Hebrew word · H7425

רְמַלְיָ֜הוּ

remalyahu

Remaliah

A patronymic, meaning someone identified by his father's name: 'son of Remaliah'. On its own a patronymic can be neutral, but Isaiah never once names Pekah in this chapter (7:1 is the narrator).

Appears 13 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the Kingdom of Israel, living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Ki.15.25;

father of: Pekah (H6492)

§ Remaliah = "protected by Jehovah"

father of king Pekah of the northern kingdom of Israel

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 7:9

Range of meaning

A patronymic, meaning someone identified by his father's name: 'son of Remaliah'. On its own a patronymic can be neutral, but Isaiah never once names Pekah in this chapter (7:1 is the narrator).

Against the English

BSB, KJV and the other versions all keep 'son of Remaliah', which is right. Few readers notice the snub.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same contemptuous style appears in 1 Sam 20:27–31, where Saul repeatedly calls David 'the son of Jesse' to belittle him. Pekah was an army officer who murdered King Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:25), so he had no royal father.

From the study of Isaiah 7:5

Range of meaning

'Son of Remaliah' is a patronymic, naming a man by his father. It was normal in formal and documentary Hebrew. Used without the personal name, especially of a ruler, it can belittle the person (1 Samuel 20:27, 31; 22:7–9; 25:10, where 'son of Jesse' is said with scorn).

Against the English

Most versions keep 'the son of Remaliah'. A paraphrase that turns it into 'the king of Israel' or 'Pekah' gives the right identification but loses the pointed way Isaiah refers to him.

Used elsewhere in the period

Pekah son of Remaliah was a captain who killed Pekahiah son of Menahem and seized the throne of Samaria (2 Kings 15:25–27). Isaiah refers to him only as 'son of Remaliah' throughout 7:1–9 and 8:6. Verse 9 puts it pointedly: 'the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah'.

Where it appears

2 Kings · 7

  1. 2 Kings 15:25 רְמַלְיָ֜הוּ Remaliah

    Then his officer, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him along with Argob, Arieh, and fifty men of Gilead. And at the citadel of the king’s palace in Samaria, Pekah struck down and killed Pekahiah and reigned in his place.

  2. 2 Kings 15:27 רְמַלְיָ֧הוּ Remaliah

    In the fifty-second year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twenty years.

  3. 2 Kings 15:30 רְמַלְיָ֔הוּ Remaliah

    Then Hoshea son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. In the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah, Hoshea attacked Pekah, killed him, and reigned in his place.

  4. 2 Kings 15:32 רְמַלְיָ֖הוּ Remaliah

    In the second year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah over Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king of Judah.

  5. 2 Kings 15:37 רְמַלְיָֽהוּ׃ Remaliah

    (In those days the LORD began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.)

  6. 2 Kings 16:1 רְמַלְיָ֑הוּ Remaliah

    In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.

  7. 2 Kings 16:5 רְמַלְיָ֧הוּ Remaliah

    Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 28:6 רְמַלְיָ֜הוּ Remaliah

    For in one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 valiant men in Judah. This happened because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers.

    Here: Pekah's father, otherwise unknown. The name ends with a short form of YHWH, but what the first part means is uncertain.

Isaiah · 5

  1. Isaiah 7:1 רְמַלְיָ֤הוּ Remaliah

    Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.

    Here: Pekah's father, otherwise unknown. Unlike Ahaz's line, Pekah's has no royal pedigree.

  2. Isaiah 7:4 רְמַלְיָֽהוּ׃ Remaliah

    and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.

    Here: Pekah's father, otherwise unknown. Pekah took the throne by assassination (2 Kings 15:25).

  3. Isaiah 7:5 רְמַלְיָ֖הוּ Remaliah

    For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying:

    Here: Father of Pekah, who took Israel's throne by assassinating King Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:25). No royal line stands behind the name, and that quietly reminds the hearer that Pekah has no dynasty, unlike the house of David he plans to overthrow.

  4. Isaiah 7:9 רְמַלְיָ֑הוּ Remaliah

    The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”

    Here: Father of Pekah, who seized the throne of Israel by assassination (2 Kings 15:25). Naming the father rather than the king marks Pekah as a usurper with no dynasty. The silent contrast is Judah's 'son of David'.

  5. Isaiah 8:6 רְמַלְיָֽהוּ׃ Remaliah

    “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

    Here: Father of Pekah, the northern Israelite king who had seized the throne in a coup (2 Kgs 15:25). Isaiah never names Pekah in chapters 7–8.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.