Pekod
Pekod is a region mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq. Known today as mouth of Nahr al Kassarah. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Pekod was an Aramean tribal territory in eastern Mesopotamia that appears twice in the Old Testament, both times in prophetic oracles of judgment. In Jeremiah 50:21, God commands the forces of judgment to attack Pekod alongside Merathaim (meaning "double rebellion") in the context of prophecy against Babylon: "Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and devote to destruction after them." The name Pekod itself may carry a wordplay on the Hebrew word paqad, meaning "to visit" or "to punish," suggesting divine visitation of judgment. In Ezekiel 23:23, Pekod is listed among the Babylonian, Chaldean, and Assyrian peoples who had been Oholibah's (Jerusalem's) lovers and would become her destroyers: "the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them." In both contexts, Pekod represents one of the eastern Mesopotamian peoples whom God would use as instruments of judgment before themselves falling under divine retribution, illustrating the biblical theme that God sovereignly directs the rise and fall of all nations.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Pekod is identified with the Puqudu, an Aramean tribe well attested in Assyrian cuneiform records from the eighth and seventh centuries BC. The Puqudu inhabited the region east of the Tigris River, near the mouth of the Nahr al-Kassarah, in what is now southeastern Iraq. Assyrian annals from Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, and Sennacherib record military campaigns against the Puqudu, who were often in rebellion against Assyrian authority. Cuneiform administrative texts mention Puqudu members serving in the Assyrian military and bureaucracy. The tribal territory lay in the marshy lowlands between the Tigris and the Zagros foothills, a region difficult to control and historically a refuge for semi-nomadic groups. Archaeological survey in this area has been limited due to modern political instability, though Assyriological evidence firmly establishes the historical reality of the Puqudu people.
Verse Appearances (2)
Jer
Ezek
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →