Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

PEKAH

Son of Remaliah and 18th king of Israel. His name means “he has opened [the eyes].” It is an abbreviated form of the name of his predecessor, Pekahiah, “Yahweh has opened [the eyes].” The name has been found on a fragment of an eighth-century-BC wine jar from Hazor stratum V, the level destroyed by Tiglath-pileser in 734 BC. It is thought that this is a reference to Pekah and to a kind of wine. It is likely that the usurper Pekah was so eager to ensure his position as king that he deliberately assumed the name of his predecessor. Moreover, Isaiah refers to him as the “son of Remaliah,” almost scornfully, to indicate his nonroyal descent. But when Isaiah refers to his heathen ally, he uses the specific name “Rezin, the king of Syria” (Is 7:4-9; 8:6).

Accession to the Throne

Pekah, an officer of Pekahiah, was the third man in a chariot, apart from the driver and the warrior. He was the shield and armor bearer of the warrior. In time the term came to signify a royal aide-de-camp.

The account of Pekah’s murder of Pekahiah has been somewhat obscured because of the difficulty in understanding the terms Argob and Arieh (2 Kgs 15:25). Some translators and commentators have thought these referred to persons, whereas others have held these are place-names. Some scholars radically alter the text here and eliminate the troublesome words by claiming they were a scribal mistake or emendation. A key seems to have been found by comparing them with the Ugaritic. The terms mean “eagle” and “lion,” respectively. Thus, Pekah was murdered “near the eagle and the lion.” It is suggested that this means he was put to death near the guardian sphinxes of his palace. Such sphinxes were a common motif in ancient eastern palaces and were duplicated on ivory plaques erected in the gateway. This interpretation seems very plausible, since it avoids critical emendation and solves the major problems in the text.

Political Significance

The brilliant Tiglath-pileser III, leading the kingdom of Assyria to prominence, appeared on Israel’s border. Menahem deemed it wise to become tributary to him. Apparently Pekahiah, Menahem’s successor, could not appease the Assyrians during his short reign. The conciliatory efforts of Menahem and Pekahiah may well have prompted the Syrians to conspire with Pekah, the army officer, to gain control of the throne of Samaria in order to present a united military front against Assyrian encroachment. Once Samaria was under control, the Syrians led by Rezin, Israel ruled by Pekah, and several Transjordanian kingdoms formed a powerful alliance.

In time Pekah and Rezin began to pressure the kingdom of Judah in order to induce it to join their alliance against the impending Assyrian attack. Jotham resisted their invitations and fortified the Judean hill country. Jotham’s son, Ahaz, continued his father’s policy of noncooperation with the Samaria-Damascus coalition. Pekah and Rezin invaded Judah with the intent of taking Jerusalem and placing “the son of Tabeel” on the throne of Judah in Ahaz’s place (Is 7:1-6). He presumably was a son of Uzziah or Jotham by a princess of Tabeel. Although the actual siege of Jerusalem was unsuccessful, Pekah and Rezin inflicted severe casualties upon Ahaz’s army. In one day of battle they killed 120,000 men of Judah and carried away 200,000 captives, including women and children. However, the prophet Oded prophesied in Samaria before the army. He urged the leaders of Samaria to return the captives. The leaders heeded the prophetic word and sent the captives back to Jericho (2 Chr 28:8-15).

Rezin’s revolt against Assyria brought a quick response from Tiglath-pileser, who laid siege to Damascus in 734 BC. The city fell in 732 BC. Another detachment of the Assyrian army descended on the upper districts of Syria and Samaria. Second Kings 15:29 lists the districts and cities that were overrun. They included Gilead (regions beyond Jordan), Naphtali (regions lying to the west of the lakes of Galilee and Merom), and all Galilee as far south as the plain of Esdraelon and the valley of Jezreel. Isaiah refers to this lost tribal territory (Is 9:1-7). From this Assyrian-controlled region the messianic ruler would arise and give light to those who lived in a land of darkness (v 2). Thus Pekah’s kingdom was reduced to a third of its original size by the Assyrian campaign of 734–732 BC. In 732 a palace conspiracy led by Hoshea plotted the assassination of Pekah. He was put to death in the coup d’état and the throne was usurped by Hoshea.

The author of Kings evaluates the reign of Pekah as follows: “But Pekah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He refused to turn from the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit” (2 Kgs 15:28, NLT). It is likely that he continued the calf worship at the shrines at Dan and Bethel. The continuation of the apostasy during successive regencies was the cause for the judgment that befell the northern kingdom. Pekah is the last king of Israel given such an evaluation.