Remaliah

Biblical Record

Remaliah was the father of Pekah, king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Scripture records nothing about Remaliah's own life or deeds. His name appears only in the phrase "Pekah the son of Remaliah," which identifies his son.

• In 2 Kings 15:25, Pekah kills King Pekahiah in the royal palace at Samaria and takes the throne. The verse describes "Pekah the son of Remaliah" as the king's captain, a military commander who attended the king. The title refers to Pekah, not to Remaliah.
• 2 Kings 15:27, 15:30, 15:32, 15:37, 16:1, and 16:5 record Pekah's accession and reign, the chronology linking his reign with those of the Judean kings Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz, his attack on Judah together with Rezin king of Aram, and his assassination by Hoshea the son of Elah.
• 2 Chronicles 28:6 states that "Pekah the son of Remaliah" attacked Judah and killed many valiant men.

In the book of Isaiah, chapters 7 and 8 contain passages that refer to Pekah only as "the son of Remaliah," without naming him.

Significance in Scripture

The name Remaliah serves to identify Pekah, following the ancient Israelite custom of distinguishing a person by his father's name. In the books of Kings, it appears in passages recording the turmoil of the northern kingdom's final years, when one usurpation of the throne followed another. In Isaiah, it appears against the background of the alliance between Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel that threatened Judah. The New Testament does not mention Remaliah.

Interpretation and Debate

In Isaiah 7, the prophet Isaiah refers to Pekah as "the son of Remaliah" rather than by name, and many commentators read this as a disparaging way of referring to the king. Some go further and conjecture that Remaliah came from an ordinary, non-royal family. This, however, is only an interpretation; Scripture does not directly state Remaliah's status or origin. Scholars also differ on the meaning of the name.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version, the name is spelled differently in Isaiah than in Kings and Chronicles. In Korean churches, Remaliah is rarely treated as a subject in his own right in sermons or Sunday school lessons. He is mentioned mainly as background when the Immanuel prophecy of Isaiah 7 is discussed, since "the son of Remaliah" was one of the rulers threatening King Ahaz of Judah.