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DRAFT: A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 15-16

Kuruvilla Thomas
Bangalore
Published on 17 May 2024 *




Isaiah 15-16 Timeline
Fig. 1


Introduction

This study treats Isaiah 15-16 as a cryptochiasmus in order to arrive at a coherent reconfiguration of the text ( see definition of cryptochiasmus in [1] ). If you wish to skip the technicalities of a chiastic parse, you may read starting from Section 4 of the Discussion section, which has the reconfigured text.

Isaiah 15-16 predicts the end of ancient Moab as a nation, and we show with this reconfiguration that the prophecy also predicts the destruction of the wicked in modern "Moab", China, at the start of Christ's Millennial Reign.



Discussion

1. Presuppositions

We base our parse of Isaiah 15-16 on the assumption that it refers to 3 periods:

  1. The Destruction of Moab by the Babylonians (c 581BC).
  2. Christian Judahites Seek Refuge in 70AD during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD).
  3. The Wicked of modern "Moab" are destroyed at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD).

2. Parsing the chiasmus

We will use the NIV Bible for this parse.

Parsing this chiasmus involves dividing portions of the text into three categories as above. We will call the time of the Destruction of Moab Period 1, the time of the First Jewish–Roman War Period 2 and the start of Christ's Millennial Reign Period 3.

The parse below is primarily based on two assumptions: the name "Moab" refers to different nations in the different Periods; most of the verses in this passage have corresponding verses in Jeremiah 48 (Period 1), but there is no match for Isa. 15:9-16:5, and so we treat these verses as belonging to Periods 2 or 3.


Categorizing Isaiah 15-16

Ch 15 vs 1b-8 belong to Period 1. Moab is destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.

Ch 15 vs 9 - Ch 16 vs 2 belong to Period 3. The people of China rise up and destroy their oppressors, and exile the remnant. "Dimon" is not a known region of ancient Moab - we take it to represent modern China (see commentary).

Ch 16 vs 3-4 belong to Period 2. Christian Judahites seek refuge from the Romans in 70AD.

Ch 16 vs 5 belong to Period 3. The coming Messiah rules with justice.

Ch 16 vs 6-12 belongs to Period 1. Moab is devastated. ( We believe that vs 16:13-14 is a later addition - see commentary.)


Original text

We color-code the chiastic units of the original text (NIV) below for easy visual identification using: red for Period 1, blue for Period 2 and green for Period 3. We have retranslated parts of the text.


Isaiah 15 1b Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! 2 Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off. 3 In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping. 4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.
5 My heart cries out over Moab. Her [a] fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction. 6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left. 7 So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Wadi of the Arabians [b].
8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.

9 The waters of Dimon are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon— a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.

Retranslation notes for Isaiah 15:
[a] vs 5 "Moab. Her" instead of "Moab; her". ( For the chiasmus.)
[b] vs 7 "Wadi of the Arabians" instead of "Ravine of the Poplars".


Isaiah 16 1 Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, in [a] the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion. 2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the daughters of Moab [b] at the fords of the Arnon.
3 “Make up your mind [c]. Render a decision. Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. 4 Let my fugitives stay with you, Moab [d]; be their shelter from the destroyer.”
The oppression [e] will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.

5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.
6 We have heard of Moab’s pride— how great is her arrogance!— of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty. 7 Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 8 The fields of Heshbon wither, the vines of Sibmah also. The leaders of the heathen [f] have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea. 9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I drench you with tears! For upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest the battle shout is fallen.[g] 10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting. 11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth. 12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.

Retranslation notes for Isaiah 16:
[a] vs 1 "in" instead of "across".
[b] vs 2 "daughters of Moab" instead of "women of Moab".
[c] vs 3 removed "Moab says", as it is not in the original.
[d] vs 4 "Let my fugitives stay with you, Moab" instead of "Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you". Based on the KJV.
[e] vs 4 "oppression" instead of "oppressor". Based on the JPS Tanakh.
[f] vs 8 "leaders of the heathen" instead of "rulers of the nations".
[g] vs 9 "For upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest, the battle shout is fallen" instead of "The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled" (see Jer. 48:33).


