The Torah Network

4 yrs

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(Things I Never Knew)

?I was today years old when I learned of chiastic structures in the Bible.?

A chiasm (also called a chiasmus or chiastic) is a literary device in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. The result is a “mirror” effect as the ideas are “reflected” back in a passage. Each idea is connected to its “reflection” by a repeated word, often in a related form. The center point of the chiasm is the main idea or hingepoint. The term chiasm comes from the Greek letter chi, which looks like our letter X.

A chiastic can be as short as a verse such as Mark 2:27:

➡️The Sabbath was made
➡️➡️for man
➡️➡️Not man
➡️For the Sabbath

Or

As in the Hebrew of Genesis 9:6:

➡️Whoever sheds
➡️➡️the blood
➡️➡️➡️of man
➡️➡️➡️by man
➡️➡️shall his blood
➡️be shed

A chiasm may span several verses as in John 4:23-24:

➡️the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:
➡️➡️for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
➡️➡️➡️God is a Spirit:
➡️➡️and they that worship him
➡️must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Remember the center point is the main idea or hingepoint. Chi. X. As in 'X marks the spot."

Some chiastics cover many verses and even entire chapters of the Bible.

Go find this one in your Bible..
Joel 3:17-21
➡️God dwells in Zion (verse 17a)
➡️➡️Jerusalem is holy (verse 17b)
➡️➡️➡️Foreign invaders are banished (verse 17c)
➡️➡️➡️➡️The blessings of the Kingdom (verse 18)
➡️➡️➡️Foreign enemies are destroyed (verse 19)
➡️➡️Jerusalem and Judah are preserved (verses 20–21a)
➡️God dwells in Zion (verse 21b)

The entire chapter of Revelation 12 is one big chiasm. The creation account is a chiasm. The menorah itself is a chiasm (future post)

When you are reading scripture and notice the repetition of words, you may have stumbled upon a chiastic structure. In Western culture, we are used to the the main idea being presented up front. We were all trained to create our thesis statement in our introductory paragraph. Not so in God's Word.

"It's the glory of God to conceal a matter and the honor (glory, abundance, riches) of kings to search it out." Proverbs 25:2

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! "
Romans 11:33