Song of Deborah as Polemic 13 demonstrated in “the heights of the field” further confirms that it is the tribes’ battle conduct that is in view. For not only is hdç often the place where battles are fought (32), as Lindars points out, the very fact that the two tribes dared to come down and exposed themselves in open country, knowing that it would make them easy target for Sisera’s chariots, is what made their valour so commendable (33). These observations thus seem to support the argument that, contrary to what most believe, the battle narrative actually does not begin at v. 19 but at v. 18. To be sure, such an interpretation is open to being criticised as “hyper-literal” (34). Halpern even argues that it is precisely such a literal interpretation of v. 18 that led the author of Judg 4 to wrongly infer that it is only Zebulun and Naphtali that participated in the actual battle (35). But the insistence that v. 18 belongs with what precedes is also not without difficulty. For even if one grants Halpern’s contention that the tribes in vv. 15d-17 are presented not as refusing to participate but as participating, there is still the question of why commendations for Zebulun would occur in two separate places if vv. 14-18 actually constitutes a single rhetorical unit that focuses on all who participated. And if, contrary to Halpern, the tribes in vv. 15d-17 are in fact presented as refusing to participate, then it is even more puzzling that the two praises for Zebulun are separated both by Issachar, another participating tribe, and a list of non-participating tribes. But this would no longer pose a problem if v. 18 is not counted as part of the preceding tribal roll call, but as part of the following battle narrative. For then, the twice mentioning of Zebulun can easily be explained since the second reference to the tribe with Naphtali in v. 18 marks a new rhetorical unit and thus serves a different rhetorical function from its earlier reference in v. 14 (36). (32) See Josh 8,24; Judg 9,43-44; 20,31; 1 Sam 4,2; 14,15; 2 Sam 10,8; 11,23; 18,6. GRAY, “Israel”, 439, n. 60, actually sees the term as referring specifically to the battleground in this context. (33) LINDARS, Judges, 264-265. (34) R.S. KAWASHIMA, “From Song to Story: The Genesis of Narrative in Judges 4 and 5”, Prooftexts 21 (2001) 156. (35) HALPERN, “Resourceful”, 390. (36) Admittedly, this would still leave open the question as to why Naphtali has not been included in the tribal roll call of vv. 14-17. While no easy solution is available, perhaps the mention of Barak in v. 15 goes some distance towards filling the gap. After all, Barak was himself a Naphtalite, and in this respect, his presence could conceivably be seen as representative of the tribe’s participation.