3. Building the reconfigured text

From this parse, it appears that Isaiah 15-16 forms a cryptochiasmus as below:

A1   Ch 15 vs 1b-8 Period 1. Moab is destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar
  B1   Ch 15 vs 9 - Ch 16 vs 2 Period 3. The wicked of China are destroyed
    X   Ch 16 vs 3-4 Period 2. Christian Judahites seek refuge in 70AD
  B2   Ch 16 vs 5 Period 3. The coming Messiah rules with justice
A2   Ch 16 vs 6-12 Period 1. Moab is devastated


We now reconstruct the passages in the right order based on the chiastic structure above and based on the ordering rules of a cryptochiasmus [1].

We lead with central pivot point 'X'. The corresponding subunits (For example; subunit A1 corresponds to A2) are placed contiguously to form units (For example, A1,A2 is a unit ) so that we get a list of such units.


The sequence selected for rearrangement is:

X  [A1,A2]  [B1,B2]        (1)

Translating (1) into verse numbers, we get:

Ch 16 vs 3-4   [Ch 15 vs 1b-8, Ch 16 vs 6-12]   [Ch 15 vs 9 - Ch 16 vs 2, Ch 16 vs 5]        (2)

We arrive at the reconfigured passage in the next section by rearranging the verses so they are in sequence (2).



4. Isaiah 15-16 Reconfigured

Christian Judahites Seek Refuge during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (Ch 16 vs 3-4)

Ch 16 3a “Make up your mind. Render a decision.
3b Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. 4a Let my fugitives stay with you, Moab; be their shelter from the destroyer.”
4b The oppression will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.


The Destruction of Moab by the Babylonians (581BC) (Ch 15 vs 1b-8, Ch 16 vs 6-12)

Chiasmus 1: Moab is devastated: Its people mourn and flee

Ch 15 1b Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! 2 Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off. 3 In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping. 4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.
5a My heart cries out over Moab.
5b Her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction. 6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left. 7 So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Wadi of the Arabians. 8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.

Chiasmus 2: Moab's economy is ruined

Ch 16 6 We have heard of Moab’s pride— how great is her arrogance!— of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty.
7 Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
8 The fields of Heshbon wither, the vines of Sibmah also. The leaders of the heathen have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea. 9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I drench you with tears! For upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest, the battle shout is fallen. 10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.
12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.


The Wicked of Modern "Moab" are Destroyed at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD) (Ch 15 vs 9 - Ch 16 vs 2, Ch 16 vs 5)

Ch 15 9 The waters of Dimon are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon— a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.
Ch 16 1 Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, in the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion. 2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
Ch 16 5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.


5. A Commentary on the Reconfigured Text

5.0 The Title of the Prophecy (Ch 15 vs 1a)

Chapter 15 1a A prophecy against Moab:

We take the position that the word "Moab" refers to 3 different nations in the 3 Periods: In Period 1 it retains its original meaning, ancient Moab; in Period 2 it refers to the nation in the Transjordan that was a sanctuary for Judahite Christians when they escaped the Roman assault; and in Period 3 it refers to the wicked government of modern China. All 3 "Moab's" are neighbours of God's holy land: Judea in Periods 1&2 and the New Israel in Period 3.



5.1 Christian Judahites Seek Refuge during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (Ch 16 vs 3-4)

In this Period, the name "Moab" refers to the unspecified nation in the Transjordan that gave the Judahites refuge. During the Jewish-Roman war, the Christian Judahites fled to the mountains as Jesus had exhorted them (see Matt. 24:16), and the traditional view is that they sought refuge in Pella, a member of the Decapolis, located at the foot of the Transjordanian mountains. ( The ancient land of Moab had ceased to exist after Period 1.)


This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 16:3a A case is made for refuge for the Judahites
    X 16:3b-4a "Moab" is urged to faithfully shelter God's people
A2 16:4b A case is made for refuge for the Judahites

Subunit A1: A case is made for refuge for the Judahites (16:3a)

Chapter 16 3a “Make up your mind. Render a decision.

God argues before the angel that controls the "Moab" of this Period, requesting that he allow the Judahites to live as refugees in the land for a short time. The angelic "prince" of "Moab" is urged to consider the arguments ("make up your mind") and take a decision on the matter - the arguments for taking in the Judahites are made in 16:4b in the corresponding subunit A2 below.



Pivot X: "Moab" is urged to faithfully shelter God's people (16:3b-4a)

Chapter 16 3b Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. 4a Let my fugitives stay with you, Moab; be their shelter from the destroyer.”

