Bible Figure
Zechariah of Israel
Zechariah son of Jeroboam II was king of northern Israel for six months and the last ruler of Jehu's dynasty.
Biography
Zechariah continued the sins of Jeroboam. Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him, struck him down publicly, and took the throne. His death fulfilled the word of the Lord to Jehu that his descendants would sit on Israel's throne to the fourth generation. Zechariah's brief reign also marked the beginning of the final, increasingly chaotic decades before the Assyrian conquest.
Biblical Significance
Zechariah's death completes the promised four-generation continuation of Jehu's dynasty and introduces a period of rapid coups and instability that foreshadows the northern kingdom's collapse.