2 Kings 5:7

5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill or restore life? Why does he ask me to cure a man of his skin disease? 1  Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me!” 2 

2 Kings 8:5

8:5 While Gehazi 3  was telling the king how Elisha 4  had brought the dead back to life, the woman whose son he had brought back to life came to ask the king for her house and field. 5  Gehazi said, “My master, O king, this is the very woman and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!”

1 tn Heb “Am I God, killing and restoring life, that this one sends to me to cure a man from his skin disease?” In the Hebrew text this is one lengthy rhetorical question, which has been divided up in the translation for stylistic reasons.

2 tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”

3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

5 tn Heb “and look, the woman whose son he had brought back to life was crying out to the king for her house and her field.”

sn The legal background of the situation is uncertain. For a discussion of possibilities, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 87-88.