After "Moab" agrees to take in the Judahites, God urges it to carefully protect His people and provide a safe hiding place from the Romans (like a "shadow as dark as night" that protects from the "noonday sun"); "Moab" is not to betray the Judahites to the Romans (see also Rev 12:6,14).



Subunit A2: A case is made for refuge for the Judahites (16:4b)

Chapter 16 4b The oppression will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.

In His argument for giving the Judahites a refuge, God promises that the oppression from the Romans will soon end, the army will have to leave and the Judahites will be able return to Judea. For according to the covenant between God and Titus, the Romans only have a Period of 7 years to destroy Judah (see Dan 9:27 [2], Matt 24:22). In fact, most of the refugees will only flee Jerusalem in the middle of the 7 year war - when the Romans attack the city - and take sanctuary in the Transjordan for the remaining 3 1/2 years (see Rev 12:6,14). So the Judahites will not be a burden for long, and "Moab" will be suitably rewarded.



5.2 The Destruction of Moab by the Babylonians (581BC) (Ch 15 vs 1b-8, Ch 16 vs 6-12)

The invader of this Period is not named, but we propose that this Period is regarding Nebuchadnezzar's assault that led to the eternal destruction of Moab (c. 582-581BC), a nation made up of the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot by his daughter. Note that most of the passages regarding this Period have corresponding verses in Jeremiah 48.


This Period is structured as a series of 2 chiasmi.

Chiasmus 1: Moab is devastated: Its people mourn and flee

The passage below in 15:1b-8, is structured as a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 15:1b-4 Moab is devastated: Its people mourn
    X 15:5a God mourns for Moab
A2 15:5b-8 Moab is devastated: Its people flee

Throughout this Period, Isaiah makes predictions regarding all of Moab by describing events in particular places, so creating a poetic effect.


Subunit A1: Moab is devastated: Its people mourn (15:1b-4)

Chapter 15 1b Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!

Ar and Kir, the capitals of Moab, are destroyed suddenly, in a night, and the fall of these two principal cities seems to indicate the fall of all of Moab. For in the rest of the passages of this Period, Isaiah, with great compassion for Israel's "cousin" nation, details the plight of the Moabites in the aftermath of this defeat.



Chapter 15 2 Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off. 3 In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping. 4a Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.

The cities mentioned in this passage generally follow a northward path from the principal cities of Ar and Kir, that lie south of the Arnon river, presumably to indicate the northward spread of the news of Moab's fall.

The residents of the city of Dibon, north of the Arnon river, weep at its places of worship, praying to their pagan gods. The Moabites mourn over the loss of Nebo and Medeba, cities located east of the northern boundary of the Dead Sea. A little further north, the lamentation in Heshbon and Elealeh (see also 16:9 below) is heard even at the some distance in city of Jahaz at the north-western border of Moab. The mourning along this path represents the Moabites in cities across the land that are in great sorrow at the loss of their nation - they shave their hair and wear sackcloth as marks of mental anguish. ( See corresponding passages in Jer. 48:37,38,34.)



Chapter 15 4b Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.

The warriors of Moab are unable to stop this invasion by the mighty Babylonians - they can only impotently mourn with the rest. ( See corresponding passages in Jer. 48:41,14,15.)



Pivot X: God mourns for Moab (15:5a)

Chapter 15 5a My heart cries out over Moab.

A just God punishes the Moabites for their sins, and a loving God expresses His pain at the suffering of the descendants of Lot, the only righteous man in Sodom.



Subunit A2: Moab is devastated: Its people flee (15:5b-8)

Chapter 15 5b Her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.

The Moabites in the capital cities flee the Babylonians, weeping as they go. They flee to the south-western border towns of Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah located in the region of the southern border of the Dead Sea (the location of Eglath is not known, but we assume it is close to Zoar); they go up to the elevated Luhith, and further south to Horonaim in southern Moab (see corresponding passages in Jer. 48:5,34).



Chapter 15 6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left.

The Moabites must leave the land because it is no longer habitable. The prophet predicts a concurrent natural catastrophe, as water sources dried up - Nimrim was a wadi close to the southern border - and vegetation withered away. This occured partly through the invaders' actions, such as: stopping wells, salting land (see Jer. 48:9) and cutting vines and trees (see also Zeph. 2:9). ( See corresponding passage in Jer. 48:32-34.)



