Chiastic Structure

2018-06-24

A chiastic structure is a literary device used to emphasize a certain truth. The text would be patterned like this:

A
  B
   C
  B’
A’

There could be any number of lines such as this, but there is a central point, in this case, “C,” that is of utmost importance. You can see how it is symetrical, where the text works toward a certain truth, and then works back out.

A good example is the oracles of God in Genesis 3:9-19, which will make this concept much clearer. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God first went to Adam to question him about what happened, and then He questioned Eve, then He subsequently pronounced judgment on the serpent, then on Eve, and then on Adam. God’s addressing these three could be seen this way:

Adam
  Eve
   Serpent
  Eve
Adam

The central point of emphasis is that the serpent’s demise would be in a coming Savior that would be born of a virgin (Genesis 3:15). More detail about this could be found here.

Psalm 67 is also another example of a chiastic structure. Read about that here.