And he sought God. — And he continued to seek God (the Hebrew is an expression peculiar to the chronicler).
In the days of Zechariah. — An otherwise unknown prophet.
Who had understanding in the visions of God. — Literally, the skilled in seeing God — a surprising epithet, occurring nowhere else. Some Hebrew MSS., and the LXX., Syriac, and Arabic versions, and the Targum, read, “in the fear of God.” This is doubtless correct; and the text should be rendered. “who had understanding (or gave instruction) in the fear of God.” So the famous Rabbis, Rashi and Kimchi, long since suggested. Zechariah was thus the guide and counsellor of king Uzziah, and that not only in religious matters, but in what we should call the political sphere; for in those days the distinction between things sacred and secular, civil and ecclesiastical, between Church and State, religion and common life, was wholly unknown.
And as long as he sought. — Literally, in the days of his seeking.
The Lord, God ... — Such a mode of speech reveals the chronicler’s own hand.
Instead of this verse, 2 Kings 15:4 makes the deduction usual in its estimate of the character of a reign: “Only the high places were not taken away; the people still used to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.”
The power and prosperity of Uzziah are accounted for by the chronicler on the ground that he sought God during the life of Zechariah; although afterwards he offended by rashly intruding upon the priest’s office, and was punished with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).