Pekahiah

Technical Profile

• Name Meaning: From Hebrew Pəqaḥyāh (פְּקַחְיָה), “Yahweh has opened (the eyes)” or “Yahweh has opened.”
• Period/Era: Divided Kingdom
• Main References: 2 Kings 15:22–26
• Key Connections: Son of Menahem (king of Israel); assassinated by Pekah son of Remaliah; reign set within the prophetic evaluation of Jeroboam’s cultic sins.

Who was Pekahiah?

Pekahiah was a king of Israel (Northern Kingdom) who reigned in Samaria for two years.
He succeeded his father, Menahem, during a period of political instability.
Kings evaluates his reign as continuing “the sins of Jeroboam,” maintaining Israel’s unlawful worship practices.

Key Events & Achievements

• Accession: Became king in Samaria after Menahem, ruling two years over the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 15:22–23).
• Assassination: Killed in a palace conspiracy by Pekah son of Remaliah, aided by fifty men from Gilead (2 Kings 15:25).
• Succession: Pekah took the throne after the coup, marking another violent transition in Israel’s monarchy (2 Kings 15:25–26).

Life Lesson & Legacy

Pekahiah’s brief reign illustrates how covenant unfaithfulness and internal violence shaped the Northern Kingdom’s declining kingship.

Key Verse

"Then Pekah son of Remaliah, one of his chief officers, conspired against him. He took fifty men of Gilead with him and assassinated Pekahiah along with Argob and Arieh in the citadel of the royal palace in Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king." — 2 Kings 15:25, NIV