The Reign Of Pekahiah King of Israel c. 742/41-740/39 BC (2 Kings 15:23-26).
Pekahiah (‘YHWH is open eyed') succeeded his father, but it was as king of a country seething with discontent at having had to pay tribute to Assyria. Few in Israel actually really knew what they were now dealing with. To most the kings of Assyria were simply booty seeking kings who came and went (as they had done in the past), similar, for example, to the kings of Aram. The vision of a powerful country which exceeded the strength of all the surrounding nations put together and was building a great empire was outside their conception. Thus when Pekahiah came to the throne, and had presumably indicated that he would continue his father's policy of submission to Assyria, it was inevitable that there would be a reaction. And that reaction took the form of his deputy who had been ruling on Menahem's behalf in Gilead (or had set up a rival kingship in Gilead). He also was named Pekahiah, and therefore Pekah for short, (or took the name on becoming king), and he was himself anti-appeasement. He assassinated Pekahiah in Samaria, and took over the throne, presumably with the consent of most of Israel who favoured the anti-appeasement policy. They would learn their lesson too late.
Analysis.
· In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH. He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, by which he made Israel to sin (2 Kings 15:23-24).
· And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his deputy, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the castle of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites, and he slew him, and reigned instead of him (2 Kings 15:25).
· Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel (2 Kings 15:26).
Note that in ‘a' we have Pekahiah's behaviour depicted and in the parallel are referred to the official annals for further information concerning his acts. Centrally in ‘b' we have described the revolution against him.
‘In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.'
Pekahiah came to the throne about two years before Uzziah's death. Once again Uzziah's reign is calculated from when he became co-regent. The name Pekahiah (pkhy) appears on a Palestinian seal, and on a jar from Hazor. It means ‘YHWH is open-eyed'. He reigned for just over a year (two part years).
‘And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH. He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, by which he made Israel to sin.'
In his short reign he made no attempt to return Israel to true Yahwism. He was content with the bastardised religion that Jeroboam I had introduced, a religion which resulted in many of the causes for dissatisfaction in Israel's life-style..
‘And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his deputy, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the castle of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites, and he slew him, and reigned instead of him.
Pekah, the son of Remaliah, was apparently a Gileadite from Transjordan, and he was clearly supported by a large majority of the people. This suggests that the reason for the revolt was Pekahiah's attitude of appeasement and his loyalty towards Assyria, a policy that Israel would have done well to continue. Pekah was Pekahiah's deputy ruler in Transjordan, and the fact that he arrived with a mere fifty men indicated that he expected the support of the whole of the people who had probably appealed to him to act. That he required so many was because he had to overcome those of the king's bodyguard who were on duty. It was an organised rebellion. Argob and Arieh were probably two main supporters of Pekahiah's policy of appeasement, or possibly even representatives of the king of Assyria. Argob may well have been named after the city of Argob in Transjordan, and his name could mean ‘eagle', Arieh means ‘lion'. The attack was probably timed so that they would be found there with the king. The castle of the king's house would be the well protected royal quarters.
‘Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.'
The rest of the acts of Pekahiah could be found in the official royal annals. No indication is given of what happened to his body, which may suggest that it had been treated with contempt. Feelings were running high.