Pekahiah פְּקַחְיָה
King of Israel who reigned for 2 years
Who is Pekahiah in the Bible?
Pekahiah was a king of Israel who ruled for only two years, as recorded in 2 Kings 15:22-23. The son of King Menahem, Pekahiah followed his father's sinful practices during his brief reign over the northern kingdom. His rule ended violently when his own officer, Pekah son of Remaliah, assassinated him in the citadel of the royal palace in Samaria, after which Pekah seized the throne (2 Kings 15:25). Pekahiah's short and tragic reign exemplifies the political instability and moral corruption that characterized the declining years of Israel's northern kingdom.
Biography
Pekahiah son of Menahem was king of Israel for 2 years, according to 2Ki.15.22-23. He succeeded his father Menahem but continued in his father's sinful ways. Pekahiah's reign was cut short when his officer Pekah son of Remaliah conspired against him and assassinated him in the citadel of the king's palace in Samaria (2Ki.15.25). Pekah then became king in his place. Pekahiah's short reign reflects the political instability and moral decline of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Family
In Scripture
1 biblical book2 Kings 3 verses
- 2 Kings 15:22
"And Menahem rested with his fathers, and his son Pekahiah reigned in his place."
- 2 Kings 15:23
"In the fiftieth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel and reigned in Samaria two years."
- 2 Kings 15:26
"As for the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, along with all his accomplishments, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel."
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | פְּקַחְיָה |
Encyclopedia Article
ISBE 1915 (Public Domain) Pekahiah
17th king of Israel. He is said to have succeeded his father in the "50th year of Azariah" (or Uzziah), a synchronism not free from difficulty if his accession is placed in 750-749 (see MENAHEM; UZZIAH). Most date lower, after 738, when an Assyrian inscription makes Menahem pay tribute to Tiglath-pileser (compare 2Ki 15:19-21).
2Regicide in Israel
Pekahiah came to the throne enveloped in the danger which always accompanies the successor of an exceptionally strong ruler, in a country where there is not a settled law of succession. Within two years of his accession he was murdered in a foul manner--the 7th king of Israel who had met his death by violence (the others were Nadab, Elah, Tibni, Jehoram, Zechariah and Shallum). The chief conspirator was Pekah, son of Remaliah, one of his captains, with whom, as agent in the crime, were associated 50 Gileadites. These penetrated into the palace (the Revised Version (British and American) "castle") of the king's house, and put Pekahiah to death, his bodyguards, Argob and Arieh, dying with him. The record, in its close adherence to fact, gives no reason for the king's removal, but it may reasonably be surmised that it was connected with a league which was at this time forming for opposing resistance to the power of Assyria. This league, Pekahiah, preferring his father's policy of tributary vassalage, may have refused to join. If so, the decision cost him his life. The act of treachery and violence is in accordance with all that Hosea tells us of the internal condition of Israel at this time: "They .... devour their judges; all their kings are fallen" (Ho 7:7).
3Pekahiah's Character
The narrative of Pekahiah's short reign contains but a brief notice of his personal character. Like his predecessors, Pekahiah did not depart from the system of worship introduced by Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, "who made Israel to sin." Despite the denunciations of the prophets of the Northern Kingdom (Am 5:21-27; Ho 8:1-6), the worship of the calves remained, till the whole was swept away, a few years later, by the fall of the kingdom.
After Pekahiah's murder, the throne was seized by the regicide Pekah.
W. Shaw Caldecott
pe'-kod (peqodh): A name applied in Jer 50:21 and Eze 23:23 to the Chaldeans. Various English Versions of the Bible (margins) in the former pass