The oracle against Moab is organized in a fairly neat chiastic structure:
A. Oracle against Moab - wailing and lamentation, 15:1-4
B. “My heart cries,” 15:5
C. Green things wither, 15:6
D. Riches of Moab taken away, 15:7-9
E. Refuge for outcasts in tent of David, 16:1-5
D’. Pride of Moab, 16:6
C’. Fields and vines struck, 16:7-8
B’. “I weep bitterly,” 16:9-12
A’. Word that Yahweh spoke, 16:13-14.
One of the points this structure clarifies is the identity o fthe “I” in 15:5. By linking it with 16:9-12, it becomes obvious that Yahweh Himself joins in the lamentation over Moab.
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