14 Gregory T.K. Wong Furthermore, an additional advantage in taking v. 18 with what follows is that it would then give the Israelite contingent a role in the actual battle narrative. Otherwise, the battle narrative usually seen as comprising vv. 19-22 would feature only natural forces against the enemy but would be devoid of human participants on the Israelite side. Given the emphasis throughout much of the song on the tribes’ participation or lack thereof, plus the fact that it was actually the victories of both YHWH and His people that was being celebrated in v. 11c, it would be puzzling, to say the least, if the tribes that have featured so prominently before and after the battle narrative are actually not featured at all within the battle narrative (37). But if the battle narrative does begin with v. 18, then the two tribes participating valiantly on YHWH’s side would provide the perfect human counterpart to the foreign kings in battle, while natural forces such as the stars and the Kishon River would function as a counterpart to the kings’ horses. This would thus allow vv. 18-22 to be understood also as two parallel panels: vv. 18-19 focusing on the human participants in battle, and vv. 20-22 focusing on the non-human participants. And inasmuch as two tribes played a role in preventing the enemy kings from taking any plunder or silver, two natural forces also played a role in bringing the kings’ horses, and by extension, their entire army, into disarray. Taken together with the stanzas that immediately precede and follow, an overall chiastic arrangement of three parallel panels encompassing the whole of vv. 14-24 can thus be seen as follows: A. Roll Call of tribes that participated in the military campaign (vv. 14-15a). B. Roll Call of tribes that refused to participate (vv. 15b-17). C. Two tribes participated valiantly, such that the enemy kings did not prevail (vv. 18-19). C’. Two forces of nature also played a role, such that even the kings’ horses retreated in chaos (vv. 20-22). B’. Meroz twice cursed for refusing to help YHWH’s cause against the enemy (v. 23). A’. Jael twice blessed, presumably for the part she played in killing the enemy leader (v. 24). (37) In this regard, I beg to disagree with A.J. HAUSER, “Judges 5: Parataxis in Hebrew Poetry”, JBL 99 (1980) 33, who explains the non-mention of the Israelites in the battle scene by asserting that since the battle is portrayed as cosmic, the assembled tribes can have no real impact on its outcome. If that were indeed true, then it would almost render the repeated censure for non-participation within the song entirely pointless.