Song of Deborah as Polemic 21 corresponding increase in harshness on the part of Israel’s judges in response to that reluctance (47). That having said, however, one should also note that even though the motivation was present for the author/redactor of the book to compose a song the polemic of which fits perfectly into the rhetorical schema he was constructing for the book as a whole, it is nonetheless inexplicable that he would resort to an elaborate piece of poetry when it would have been far easier for him to work that polemic into the prose account. Thus, it seems more likely that the author/redactor of Judges in fact did not compose the song himself, but was incorporating into his work a pre-existing composition that happened to fit his overall rhetorical goal. Still other ostensible settings have been proposed for the Song of Deborah. Soggin and Lindars, for example, both favour an early monarchical setting for the song on the basis of linguistic evidence (48). Levin, on the other hand, furnishing both linguistic and literary arguments, favours a post-exilic date of composition (49). While detailed discussion of these and other proposals may have to await a more opportune time, what needs be pointed out, however, is that in evaluating the relative merits of any proposal related to date of composition, other than linguistic and literary considerations, one should also not overlook the importance of a credible real-life setting from which a composition might arise, given what can be discerned about its rhetorical purpose. Thus, for our current discussion, for example, if the main rhetorical purpose of the Song of Deborah is indeed to serve as a polemic against Israelite non-participation in military campaigns against external enemies, then it would render it less likely that the song might have been composed during the early monarchy. For evidence from the book of Samuel seems to suggest that during that period, Israelites and their tribes were generally united behind their kings and were willing and frequent participants in military campaigns against foreign enemies(50). While to be sure, isolated exceptions must have existed, these do not (47) For more details regarding the role the Song of Deborah plays in the portrayal of deterioration within the book of Judges, see G.T.K.WONG, The Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges. An Inductive, Rhetorical Study (VTS 111; Leiden 2006) 176-180. (48) SOGGIN, Judges, 80-81, 93-94; LINDARS, Judges, 213-215. (49) LEVIN “Das Alter”, 124-141. (50) See, for example, 1 Sam 11,6-8; 14,20-22; 17,1-3; 28,4; 2 Sam 10,7-19; 11,1; 24,1-9.