If it's any help, I adore that book and the argument it makes. It quieted a lot of unfounded questions I had around immigration that had mostly been planted by the major media narratives and not by actual consideration. Thanks for writing it.

So the story serves as a polemic against Moab And Ammon, two nations that later are very antagonistic to Israel/Judah. (In other books, these are some of the few nations eternally banned from God.) There are narratives during the Exodus/Wilderness where women of Moab seduce Israelite men to Idolatry

It's a circle so it will depend a bit on where you find it easiest to grab. That said I remember my brother going from the top (12 o'clock) to about 60° forward (2 o'clock).
Now this is a lot of memory and not personal experience.

But yeah, I would treat it as a new exercise.

In the meantime, I'm not sure what to do save ease into use as best you can.
(Spouse is an MD and I have personal training cert. so some of this comes from that too.)
That said, my brother has a lot of upper body strength but not in the body builder style of muscles.

So no persoal experience, but my brother has been in one all his life, more or less.
You're using muscles that aren't used in lifting or other activities. You are doing a downward push (and occasional upward pull) which is not how we carry things. I expect this will get better with time...

I'm not sure who to put as the author, but my vote?

The Bible