Pekahiah

Pekahiah son of Menahem reigned two years over Israel from Samaria and was killed in his own palace by his captain Pekah. The whole notice fits in five verses at the close of the Menahem dynasty in 2 Kings 15.

Succession from Menahem

The reign opens at the death of his father: "And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead" (2 Kings 15:22). The throne passes from father to son in the ordinary way, and the regnal formula follows: "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" (2 Kings 15:23). Two years; capital at Samaria; synchronized to the fiftieth year of Azariah of Judah.

Evaluation

The judgment placed on him is the standing evaluation of the northern kings: "And he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin" (2 Kings 15:24). The reign is read against Jeroboam's pattern; Pekahiah did not turn from it.

Conspiracy and Death

The end comes from inside his own household guard. His captain becomes his killer: "And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him, and struck 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 in his stead" (2 Kings 15:25). The setting is precise — Samaria, the castle of the king's house — and the strike-force is named: Argob and Arieh, with fifty Gileadites. The captain becomes king.

Chronicle Notice

The closing formula points beyond the brief paragraph: "Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, look, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel" (2 Kings 15:26). What scripture preserves of him is the succession, the two-year reign, the evaluation, and the assassination; the rest is consigned to the source the writer of Kings drew from.