1. The ancestry of Ahaz is longer than usual in the midst of a narrative and suggests that we here have the start of an independent literary unit. Nonetheless, in the nearer context, the reference back as far as Uzziah serves to link this chapter to the previous one (see 6:1). As outlined above, it is likely that, as with the parallel in 2 Kings 16, this ‘invasion’ should be linked with the desire of the northern states to forge an anti-Assyrian alliance. Assyrian campaigns in the Levant during the