Who is King Pekah in the Bible?

Quick Facts

Father: Remaliah, 2 Kings 15:23
Length of reign: 20 years, 2 Kings 15:27
Succession: 18th King
Kingdom: Kingdom of Israel, 2 Kings 15:27
Predecessor: King Pekahiah, 2 Kings 15:25
Morality: evil king, 2 Kings 15:28
Successor: King Hoshea, 2 Kings 15:30
Bible reference: 2 Kings 15:25-31

Pekah reigns in Israel

The name Pekah means ‘watch‘. Around that time, the Kingdom of Israel was approaching extinction, the political climate was hostile, and kings rose and fell quickly. After the fall of the Jehu dynasty, political instability and coups became the order of the day. In fact, four of the five kings who ruled after the Jehu dynasty resorted to coup to take the throne and Pekah was one of them. The king who reign before Pekah was called King Pekahiah, the son of King Menahem.

In the second year of Pekahiah’s reign, Pekah, an army captain, conspired against him with the help of Argob, Arieh, and fifty Gileadites and killed him in his palace in Samaria, ending the dynasty of King Menahem. (2 Kings 15:25). Afterward, he proclaimed himself as king and reigned in Samaria. Though the times were evil, Pekah managed to hold fast to power for 20 years.

Pekah allied with King Rezin of Syria and he expended a great deal of his time in warfare. Around Pekah’s time, the king of Judah was Ahaz. He was an idolatrous king who provoked God to anger. The Lord, therefore, stirred the hearts of King Pekah and King Rezin to wage war against him. The forces of Pekah and King Rezin besieged Jerusalem, but they could not capture it, and neither were they able to overthrow the reign of King Ahaz (2Ki 16:5).

Though Jerusalem was not captured and King Ahaz, overthrown, the alliance brought the Kingdom of Judah to its knees. King Pekah led the Israelites to kill 120,000 warriors of Judah in one day’s battle and carried away 200,000 men, women, and children as captives to his capital city Samaria along with many spoils. King Rezin too recovered the Syrian city of Elath, which the Jews captured, for Syria (2Ki 16:6).

King Ahaz, in his frustration, took the silver and the gold in the temple of Solomon and in the treasuries of his palace and sent it as a tribute to Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria for help against his enemies (2Ki 16:8). The king of Assyria, stirred by this tribute, started a war campaign against Israel and Syria. In Syria, Tiglath-pileser III attacked and captured Damascus and killed King Rezin (2Ki 16:9). But in Israel, Tiglath-pileser III invaded and captured lands of Gilead, Galilee, Naphtali, and their cities, and carried the Israelites in these places into exile in Assyria (2Ki 15:29).

King Pekah himself was no good king just like King Ahaz of Judah, because, apart from being a kingslayer and a usurper, he too did evil in the sight of the Lord by perpetuating the idolatrous religion called the sins of Jeroboam just like what all his predecessors did. (2 Kings 15:28)

By violence, Pekah seized power and killed the former king. And by violence, he was sent to his grave. It happened to King Pekah according to the saying that he who draws the sword will die by the sword (Mt 26:52). During Pekah’s 20th year on the throne, Hoshea conspired and killed him successfully, seized the throne for himself, and ruled as king. (2 Kings 15:30)

Major events during Pekah’s reign

  • The forces of Israel and Syria laid siege to Jerusalem but could not capture the city. (2 Kings 16:5)
  • King Pekah, in one day’s battle, killed 120,000 warriors of Judah and looted and carried away 200,000 captives from the Kingdom of Judah. (2 Chronicles 28:6)
  • King Rezin took back the city of Elath from the Kingdom of Judah and he sacked the Jews from the city and made the Syrians come to live there. (2 Kings 16:6)
  • King Ahaz took the silver and gold in the temple of God and in the treasuries of his palace and sent it as a tribute to Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria for help against his enemies. (2 Kings 16:8)
  • Tiglath-pileser III invaded the Syrian capital city of Damascus, captured it, and carried the Syrians in the city captive to Kir. (2 Kings 16:9)
  • Tiglath-pileser III killed King Rezin of Syria in Damascus. (2 Kings 16:9)
  • Tiglath-pileser III invaded Israel and captured territories such as Gilead, Galilee, and Naphtali and the cities in them and he carried away the inhabitants there as captives to Assyria. (2 Kings 15:29)

Achievement of Pekah

He defeated King Ahaz in battle, killing 120,000 of his warriors, and then carried away 200,000 men, women, and children as captives. (2 Chronicles 28:6)

Contemporaries of Pekah

  • King Uzziah of Judah had reigned for 52 years when Pekah became king. (2Ki 15:27)
  • King Jotham of Judah, son of King Uzziah, began to reign when Pekah had reigned for 2 years. Pekah was an enemy of King Jotham, for it was in Jotham’s regime that allied with King Rezin to trouble the Kingdom of Judah. (2Ki 15:37)
  • King Rezin of Syria was in power during Pekah’s reign. They were allies. (2 Kings 16:5)
  • King Ahaz of Judah, son of King Jotham, began to reign when Pekah had reigned for 17 years. (2 Kings 16:1)
  • Tiglath-pileser III. A tribute he received from King Ahaz made him become enemies of both Pekah and Rezin and he invaded their nations. (2 Kings 15:29)

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