260 MARK LEUCHTER therefore not strictly utilitarian but resonates with sacral significance, as her killing of Sisera is mythically expressed. It is significant, then, that in both the Kishon and Yael passages, the events being depicted are stressed through repetition; the Kishon is “ mythologized ” in a manner akin to Yael, ascribing to it additional dimensions beyond the observable just as Yael’s killing of Sisera is presented in multiple temporal dimensions. This accounts for the K i s h o n ’ s unnatural depiction as a torrential force. As per Ackerman’s observations, the river is removed from the realm of plain history and woven into the realm of divine action and will. The mythic patterning within the poem extends even further. Deborah and Barak appear to be mythic personae cast as historical figures within the drama of the poem. This is not to suggest that historical individuals do not lay beneath the current presentation of these figures, but it is notable that the relationship between Deborah and Barak is unique within the book of Judges and indeed within the entire Hebrew Bible. Deborah is depicted in the poem as the chief religious authority of her day (Judg 5,7), but as the poem implies (and as the later tradition in Judg 4 remembers her), she does not head the battle herself (in contrast to the other warrior-deliverers in the book of Judges). And though Barak is a military leader akin to the other Judges, no other warrior has a woman accompany him into battle; indeed, within the poem, Barak appears as a lesser force than his female counterpart. The Deborah/ Barak relationship must be considered alongside Hab 3,5, which describes the forces that accompany YHWH into divine battle: Before him goes devastation (rbd) And the fiery bolts (πçr) are at his feet (wylgrb) The parallel between this imagery and that encountered in the Song of Deborah (Judg 5,15) is nearly identical 13 : And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah (hrwbd) As was Issachar, so was Barak (qrb) Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet (wylgrb) For this connection, I am indebted to the insights of my former student 13 Caryn Amy King, who pointed this similarity out to me. See further CROSS, Canaanite Myth, 102-103, M.S. SMITH, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism (New York – Oxford 2001) 47, 68.