Chapter 15 7 So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Wadi of the Arabians.

The Moabites carry their possessions south across the border over the Wadi of the Arabians. ( See corresponding passage in Jer. 48:36.)



Chapter 15 8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.

This subunit (in 15:5b-7) details the path of the Moabites who fled to the region of Zoar in the south-western corner of Moab. But the Moabites fled to other places along the southern and eastern borders as well, so their lamentation is heard all along these borders - from Zoar in the south-west to Eglaim at the south-eastern corner and to Beer Elim at the north-eastern border (cf. Num. 21:16) (the locations of Eglaim and Beer Elim are not known, but we propose these locations based on our interpretation of the passage).



Chiasmus 2: Moab's economy is ruined

The passage below in 16:6-12 is structured as a two-unit chiasmus:

A1 16:6 God punishes Moab for its pride
  B1 16:7 Moab's cities are devastated
    X 16:8-10 Moab's countryside is ruined
  B2 16:11 Moab's cities are devastated
A2 16:12 God punishes Moab for its pride

Subunit A1: God punishes Moab for its pride (16:6)

Chapter 16 6 We have heard of Moab’s pride— how great is her arrogance!— of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty.

Moab was punished by God with this devastation because of its unwarranted pride and arrogance. It was this pride that led it to mock and threaten God's people, the Judahites, at the time of Jerusalem's defeat by the Babylonians around 6 years before this attack (see Zeph. 2:8-10, esp. vs 10). ( See also, corresponding passages in Jer. 48:29-30.)



Subunit B1: Moab's cities are devastated (16:7)

Chapter 16 7 Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

Moab was a fertile nation, and the commerce from its produce made it prosperous and proud, but all of that is ended. For example, Kir Hareseth (or Kir, one of the capital cities, south of the Arnon river) no longer produces its raisin cakes (compressed raisins).



Pivot X: Moab's countryside is ruined (16:8-10)

Chapter 16 8 The fields of Heshbon wither, the vines of Sibmah also. The leaders of the heathen have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea. 9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I drench you with tears! For upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest the battle shout is fallen. 10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting.

The northern regions of Moab were particularly fertile, so that vines covered the land, extending from Heshbon, Sibmah and Elealeh (east of the northern border of the Dead Sea) to Moab's borders: to Jazer on the northern border, the Dead Sea in the west and the desert to the east. But all of this fertile land, its vines and orchards, and its water sources were destroyed. So from a place of joyous harvests and abundant produce, Moab turns into an arid wasteland forever (see Zeph. 2:9). The mourning in the regions mentioned in this passage represent the weeping in all the cultivated land of Moab, and God mourns with Moab's villages. ( See also, corresponding passages in Jer. 48:32-33,36.)



Subunit B2: Moab's cities are devastated (16:11)

Chapter 16 11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.

Kir Hareseth represents all the cities of Moab, and God reveals His anguish at the suffering in the Moabite cities even as He punishes them.



Subunit A2: God punishes Moab for its pride (16:12)

Chapter 16 12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.

The Moabites' pleas to their idol gods ("high places" are shrines devoted to their gods) are fruitless, because their punishment comes from the Almighty God. ( See also, corresponding passage in Jer, 48:13.)



5.3 The Wicked of Modern "Moab" are Destroyed at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD) (Ch 15 vs 9 - Ch 16 vs 2, Ch 16 vs 5)

In this Period, "Moab" represents the wicked government of modern China (the 7th "king" of Rev 17:10, the "Magog" of Ezekiel 39, the leader of the Beast army of Rev 19:19; see also Isaiah 25:10 in [6]), and China's wicked leadership is punished at the start of Christ's Millennial Reign. Like the other "Moabs" in this prophecy, China neighbours Israel - the New Israel in this case.


This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 15:9 The coming Messiah destroys the wicked of Moab and reigns supreme
    X 16:1-2 The wicked of "Moab" seek refuge
A2 16:5 The coming Messiah destroys the wicked of Moab and reigns supreme

Subunit A1: The coming Messiah destroys the wicked of Moab and reigns supreme (15:9)

Chapter 15 9 The waters of Dimon are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon— a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.

