's leprosy was entailed on his family (Kg2 5:26, Kg2 5:27). And, if Naaman's cure was typical of the calling of the Gentiles, as our Saviour seems to make it (Luk 4:27), Gehazi's stroke may be looked upon as typical of the blinding and rejecting of the Jews, who envied God's grace to the Gentiles, as Gehazi envied Elisha's favour to Naaman.
Open source ↗5:7 tore his clothes: This action was often a sign of intense agitation (11:4), grief (Gen 37:34; 2 Sam 13:31), or sorrow (2 Kgs 6:30; Job 1:20; 2:12). Due to the perennial distrust and hostilities between the Arameans and the Israelites, Joram assumed that the Aramean king was trying to pick a fight, as had occurred in the days of his father Ahab (1 Kgs 20:1-12).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, “Please take note and see that this man is looking for trouble, for when he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, I did not deny him.”
Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
waiting to catch Him in something He might say.
What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,
Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments.
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes