I'm working through Amos a few verses a day and came across this nice structure at the end of chapter 5. At the centre of 21-27 is the famous line of v24, "Let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness flow like a never-failing stream." This verse is a very tight chiasm on its own, ABCCBA, but it also acts as a centre-piece for some really perspicuous structures either side of it, which I want to look at briefly.
5:21-23 A four-fold rejection of false piety
These three verses contain four rejections by Yhwh, where something which would normally be praised is rejected.
21. Hold a festival, a solemn assembly? I won't smell them וְלֹא אָרִיחַ
22a. Offer a burnt offering or a gift? I won't accept it לֹא אֶרְצֶה
22b. Offer a peace offering? I won't look on it לֹא אַבִּיט
23. Sing me a song or play me a tune? I won't listen לֹא אֶשְׁמָע
The structure here is very formulaic, except for the first one, where an additional object follows the negated verb. But otherwise, these verses present four examples of piety, but they are all rejected. Why is this the case? That will become clear after 5:24; acts of piety absent of justice and righteousness are no piety at all.
5:24 Instead, justice and righteousness
As mentioned, this verse has two clauses, which are mirror-images in form.
וְיִגַּל כַּמַּיִם מִשְׁפָּט
וּצְדָקָה כְּנַחַל אֵיתָן׃
24a is verb-comparative-subject (let roll-like waters-justice), and 24b reverses that (and righteousness-like a river-let it flow). The terseness and the precise attention to form highlight this verse as the centre and focal point and their abject absence from all their cultic activities in the previous verses.
25-27 A three-fold carrying
The response and second half of this section uses three near-synonyms for "carrying" to highlight the past, the present and the future.
25. Did you offer up (נגש) sacrifices those forty years in the wilderness?
26. Yet you carry around (נשא) the statues of your home-made gods.
27. Therefore I will carry you off (גלה) to Damascus, says Yhwh, God of Armies.
Of course these are not exact synonyms, but they're certainly a variation on a theme. Sacrifices go up, statues go around, and exiles go off. The NIV also points out three variations on idol in v26:
the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,
the star of your god
I think makes 25-27 another concentric structure, with the added layer in the middle of v26 and also the verbs either side: you carry them, you made them.
In all, I think these verses are very tightly crafted, with three clear principles behind each group of verses: 21-23 have a negated verb, 24 has the terse justice/righteousness chiasm, and 25-27 plays both with the idea of carrying and the past, present and future.