At the start of the Millennial Reign, when God gives the command to overthrow Satan's kingdom "Babylon", the righteous people of China ("Dimon"/"Moab") will rise up against the oppressive functionaries in their land that make up a powerful arm of Satan's kingdom, and there will be great bloodshed in the land (see Isaiah 13:2).

The "lion" of this passage is the coming Messiah, the "Lion of Judah" (Rev, 5:5), who destroys his enemies with with the sword of his mouth (see Rev. 19:15). After the Beast army is defeated (the Beast army is led by "Magog"/China) the Messiah reveals the truth, so that the people rise up against any remaining members of Satan's empire (see Ezekiel 39 especially vs 6 and Rev 19:17-21 especially vs 21).

The name "Dimon" means "where it is red" (according to Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary) and we take the position that it refers to modern "red" China; so the wicked of China are called both "Dimon" and "Moab" in this passage. ( "Dimon" should refer to the whole nation, in some way, for this verse to cohere. There is no known region named "Dimon" in ancient Moab, and even if Dimon were a city in Moab - some say it is another name for Dibon - it is not significant enough to synecdochically represent all of Moab.)



Pivot X: The wicked of "Moab" seek refuge (16:1-2)

Chapter 16 1 Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, in the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion. 2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

The Chinese members of Satan's empire - those that are not killed - are chased out of the land by the people (Obadiah 1:7). These "Moabite" refugee communities ("daughters of Moab") are like hatchlings pushed from the nest. They mill at their borders, scared and helpless, for they have been evicted from their land and have nowhere to go. The places of refuge of the modern "Moabites" are represented by places of refuge of the ancient Moabites at two opposite corners of their land - Sela at Moab's south-west corner and the fords of the Arnon at the north-eastern border.

From their refuge, these "Moabites" are to send appropriate tributes ("lambs") to the Messiah, who rules from the New Jerusalem ("Daughter Zion"), seeking his mercy and protection - the lambs that the ancient Moabites sent to king David as tribute (2 Samuel 8:2) represent the tribute that the modern "Moabites" must send to David's descendant, the coming Messiah.



Subunit A2: The coming Messiah destroys the wicked of Moab and reigns supreme (16:5)

Chapter 16 5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Christ establishes his Millennial Reign from the New Jerusalem through his righteous and just Messiah, a descendant of David (see also Isaiah 11:1-5, 9:6-7...).



5.4 Addendum to Isaiah's prophecy (vs 16:13-14)

Chapter 16 13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab.

These last two verses (16:13-14) are apparently an addendum that predicts the date of fulfilment of the prophecy of Period 1. This additional prediction was made by another unnamed prophet at the fall of Jerusalem in 587BC (see below), long after Isaiah's ministry, 742BC–687BC.



Chapter 16 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”

This prophet predicts that the destruction of Moab of Period 1 will take place within 6 years (see explanation below). The start date of this interval was at the destruction of Jerusalem, c. 587BC, when the Moabites insulted and threatened the Judahites (based on Zeph. 2:8-10 and Isaiah 16:6-7). Nebuchadnezzar returned to attack and forever destroy Moab within 6 years - c. 582-581BC (Josephus Ant., 10:181–2).

What is the meaning of the phrase, "as a servant bound by contract counts them"? A hired hand (presumably a fellow Israelite) can be expected to take holidays for up to half the days of a year - for sabbaths, festivals, religious observance etc.. So 3 years worth of employment by a continuously-employed slave may take up to 6 years to complete by a hired hand - see Deuteronomy 15:18 (see similar prediction in Isa. 21:16). Note that this prediction is ambiguously worded, presumably so that the wicked cannot take advantage of an accurate knowledge of the future.




Conclusion

With this chiastic reconstruction of the text, we have shown that Isaiah 15-16 contains prophecies on three distinct Periods. Period 1 predicts the destruction of ancient Israel's occasionally hostile neighbour, Moab, and Period 3 predicts a slaughter of the wicked in China at the start of Christ's Millennial Reign. The prophecy predicts that there will be refugees in the neighbourhood of Israel in all 3 Periods - the ancient Moabites, the Judahite Christians, and the modern "Moabites".



References

[1] A Definition of Cryptochiasmus
[2] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The 70 Weeks Of Daniel"
[3] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Zechariah 12-14
[4] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 8
[5] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Revelation 4-22, Part 2
[6] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 24-27





* First version published on 20 October 2021.