Song of Deborah as Polemic 15 Note, furthermore, that the beauty of such an arrangement is that in every section that makes up this chiastic structure, some form of doubling or pairing up of complementary elements is discernible. Thus, in A and B, the tribes Issachar and Reuben are both mentioned twice in their respective sections. In C and C’, two participating tribes and two forces of nature, all fighting on YHWH’s sides, are also brought into focus. Finally, in B’ and A’, Meroz and Jael are twice cursed and twice blessed respectively. Thus, in this understanding of the way vv. 14-24 is structured, the literary skill and artistry of the song’s author is amply demonstrated (38). Incidentally, this new structural understanding of vv. 14-24 does not diminish at all the argument that a significant rhetorical purpose of the song is to serve as a polemic against non-participation. For although the structural centre for the section comprising vv. 14-24 is now focused on how human and non-human participants together contributed to victory over the enemy, the fact that this centre is flanked on both sides by references to those who did not participate, which in turn are bracketed by commendations of those who did, seem clearly to highlight participation versus non-participation as the single most significant issue within this section. In fact, one can argue that even the focus on the involvement of both human and non-human participants at the centre of this section is fundamentally polemical in purpose. For as has been pointed out earlier, if even nature participated together with humans to bring about a decisive victory against the enemy, then those who refused to participate and contribute to such a victory for YHWH’s cause are indeed justifiably rebuked and cursed. So far, in the above attempt to argue that a significant rhetorical purpose of Deborah’s song is polemical, I have shown that the refrain in v. 2 and v. 9 as well as a substantial portion of the song in vv. 10-24 seem to focus on the tribes’ participation or lack thereof. But is the remaining material within the song compatible with such a polemical reading? In the first major section of the song in vv. 2-8, after the opening refrain in v. 2 and the call to listen in v. 3 as praises are sung to YHWH, vv. 4-5 is generally regarded as depicting YHWH’s theophany. Admittedly, in this theophanic description, there is neither explicit (38) Note too, that this repetitive doubling or pairing up of complementary elements also fit well with what one would expect of compositions that were initially passed on orally, such as a song. For such features would facilitate memorisation before the composition was recorded in writing.