A friend of mine has been telling me about a technique used in Hebrew poetry. It occurs when the poet would make a statement (call it "A"), then another ("B") , and so on; and, then he would have the core point with opposite/reflecting statements or verses that follow (A' would reflect "A" and so on). In the original scrolls, it would appear to be a sideways "V" like this:

A
..B
....C
......Core Point
....C'
..B'
A'

I know it appears in such books as Amos and 1 Timothy. What is this called?

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Dan Pemberton
Vacaville, CA

Member, First Baptist Church San Luis Obispo
Formerly ABUSA (We left, so I guess that makes us American Baptists Unleashed!)

Chiasmus

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Rev. Daniel Kok
Pastor of Grace Reformed Church (URCNA)
Leduc, Alberta CANADA
Church Blog

"there is no creature, either in heaven or on earth, who loves us more than Jesus Christ"
Belgic Confession, Article 26

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

I just read an interesting article in Reformed Theological Journal which mentioned the use of chiasmus in the Song of Songs. Seeing this helps to explain why it appears that the couple in the Song have sex before they're married.

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Wes Bredenhof
Co-pastor, Langley Canadian Reformed Church
Langley, British Columbia
www.bredenhof.ca

Chiasms are awesome literary devices. Very powerful. The only problem is that some scholars want to force everything into a chiasm, and that just isn't psosible. But chiasms appear more often than not. The trick is trying to preach from a chiasmic outline.

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J. B. Atken
John Knox PCA
Layman, M.A. student at Louisiana College

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Benjamin P. Glaser
Pittsburgh, PA
Fairmount ARP Church, Sewickley, PA
Student of Theology Pittsburgh Theological Seminary & Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“If the Church could be aroused to a deeper sense of the glory that awaits her, she would enter with a warmer spirit into the struggles that are before her.”-- J.H. Thornwell

Chiasmus can't be used to recreate a literary order, but is dependent on the order as presented. I would be wary of identifying literary devices for the purpose of solving internal problems. Canticles only presents itself as a book containing internal problems when it is read the wrong way.

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Yours sincerely,


"Illum oportet crescere me autem minui."

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "some scholars want to force everything into a chiasm".

__________________
Dan Pemberton
Vacaville, CA

Member, First Baptist Church San Luis Obispo
Formerly ABUSA (We left, so I guess that makes us American Baptists Unleashed!)