In the thirty-eighth year of King Azariah of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel six months — Zechariah's brief six-month reign represents the beginning of the end for the northern kingdom. The synchronism with Azariah's thirty-eighth year places this within Azariah's long reign, during the period when Jotham actually governed Judah. Zechariah (זְכַרְיָה, *Zekharyah*), son of the mighty Jeroboam II, inherits an empire already declining despite his father's territorial successes. His brief tenure suggests either assassination, sudden illness, or popular rejection—the narrative will clarify it was conspiracy and murder.

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