In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah ... reign over Israel. It has been supposed, on the ground of the recorded duration of his father's reign (see the notes at 2 Kings 14:21), where the Hebrew numerals are probably corrupt, that there was an interregnum, from some unknown cause, between the reign of Jeroboam and the accession of his son, which lasted, according to some, for 10 or 12 years, according to others, for 22 years, or more. This prince, who was a weak, facile, grovelling sot (Hosea 5:1-15), pursued the religions policy of the calf-worship, and his reign was short, being abruptly terminated by the hand of violence. There is nothing, however, said in the history as to an interregnum arising from anarchy or faction, and the idea might seem to be improbable after so vigorous a reign as Jeroboam's. But that objection has no weight in the minds of many chronologists, who maintain that on the death of Jeroboam, his kingdom fell rapidly into confusion and decay. The sacred books are exceedingly short as regards the history of the last times of the kingdom of Israel. Sacred historiography has no interest in the details of this process of decay, which began with the death of Jeroboam, and which is represented by Amos as it were the day of Israel's death (Amos 7:11), although a bare existence is still for sometime spared. By the rejection of this interregnum, Hosea's ministry would be shortened by twelve years; but this gain, if gain it be, can be purchased only at the expense of a most improbable extension of the duration of Jeroboam's reign' (Hengstenberg's 'Christology,' 1:, p. 173).