King Pekahiah (Israel)

Pekahiah son of Menahem succeeded his father in Samaria and reigned two years, inheriting a kingdom that paid heavy tribute to Assyria. According to 2 Kings 15:23–26, he kept up the worship of Jeroboam's golden calves. His officer Pekah son of Remaliah, backed by fifty men of Gilead, killed him in the citadel of the royal palace, along with men named Argob and Arieh, and took the throne.

Many historians see the coup as the victory of an anti-Assyrian faction: Pekah soon allied with Rezin of Damascus against Assyria and attacked Judah when it refused to join them, setting off the Syro-Ephraimite War and Tiglath-pileser III's devastating campaigns of −734 to −732. Pekahiah was the last king of Israel to inherit the throne from his father; every king after him took it by force or by Assyrian appointment.