Pekah

King Ahaz hears that two armies are coming for Jerusalem, and his heart shakes “as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.” Pekah, son of Remaliah, rules the northern kingdom of Israel and has joined Syria against Judah. Through Isaiah, God tells Ahaz to “Take heed, and be quiet; fear not,” and the plot will not stand. Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign, so one is given anyway: a child called Immanuel. Isaiah 7 and 8 hold the whole scene, and the warning in 7:9 about believing is worth pausing on.

23 verses

Isaiah

Isaiah 7:1

And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

Isaiah 7:2

And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

Isaiah 7:3

Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;

Isaiah 7:4

And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Isaiah 7:5

Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

Isaiah 7:6

Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

Isaiah 7:7

Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

Isaiah 7:8

For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

Isaiah 7:9

And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

Isaiah 7:10

Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

Isaiah 7:11

Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

Isaiah 7:12

But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.

Isaiah 7:13

And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:15

Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

Isaiah 7:16

For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Isaiah 8:4

For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

Isaiah 8:5

The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,

Isaiah 8:6

Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

Isaiah 8:7

Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

Isaiah 8:8

And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

Isaiah 8:9

Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

Isaiah 8:10

Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

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 (B.C. 758) 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; 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; 16:1-9. Comp. Isa. 7:16; 8:4; 9:12). He is supposed by some to have been the “shephard” mentioned in Zech. 11:16.

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(open-eyed), son of Remaliah, originally a captain of Pekaiah 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 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 10:37) but its execution was long delayed, probably in consequence of that prince’s righteous and vigorous administration. (2 Chronicles 27:1) ... 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 2Kin 13 and 2Chr 28. It is famous as the occasion of the great prophecies in Isai 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.