Bible Figure
Pekahiah
Pekahiah son of Menahem was king of northern Israel for two years before being assassinated by his officer Pekah.
Biography
Pekahiah succeeded his father Menahem and continued the sins of Jeroboam. Pekah son of Remaliah, one of his chief officers, conspired against him and attacked him in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria with a group of men from Gilead. Pekah killed Pekahiah and became king. The account is brief but belongs to the sequence of violent coups preceding Israel's fall.
Biblical Significance
Pekahiah's short reign reinforces the picture of a kingdom losing internal stability as Assyrian power grew and covenant unfaithfulness continued.