12 Gregory T.K. Wong Barak, but also as following Barak’s lead in heading down into the valley where the battle would take place (29). However, up to this point, actual engagement with the enemy has yet to occur. But right at this point, when one almost expects next to hear about the battle itself, perhaps to create suspense, the battle scene is delayed as the focus suddenly shifts away from the activities of the participating tribes to those that had chosen a different response. Instead of volunteering themselves for battle, this second group of tribes chose to stay home. Here in vv. 15d-17, the verbs bçy and ˆkç appear twice and rwg once, thus signalling an inactivity that contrasts with the previous group that came down (dry) from their various regions (30). But if the focus of vv. 14-17 is indeed on the participation or lack thereof of the various tribes leading up to the actual battle, then a case can be made that the battle narrative actually begins in v. 18. For unlike vv. 14-17, the focus of v. 18 seems no longer to be just on the fact of participation leading up to battle but on the manner of participation during battle. After all, Zebulun and Naphtali are said in v. 18 to be scorning life to the point of death, and if that speaks of the tribes’ valour, it is a valour observable mainly during battle and not before (31). In fact, that such valour is specifically said to be (29) It is noteworthy that in the prose account, Deborah apparently did not take part in the actual battle. After she gave the final rallying cry on Mount Tabor in Judg 4,14, it was only Barak and the ten thousand men with him who headed down into the valley to engage with the enemy. In this regard, one can argue that, even though Issachar is not specifically mentioned in Judges 4, the presence of the tribe with both Deborah and Barak and the subsequent mention of it heading down into the valley with Barak in Judg 5,15a-c may correlate with the precise moment depicted in Judg 4,14 leading up to the actually battle. (30) Here, B. HALPERN, “The Resourceful Israelite Historian: The Song of Deborah and Israelite Historiography”, HTR 76 (1983) 381-396, argues that the tribes in vv. 15d-17 are in fact not presented as refusing to participate, but as having participated in battle. But even if one grants some of HALPERN’s arguments, it is still puzzling as to why normally static verbs like bçy and ˆkç would be used in v.17 to indicate participation. Besides, in a stanza that HALPERN himself notices is dominated by martial language, a lyrical understanding of these verses as focusing on the tribes’ dwelling places seems out of place and lacking in harmony with the stanza’s overall tenor. (31) Here, yltpnw in v. 18 is understood to imply that Naphtali also acted the same way as Zebulun did, scorning life to the point of death. The phrase hdç ymwrm l[ is then understood as providing the setting where such acts of valour are displayed by both tribes during battle. Incidentally, this understanding of 5.18 as taking place during actual battle is also shared by A. GLOBE, “The Muster of the Tribes in Judges 5:11e-18”, ZAW 87 (1975) 177.