01_Dubovský_321_346 28/10/14 10:32 Pagina 333 WHY DID THE NORTHERN KINGDOM FALL? 333 used a literary form of “invasion report” 28. This literary form in contrast to the fixed literary formula of coup d’état (see above) is not determined primarily by linguistic elements but rather by the- matic features. For our purposes it is necessary not only to see what the structure of this literary form is, but above all to compare two invasion reports. The first Assyrian invasion took place during Menahem’s reign (2 Kgs 15,19-20) and the second during Pekah’s reign (2 Kgs 15,29). These concise reports, however, display dif- ferences which point to another factor contributing to the collapse of the Northern Kingdom: the gradual loss of executive power. These dynamics can be revealed by means of the analysis of bibli- cal heroes, in particular by studying the grammatical subjects and objects of the verbs in both invasion reports. First invasion (2 Kgs 15,19-20) #r rWVa; %l,m, bv'Yw: Pul=TP III Second invasion (2 Kgs 15,29) rWVa; %l,m, rs,al, P. i tl;gT> i aB' laerf.y-I %l,m, xq;P, ymeyBii Introduction Pekah rAcx'-ta,w> vd x:Any-ta,w> hk'[m] -; tyBe lbea-' ta,w> !AY[i-ta, xQ;YwI : TP III hrWVa; ~legY> w: : yliTp' n. : #r d['lG. hI -; ta,w> 28 LONG, 2 Kings, 171.