Category:Pekah

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Pekah - Open-eyed, the son of Remaliah a captain in the army of Pekahiah, king of Israel, whom he slew, with the aid of a band of Gileadites, and succeeded (758 B.C.) on the throne (2 Kings 15:25). Seventeen years after this he entered into an alliance with Rezin, king of Syria, and took part with him in besieging Jerusalem (2 Kings 15:37; 2 Kings 16:5). But Tiglath-pilser, who was in alliance with Ahaz, king of Judah, came up against Pekah, and carried away captive many of the inhabitants of his kingdom (2 Kings 15:29). This was the beginning of the "Captivity." Soon after this Pekah was put to death by Hoshea, the son of Elah, who usurped the throne (2 Kings 15:30; 2 Kings 16:1. Compare Isaiah 7:16; Isaiah 8:4; Isaiah 9:12). He is supposed by some to have been the "shepherd" mentioned in Zechariah 11:16.