14 Peter Dubovsk´ y Second, in analyzing 2 Kgs 18–19 I argued, as do scholars, that there is a change of style in 2 Kgs 18,17. This change of style is usually explained as a result of the combination of sources A and B. Third, I suggested that this combination of sources as well as the “distortion” of the overall historical picture can be explained as a literary device employed by the biblical writers to point out the reasons for the fall of Assyria. Fourth, after studying the context of 2 Kgs 18–19 I suggested that we should interpret the fall of Assyria in the light of the punishment inflicted upon Samaria. Finally, by analyzing Isaiah’s taunt song, I pointed out the novelty of the prophet Isaiah’s interpretation of the Assyrian downfall. According to Isaiah’s song the real cause of the Assyrians’ downfall was their hubris. Since this hubris according to the Law required the death penalty, then it was only a question of time when it would take place. From this point of view, it really did not matter whether the fall of Assyria took place some decades later; what really mattered was to understand why it happened (37). This model for presenting historical data emphasizes the interpretation of historical events more than the exactness of their description. Thus, the presentation of the Assyrian collapse can be seen as one type of ancient historiography. In order to capture the dynamics of this historiographic technique I suggest employing the concept representation (38). In the historiography of representation (39) events are interpreted (37) The mention of Isaiah’s prophecy on the liberation of Judah from the hands of Assyria, coming as it does after the murder of Sennacherib (2 Kgs 20,6), suggests that the biblical writers were aware of the fact that the ultimate fall of Assyria had not yet taken place. (38) René Girard successfully used this concept to explain atrocities committed against the Jews in France. His study of Guillaume de Machaut’s poetry is an example of how medieval society projected upon the Jews crimes they had never committed such as incest, the profanation of hosts, the murder of children, etc. This projection then justified attacks upon Jewish communities in 14th c. A.D. According to Girard’s study a similar projection of cultural, sexual, and religious crimes upon one group became a pattern, which can be easily identified in all kinds of pogroms plaguing mankind from antiquity until the present day; R. GIRARD, Le Bouc Émissaire (Paris 1982) 5-35. (39) For the theoretical discussion of this type of historiography see I.W. PROVAN, 1&2 Kings (Sheffield 1997) 45-67; J.B. KOFOED, Text and History. Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text (Winona Lake, IN 2005) 242- 245.