10 Peter Dubovsk´ y status of the victims in this poem is also underlined by the fact that they are never allowed to speak up in this song. They cannot resist Assyrian might, they tremble, and are ashamed. The author describes their helpless situation by means of powerful metaphors comparing the nations to the plants of the field and grass on the housetops blighted before it has grown (2 Kgs 19,26). God’s interpretation: The next subject of the dialogue with Sennacherib is God. God interprets Assyrian behavior in the taunt song twice: once in the form of a rhetorical question and once in the form of a statement. God’s first interpretation (rhetorical question) confirms the victims’ reading of the events. The destruction of the nations by the Assyrian troops is part of God’s plan determined a long time ago. According to this interpretation the nations stand helpless before the Assyrian destroyers because God has so decided (2 Kgs 19,25). God’s second interpretation (statement) corrects the Assyrian reading of the events. God claims his suzerainty over history, including that of Assyria. Because the Assyrians overstepped the boundaries, their withdrawal from Judah is interpreted as a corrective measure taken by the Lord of history to rein in the boastful invaders (2 Kgs 19,27-28). Judah’s (Isaiah’s) interpretation: The taunt song depicts Judah as a nation that stands out among the humiliated nations. She is called “the daughter of Jerusalem” (2 Kgs 19,21) who not only is not scared but also dares to mock the Assyrians. This part of the taunt song (2 Kgs 19,21-23) interprets Assyrian behavior as an act of blasphemy. The accusation directed against Assyria starts with verb πrj in piel (2 Kgs 19,22) meaning “to taunt”. Hezekiah also uses the same verb to interpret Assyrian behavior (2 Kgs 19,4.16). Whereas Hezekiah interprets this verb as a synonym of the verb jky in hifil (2 Kgs 19,4) meaning “to rebuke, to reproach”, the prophet Isaiah interprets it as a synonym of the verb πdg (2 Kgs 19,6.22; Ps 44,17). The introduction of the verb πdg radically changes the interpretation of Assyrian behavior. The verb πdg in Num 15,30-31 describes intentional crimes distinguishing it from unintentional crimes (Num 15,27-29). Thus the prophet Isaiah shifts the interpretation of Assyrian hubris from the realm of a reproach (unintentional crime) to the realm of a deliberate offence to God (intentional crime), which according to the Law must be punished by death (28). On the contrary, Hezekiah’s reading of (28) The Assyrian offence is also underlined by the verb verb µwr (19,22) that occurs in the same legal case discussing the deliberate sin (Nm 15,30).