6494. Peqachyah
Lexical Summary
Peqachyah: Pekahiah

Original Word: פְקַחְיָה
Part of Speech: Proper Name Masculine
Transliteration: Pqachyah
Pronunciation: peh-kakh-YAH
Phonetic Spelling: (pek-akh-yaw')
KJV: Pekahiah
NASB: Pekahiah
Word Origin: [from H6491 (פָּקַח - To open) and H3050 (יָהּ - LORD)]

1. Jah has observed
2. Pekachjah, an Israelite king

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Pekahiah

From paqach and Yahh; Jah has observed; Pekachjah, an Israelite king -- Pekahiah.

see HEBREW paqach

see HEBREW Yahh

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from paqach
Definition
"Yah has opened (the eyes)," a king of Isr.
NASB Translation
Pekahiah (3).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
מְּקַחְיָה proper name, masculine king of Israel (׳י hath opened the eyes); — 2 Kings 15:22,23,26, Φακεσιας, Φακειας.

פקע (√ of following, meaning dubious; Late Hebrew מָּקַע split, spring off; compare ᵑ7 Ithpe`el, Syriac burst, crash; Late Hebrew מְּקַעַת is ball, roll, מְּקִיעַ wick, הִפְקִיעַ denominative; Arabic is be yellow, also break wind, II. crack finger-joints, etc.; Ecclus 46:17 פקע crash; ᵑ7 מְּקַע roll noisily; Syriac crash, crack).

Topical Lexicon
Name and Identity

Pekahiah is introduced solely within 2 Kings 15 as the seventeenth king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He is the son and immediate successor of Menahem and rules from the capital, Samaria.

Historical Context

Pekahiah’s two–year reign (ca. 742–740 BC) falls in the turbulent decades just prior to Israel’s fall to Assyria (722 BC). Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III was pressing westward. Menahem had secured his throne by paying a heavy tribute to Assyria (2 Kings 15:19–20). Pekahiah inherits both the throne and the political liabilities created by that tribute: forced taxation at home and suspicion from anti-Assyrian factions within Israel.

Reign and Political Climate

2 Kings 15:23–24 summarizes his short government:

“In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.”

No reforms are recorded, no campaigns, no building projects—only moral failure and political fragility. The text ties Pekahiah’s reign to Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah, whose lengthy and comparatively stable government highlights Israel’s instability.

Spiritual Evaluation

Like every Northern king after Jeroboam I, Pekahiah perpetuates the calf-worship centers at Dan and Bethel. His reign is judged entirely by this covenantal metric: “he did evil.” In Scripture’s theology of kingship, duration and blessing are linked to fidelity to the LORD (Deuteronomy 17:18–20). Pekahiah’s two-year tenure vividly illustrates the converse: idolatry breeds brevity and calamity.

Downfall and Assassination

Verse 25 records the palace coup:

“Then his officer Pekah son of Remaliah conspired against him, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house … So Pekah killed Pekahiah and reigned in his place.”

The assassin commands “fifty men of the Gileadites,” suggesting a military cohort disillusioned with Pekahiah’s perceived subservience to Assyria. Pekah’s ascent ushers in an anti-Assyrian policy, leading ultimately to the Syro-Ephraimite crisis (Isaiah 7) and deeper entanglement with Assyria.

Prophetic Connections

Hosea ministers during this era (Hosea 1:1), indicting Israel’s moral rot and predicting exile. Pekahiah’s rule exemplifies Hosea’s charges: political bloodshed (Hosea 7:7), reliance on foreign powers (Hosea 8:9), and ongoing idolatry (Hosea 13:2). His assassination fulfills Hosea’s grim observation: “They set up kings, but not by Me” (Hosea 8:4).

Theological and Practical Reflections

1. Covenant Accountability: Even a brief kingship is weighed against God’s standards. Leadership is never merely political; it is fundamentally spiritual.
2. Consequences of Idolatry: Pekahiah inherits institutionalized sin and does nothing to dismantle it, illustrating how entrenched idolatry perpetuates judgment across generations.
3. Fragility of Power without Righteousness: Military strength and royal lineage cannot secure a throne when a leader forfeits divine favor.
4. God’s Providential Continuity: Though Israel’s kings fall one after another, God’s redemptive plan advances unthwarted, ultimately culminating in the Messianic King whose reign is everlasting (Isaiah 9:6–7).

Key References

2 Kings 15:22–26; Hosea 1:1; Hosea 7:7; Hosea 8:4–9; Hosea 13:2

Forms and Transliterations
פְּקַֽחְיָ֨ה פְּקַחְיָ֥ה פְקַחְיָ֖ה פקחיה fekachYah pə·qaḥ·yāh p̄ə·qaḥ·yāh pekachYah pəqaḥyāh p̄əqaḥyāh
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
2 Kings 15:22
HEB: אֲבֹתָ֑יו וַיִּמְלֹ֛ךְ פְּקַחְיָ֥ה בְנ֖וֹ תַּחְתָּֽיו׃
NAS: with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son
KJV: with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son
INT: his fathers became and Pekahiah his son his place

2 Kings 15:23
HEB: יְהוּדָ֑ה מָ֠לַךְ פְּקַֽחְיָ֨ה בֶן־ מְנַחֵ֧ם
NAS: king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem
KJV: of Judah Pekahiah the son
INT: of Judah became Pekahiah son of Menahem

2 Kings 15:26
HEB: וְיֶ֛תֶר דִּבְרֵ֥י פְקַחְיָ֖ה וְכָל־ אֲשֶׁ֣ר
NAS: of the acts of Pekahiah and all
KJV: of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did,
INT: now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah and all he

3 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 6494
3 Occurrences


p̄ə·qaḥ·yāh — 1 Occ.
pə·qaḥ·yāh — 2 Occ.

6493
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