[page 289]

This sudden shift back to Assyria after the Babylonian poems demands an explanation, especially since it is without title or heading; in fact his kind of oath formula usually follows an indictment or prediction of some kind (e.g., 5:9-10 following 5:8; 22:14 following 22:12-13). While it is possible that the present arrangement came about by accident or as a result of sloppy editing, it is more likely that it was deliberate and designed to make the point that the destruction of Babylon represents the fulfillment of the anti-Assyrian prophecies. The reader is also being told once again that the prophetic message about Assyria provides the key for interpreting the course of events during the rise and fall of the Babylonian Empire. Babylonians replaced Assyrians, but from the point of view of the prophetic interpretation of history there is no difference; all imperial pretensions fall under the same judgment.