Pekah
Pe’kah (open-eyed), son of Remaliah, originally a captain of Pekahiah king of Israel, murdered his master, seized the throne, and became the 18th sovereign of the northern kingdom, b.c. 757–740. Under his predecessors Israel had been much weakened through the payment of enormous tribute to the Assyrians (see especially 2 Kings 15:20), and by internal wars and conspiracies. Pekah seems to have steadily applied himself to the restoration of its power. For this purpose he contracted a foreign alliance, and fixed his mind on the plunder of the sister kingdom of Judah. He must have made the treaty by which he proposed to share its spoil with Rezin king of Damascus, when Jotham was still on the throne of Jerusalem, 2 Kings 15:37; but its execution was long delayed, probably in consequence of that prince’s righteous and vigorous administration. 2 Chron. 27. When, however, his weak son Ahaz succeeded to the crown of David, the allies no longer hesitated, but entered upon the siege of Jerusalem, b.c. 742. The history of the war is found in 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chron. 28. It is famous as the occasion of the great prophecies in Isa. 7–9. Its chief result was the Jewish port of Elath on the Red Sea; but the unnatural alliance of Damascus and Samaria was punished through the complete overthrow of the ferocious confederates by Tiglath-pileser. The kingdom of Damascus was finally suppressed and Rezin put to death, while Pekah was deprived of at least half his kingdom, including all the northern portion and the whole district to the east of Jordan. Pekah himself, now fallen into the position of an Assyrian vassal, was of course compelled to abstain from further attacks on Judah. Whether his continued tyranny exhausted the patience of his subjects, or whether his weakness emboldened them to attack him, is not known; but, from one or the other cause, Hoshea the son of Elah conspired against him and put him to death.