| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the interjection oy-lekha {אוֹי־לְךָ | ʾōy-lə-khā} ‘woe-to-you’, directly addressing the proper noun moav {מוֹאָב | mō-ʾāḇ} ‘Moab’ and setting a lament tone. The verb avadta {אָבַדְתָּ | ʾā-vaḏ-tä} in the Qal perfect signals completed destruction. The construct chain am-kemosh {עַם־כְּמוֹשׁ | ʿam-kə-mōš} ‘people-of-Chemosh’ emphasizes national religious identity. The sequence natan {נָתַן | nā-than} ‘he has given’ with banav {בָּנָיו | bā-nā-w} ‘his sons’ and uvenotav {וּבְנוֹתָיו | ū-və-nō-tāw} ‘and his daughters’ foregrounds the deity’s action. The objects pletim {פְּלֵיטִם | pə-lê-tîm} ‘fugitives’ and the prepositional phrase bashshevit {בַּשְׁבִית | baš-šîyt} ‘into captivity’ frame the fate of the people. The beneficiary phrase lemelekh emori sichon {לְמֶלֶךְ אֱמֹרִי סִיחוֹן | lə-mĕ-leḵ ʾĕ-mō-rî sî-ḥôn} ‘to Sihon king of the Amorites’ completes the transfer of power and underscores the irony of divine impotence. |