Commentators emphasize that Jehoram's painful illness was not a random tragedy but a direct act of God. The text states, "Jehovah smote him," and as one scholar notes, an ancient Aramaic paraphrase says, "the Word of the Lord broke him." This affliction was the fulfillment of Elijah's prophecy and a divine judgment for his idolatry and murderous reign, described as "incurable" because it was God's sentence.