🔼The name Pekahiah: Summary
- Meaning
- Yah Is An Eye-Opener, Yah Makes Able To See
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb פקח (paqah), to open the eyes or ears, and (2) יה (yah), the abbreviated form of the name YHWH.
🔼The name Pekahiah in the Bible
There is only one man named Pekahiah in the Bible and he plays a role only in 2 Kings 15:22-26. Pekahiah is the son and successor of the evil king Menahem of Israel who reigned for two years starting in the fiftieth year of king Azariah of Judah. King Pekahiah is classified as an evil king, who did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam.
Pekahiah is murdered by an officer of his own staff, a man named Pekah son of Remaliah. Note that the names Pekah and Pekahiah stem from the same verb and that this verb yields no other names than just these two.
🔼Etymology of the name Pekahiah
The name Pekahiah consists of two elements. The first part comes from the verb פקח (paqah), to open the eyes or ears:
פקח
The verb פקח (paqah) means to open the eyes or ears, to be physically able to see or hear, which is the first step toward understanding and obeying. The adjective פקח (piqeah), means "opened" in the sense of seeing (or hearing).
The second part of our name is יה (yah), which is an abbreviated form of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH, or Yahweh.
🔼Pekahiah meaning
For a meaning of the name Pekahiah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List and BDB Theological Dictionary have Yahweh Hath Opened (The Eyes). Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Opening Of The Lord.