Acts 2:22-36 – Peter Preaches Jesus’s Resurrection at Pentecost

  . Here’s a rather nice chiasmus from Acts 2 in which Peter preaches Jesus’s resurrection at Pentecost.  It’s from Kenneth E. Bailey‘s book, “Poet and Peasant“.  I have made one change.  I’ve changed his I/I’ into an I, J / J’, I’.  This chiasmus immediately follows another chiasmus, outlining Pentecost, which can be found here. Update:  Bailey’s chiasmus can [...]

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John 5:19-30 – Those Who Hear shall Live

  . The following chiasmus is from p. 101 of John Breck‘s 2001 book, “Scripture in Tradition: the Bible and its Interpretation in the Orthodox Church“: ______ A    19 Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He [...]

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Song of Songs – A Chiastic Love Song

I think I agree with the following from Donald E. Curtis at Bible.org.  I’ve often thought the Song of Songs was chiastic – in much the same way: …  the Song of Songs has a chiastic structure, but one that is freer and looser. By this I mean that it is hard to draw an unambiguous [...]

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Extra-Biblical Chiasmi – “Chiasmus in Antiquity”

Chiasmus was not used exclusively by Biblical writers.  It was used by others as well.  John W. Welch‘s book ”Chiasmus in Antiquity“ is an excellent book for viewing possible chiastic structures from cultures outside of Israel.  It’s a good starting point for understanding chiasmus outside of the Bible. Here are the chapter titles: Preface Introduction Chiasm [...]

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Recommended Readings and Sites

  Recommended readings: A good overview of Chiasmus:  Chiasmus: An Important Structural Device, by Brad McCoy Recommended sites: Lists of possible Biblical Chiasmi:           - ‘In the Beginning’ website’s lists: -  Smaller selection  -  though still substantial. -  Larger bibliography -  Here’s a book by John Welch, written in 1998, which lists many possible chiasmi:  Chiasmus Bibliography (link [...]

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