Assyrian downfall through Isaiah’s eyes (2 Kings 15–23) 5 of Ashurbanipal’s reign (12) and in 612 B.C. the Babylonians and Medes invaded Niniveh. III. Distorted picture? Comparing the events reconstructed on the basis of the Neo- Assyrian sources with the narrative of 2 Kgs, we can identify the work of Judahite scribes in the biblical account. The narrative of 2 Kgs skips the first and the last periods of Assyrian expansion, which indicates the biblical writers were not interested in presenting the comprehensive picture of Assyrian expansion, but presented Assyria only when it intervened in the political and religious development of Israel and Judah (13). Furthermore, a detailed reconstruction of the political history of Assyria and Israel shows that there are problems not only in the presentation of some details (14), but also that the larger picture of Assyrian expansion as presented in 2 Kgs is problematic. According to the Assyrian sources Sennacherib’s unsuccessful attack on Jerusalem did not mark the end of Neo-Assyrian expansion. On the contrary, Assyrian territorial expansion reached its climax only during the 7th c. B.C., i.e. after the campaign in 701 B.C. At the time when the biblical account suggests that the Assyrians disappeared from the political scene, the Assyrians in fact were the rulers of the entire ancient Near East, Judah included. The decline of the Assyrian Empire started some decades later and Judah played no role in it. Thus, we can rightly ask a question: Why did the authors of 2 Kgs “distort” the historical picture? The answer to this question can be found in theological comments with which the biblical writers encoded their way of reading history. The first three passages (2 Kgs 15,17-21.27-31; 16,1-9) contain no theological comment except the note that the kings did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kgs 15,18.28; 16,2). The Assyrians are presented as a real political power able to support loyal kings or to punish their disloyalty. However, such support was not offered for free (2 Kgs 15,19-20; 16,8). (12) J. PEC ÍRKOVÁ, “Assurbanipal and the Downfall of the Empire”, ArOr 64 ˇ (1996) 157-162. (13) P. MACHINIST, “The Fall of Assyria in Comparative Ancient Perspective”, Assyria 1995. Proceedings of the 10th Anniversary Symposium of the Neo- Assyrian Text Corpus Project Helsinki, September 7-11, 1995 (ed. R.M. WHITING) (Helsinki 1997) 179-195. (14) Such as telescoping Shalmaneser’s and Sargon’s conquest of Samaria into one account or the question of Pharaoh Tirhaqah in 2 Kgs 19,8.