What is a chiasm

Chiasms are not very common in modern literature. We are more accustomed to a sequential reading style where points A, B, and C lead to a conclusion.

Since chiasms are not very well known and are rarely mentioned or visualized in Bible typesetting, many Bible readers are not even familiar with the concept.

One way to describe a chiasm is to compare it to a sandwich. The bread wraps around the top and bottom, and then several layers follow in reverse order. If it’s a hamburger, the meat is right in the middle!

Sometimes the turning point in the middle is the very climax of what the author wants to say, but it is also common for the chiasmus form to be used solely for its literary beauty. Chiasms can also be combined with other literary techniques, such as an inclusio that frames a chiasmus.

The word chiasm comes from the 22nd letter, Chi (χ), of the Greek alphabet. The letter looks like a cross and describes how the text is interconnected in a crisscross pattern. In English, the words chiasmus and chiasm are used.

An example of a chiasm can be found in Matt. 19:30 where Jesus says: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” In Greek, the wording is:

A) the last (ho eschatos)

   B) the first (protos)

   B) and the first (kai ho protos)

A) the last (eschatos)

Schematically, the letters A, B, C, etc., are often used to illustrate the chiastic pattern. The Greek word eschatos (last) opens and closes the pattern. In the middle, protos (first) is used twice.

Another example with three levels can be found in the first book of the Bible, Gen. 9:6, where the literal translation reads:

A) Whoever sheds

   B) blood

      C) of a human being,

      C) through a human being

   B) his blood

A) shall be shed

Here are three elements that recur in reverse order. In Hebrew, which does not have separate prepositions, this becomes even clearer:

A) shofech

   B) dam

      C) haadam

      C) baadam

   B) damo

A) jishafech

Parallelism is visualized through indentation

For a long time, poetic texts have been typeset differently from ordinary prose. The second line is indented to highlight parallelism. An example is Psalm 102:2:

Lord (Yahweh), hear my prayer,

    yes, let my cry come before you.

The same idea is expressed in two ways; in the second line, my prayer is equated with my cry.

In the original text, the lines run verse by verse, so this is a visualization created by the translator to show the reader this structure. Parallelism is often easy to identify in the text, and the new line breaks with the insertion help readers see this even in the translation. The problem is that this is done only for parallelism, not for chiasms or other forms.

The Challenge of Representing a Chiasm

Since word order in English and Hebrew is not the same, it is often a challenge to reflect chiasms in a translation while also maintaining a modern style.

If the reader is unaware that a chiasm exists, or if one fails to reflect it, the translation may give the impression that the text contains unnecessary repetitions.

The Core Bible solves this dilemma by attempting to note chiasms in the commentary. Some clear chiasms are typeset exactly as above, with insertions. Often it is a matter of balance, and sometimes conscious compromises are made with Swedish word order, with the benefit that the reader can see the beautiful structure.

Sometimes chiasms are illustrated separately in a note. This ensures that the Bible text remains readable in proper English. Especially with more complex structures where different techniques are combined, it is impossible to visually present them all at once, but the Kärnbibeln still aims to note and draw the reader’s attention to the fact that these patterns exist in the text.

Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is a good example of a larger, multi-level chiasm. Below, the text is broken down into several sections and highlighted in different colors to illustrate the pattern.

Four main themes emerge: Ⓐ the Lord, Ⓑ care, Ⓒ guidance, and Ⓓ God’s presence even in trial.

If you will read the psalm crosswise you will see how beutifully it flows thematically. Start with section A (verse 1, then verse 6). Continue toward the center with sections B, C, and D! Psalm 23 in the Core Bible.

Ⓐ Theme: The Lord

The Hebrew personal name of God, Yahweh, appears only in the first and last lines and frames the entire psalm. The Lord is my shepherd (verse 1) and I desire to dwell in the house of the Lord forever (verse 6). When we entrust our lives to the Lord and let Him be our shepherd, we lack nothing. His goodness and faithfulness follow us every day.

Ⓑ Theme: Care

In verse two, the image of a shepherd leading his sheep to green pastures and still waters is used. The same theme of food and drink recurs in the second-to-last verse (verse 5) with the table set and the cup filled.

Ⓒ Theme: God’s Guidance

The third theme is God’s guidance. He guides me in the right paths (verses 3–4a). In the third section from the end, the same theme is found where the staff protected the sheep and the shepherd’s staff pointed the way (verse 4c).

Ⓓ The Center of the Chiasm

The center and climax of the chiasm are found in verse 4b. If David had written the psalm today as an email, that line would have been highlighted in bold red text:

The main message is that we must not forget that even in difficulties and crises (the valley of the shadow of death), God is with us. Here, too, there is a shift in the psalm. God is now addressed in a personal way; God is now “you” and not “he.” It seems that the trial—the journey through the valley of the shadow of death—transforms our relationship with God and makes it deeper.

Chiasms are found in many places in the Bible

Chiasms occur throughout the Bible. In both shorter and longer passages, and even on multiple levels. Since we are accustomed to reading a text linearly—with an introduction followed by several points and finally a conclusion—it is not always easy to detect the chiastic patterns in the Bible.

Anyone who has read Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians may have noticed how Paul “repeats” himself. Both chapters 12 and 14 deal with spiritual gifts, and in between comes something central—the hymn of love.

Even the well-known description of love has a chiastic pattern. It begins and ends with positive descriptions, while eight points in the middle define love by stating what it is not; see 1 Cor. 13:4-7. What if Paul is answering the Corinthians’ questions while simultaneously structuring the text as a chiasm, where each part helps us understand the other?

• The cross (chapters 1–4) is, after all, thematically linked to the resurrection (chapter 15).
• The next major section deals with women and men in the family (chapters 4–7), and the second section toward the end deals with men and women in worship (chapters 11–14).
• Central to the text is the question of how to live as a Christian in a fallen world (chapters 8–11).

In the Core Bible, sections with clear chiastic features are indicated with insertions, and key words and themes are commented on. Although chiastic structures are not an exact science, they often help us understand a text.

More examples

Gen. 9:6
Gen. 12:3
Job 10:6
Ps. 126:5
Jer. 31:25
Matt. 6:24
1 Cor. 12–14
1 Cor. 13:4–7
Eph. 5:26–27
2 Tim. 1:3–5
Jude 1:12–13
2 John 1:1b–3
Rev. 12:14