Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 5:8

"And it was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." — 2 Kings 5:8 (ASV)

There is a prophet. — With stress on there is (yçsh): that is to say, as his message presupposes.

When Elisha ... had heard. — He was in Samaria at the time (2 Kings 5:3) and would have heard of the coming of the great Syrian captain and of the king’s alarm. Why did Jehoram not immediately think of Elisha? King and prophet were not on good terms with each other (Compare 2 Kings 3:14). Besides, Elisha had not yet performed any miracle of this kind; and the king’s own apprehensions may have made him unable, for the moment, to think at all.