He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin — Zechariah, like the succession of northern kings, perpetuates Jeroboam I's cultic sins despite the ephemeral nature of his rule. The phrase "he did not depart" (לֹא־סָר, *lo sar*) invokes the entrenched institutional apostasy that characterizes the northern kingdom. Even a king destined for assassination still "did what was evil," suggesting that the spiritual corruption of the north is so complete that no king can escape it. His brief reign allows no opportunity for reform, yet the text still condemns his perpetuation of ancestral sins.

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