01_Dubovský_321_346 28/10/14 10:32 Pagina 326 326 PETER DUBOVSKÝ d’état that took place in the Northern Kingdom. Consequently the real number of the coups d’état could have been different. When the seventh coup d’état occurred, the instability of the Northern Kingdom reached its peak. Moreover, an interesting accumulation of coups d’état can also be observed. While the first three coups d’état are spread over al- most 200 years, the last four took place within 20 years. Thus, the instability of the Northern Kingdom culminated in a geometrical progression. A kingdom exposed to four coups d’état within a span of 20 years is hardly able to absorb them in such a short period of time. On the other hand, the long description of Jehu’s conspiracy and bloodshed gives the reader a good idea of how much blood must have been shed in those last 20 years. In conclusion, by means of this literary device the biblical text points to the first cause of the downfall of Samaria. The instability of the Northern Kingdom, caused by frequent conspiracies and re- volts, reached its peak, and consequently it was only a question of time before the entire kingdom would also reach its end. II. Gradual deterioration of the kingdom The preceding analysis shows that the narrator in order to un- derline the impending fall of the Northern Kingdom in chapter 15 accumulated four coups d’état and described them by means of a stereotyped formula. This formula forms a skeleton upon which some additional comments (marked below) are hung. In order to bring out these comments, which I believe bespeak further reasons for the fall of the Northern Kingdom, I will investigate three ele- ments that vary in the stereotyped formula in the case of the first three coups d’état: the place of conspiracy and the type of usurpers on the one hand and the narration time on the other. Shallum’s coup d’état (15,10): wyT'x.T; %l{m.YIw: Whteymiy>w: ~['-l.b'q' WhKeY:w: vbey-!B, ~Luv; wyl'[' rvoq.YIw: Menahem’s coup d’état (15,14): hc'r>Timi ydIG-!B, ~xen:m. l[;Y:w: wyT'x.T; %l{m.YIw: Whteymiy>w: !Arm.voB. vybey-!B, ~WLv;-ta, %Y:w: !Arm.vo aboYw: