8 Gregory T.K. Wong vv. 19-22 can also be seen as chiastically arranged to focus on the participation of non-human elements to defeat the enemy: A. Kings came for battle but they did not prevail (v. 19). B. Forces in the heavenly realm (the stars) participated in battle (v. 20). B’. Forces of nature (the Kishon River) also played a role (v. 21). A’. The kings (their horses) retreated in chaos (v. 22). Admittedly, what the stars represent and what role they play here are unclear. While Craigie argues on the basis of Ugaritic parallels that the stars may refer to a heavenly army getting involved in the battle alongside the Israelites (20), Sawyer seems to regard the stars as part of the natural realm as he sees the verse as possibly referring to a solar eclipse that took place in 1131 BCE when Mercury, Venus, Mars, and five other bright stars can be seen over the regions of Megiddo and Taanach (21). But the most widely accepted view is to see the stars as representing the source of rain, as is common in Canaanite mytho- logy (22). But regardless of how one understands this reference to the stars, it is still possible to argue that even this brief and somewhat cryptic account of the battle and its outcome functions as part of the polemic against non-participation. For if even forces of nature are shown to be participating in battle on YHWH’s side to defeat the enemy, then the refusal of any Israelite tribe or city to participate would be seen as all the more reprehensible and without excuse. From the above five points, it seems clear that not only does the refrain that introduces the two major sections of the song focus on the theme of participation, the content and arrangement of material in the bulk of the song in vv. 11d-24 also reflect a continuing emphasis on participation versus non-participation. (20) P.C. CRAIGIE, “Three Ugaritic Notes on the Song of Deborah”, JSOT 2 (1977) 33-38. For further discussion of Egyptian, Greek, and Mesopotamian parallels where stars are seen as divine agents taking part in battle, see also M. WEINFELD, “Divine Intervention in War and Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East”, History, Historiography, and Interpretation. Studies in Biblical Cuneiform Literatures (eds. H. TADMOR – M. WEINFELD) (Jerusalem 1984) 124- 131. (21) J.F.A. SAWYER, “‘From Heaven Fought the Stars’ (Judges V 20)”, VT 31 (1981) 88. (22) See BLENKINSOPP, “Ballad Style”, 73; J. GRAY, “Israel in the Song of Deborah”, Ascribe to the Lord. Biblical and Other Studies in Memory of Peter C. Craigie (eds. L. ESLINGER – G. TAYLOR) (JSOTSS 67; Sheffield 1988) 425, n. 9; LINDARS, Judges, 268.