triumph induced by the military successes of Jeroboam II and Uzziah (see 2 Kings 14:23–25; 2 Chron. 26:6–8) (the point is echoed in Amos 6:13). This had led to a complacent sense of security, and, in particular, a blindness to the increasing military threat posed by Assyria. Verse 2 is puzzling and the subject of a good deal of spilt ink in the commentaries! It may be best understood as an echo of the words of the leadership’s spin doctors in their propaganda of military success and security. It