Mark 5 Chiasm

after an extended break - what else but a chiasm!

i may be doing a talk on this next week
so i needed to check if there was a chiasm
i think that's my general rule these days - no chiasm, no talk

A out of the boat
B     demoniac runs to Jesus
C         demoniac doesn’t want Jesus around
D             the people are afraid of the demoniac
D’             the people are afraid of Jesus
C’         demoniac wants to be around Jesus
B’     demoniac goes from Jesus
A’ into the boat

a theme i particularly noticed doing a talk on Mark 16 a while ago was the movement from fear to faith. Mark keeps showing us (and particularly in the narrative around the sea) that Jesus wants people to 'not fear, only believe' (5.36). each time we see fear (for example at Mark 16.8), the point is: how are you going to react to Jesus - are you going to fear, or have faith?

Herod Chiasm (Luke 23.7-11)

in contrasting Mark with Luke and the Pilate account (Mark 15.1-15, Luke 23.1-25), what is noticeable is the absence in Mark of the Herod account in the middle of the Pilate narrative (Luke 23.7-11).

The 'sandwich' technique is well known in the gospels, placing one story within another, perhaps to emphasise the centre, or even just to enhance memory in retelling the passage.

In Luke it seems both the Pilate and Herod accounts are important, but for different reasons. With Pilate, the flow of the narrative is what stands out: the mounting innocence of Jesus but the guilt of Barabbas. The Herod account however wishes to emphasise Jesus' innocence, but the guilt of the scribes and chief priests - and this is what the following chiasm reveals:


A 23.7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod...

B     8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him...

C         9 So he questioned him at some length,

D             but he made no answer.
D’             10 And the chief priests and the scribes stood by,

C’         vehemently accusing him.

B’     11 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him.

A’ Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.



Thematically, we see:

A: To Herod
A': From Herod

B: Herod's joy at Jesus
B': Herod's contempt at Jesus

C: Questioning Jesus
C': Accusing Jesus

D: No intervention from Jesus
D': No intervention from the scribes

like some chiasm action? get some more here!

Amos 5 Chiasm

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. 

Psalm 124 - except for Yhwh

This psalm could well be seen as the second half to Psalm 123, with a concentric structure as follows: 

Recognition of the God of heaven (123:1-2)

Call for help (123:3)

Description of danger (123:4)

If the danger were allowed to strike (124:1-5)

Help received (124:6-7)

Praise to the helper/redeemer/creator, (124:8)

This reading within a larger structure adds context which is missing from the second psalm, while also providing resolution which is absent from the first. Nonetheless, Psalm 124 as we have it is separate, with a separate heading, and can well be read on its own.

This is one of five named psalms among this collection; along with Psalm 122, 131 and 135 this is for David, while 127 is for Solomon. That said, Psalm 132 is probably the most davidic psalm in terms of explicit content, although it is not given "for David" as a superscription. While I think there is much to be made of the Solomon psalm in the collection, it's not obvious how those entitled for David are meant to be read.

As is typical in this collection, there is lots of repetition. The psalm divides fairly evenly into two halves, with 1-5 describing the predicament and 6-8 the rescue. The repetition remains within the halves, and is clearest within the first half. 

1-5 Predicament

The word לולי (except/unless; cf εἰ μὴ) occurs only 14 times in the OT, half of those are in the Psalms, and our psalm is the only one in which it occurs twice in succession, in v1 and 2, interspersed with "let Israel say". This pattern of a statement, "let Israel say," and then the statement again, we will see again in Ps 129:1-2, and as such it acts as a call to the congregation to join in, to make this prayer their own. "Sing it with me" we might say today. 

The use of לולי then sets up a negative hypothetical - what would have happened, except that Yhwh was for us - are the things which follow in 3-5. Each verse begins אזי (then) this would have happened. The three verses describe the different ways in which "our souls" would have been destroyed by the enemy, and it's with especial reference to the exodus through water that this psalm makes its point. 

Then they would've swallowed our lives/when their anger flared against us.

Then the waters would've engulfed us/the torrent passing over our souls.

Then, passing over our souls/the raging waters.

v4-5 form a chiasm within the triplet, in the order water-soul-soul-water, which, when reading recursively, explains how v3 is also to be read, that is, as the same event as v4-5, of almost certain death through water - except, of course, that Yhwh was for us. 

Eight times in these five verses the suffix נו (us/our) is used. Yhwh was for us, "adam" was against us, our lives, their anger against us, our souls. Again, with "Israel" in the first verse, this attack, whether against one or many of Israel, is an attack against all God's people, and they all should feel the nearness of their escape. 

Their adversary is "adam", which is an example of a singular standing as a collective: in the created order of things, Yhwh created adam - humanity - but now humanity have turned against their creator by attacking his chosen people. And of course, there is a great sadness, where Yhwh made adam (humanity) from adamah (the ground) but they think they are better than him, as Qohelet reminds us:

"This only have I found: God created mankind (adam) upright, but  they have gone in search of many schemes.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29)

But although the creation has been upended, if "Yhwh is for us", then who can be against us?! Another psalm says exactly this:

"Yhwh is for me; I will not fear. What can people (adam) do to me?" (Ps 118:6)

Indeed, because Yhwh is for his people, though the enemy seems as powerful and insurmountable as the mighty ocean, as the raging flood waters, they can never compare to Yhwh. 

“When Israel came out of Egypt, Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,

Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back;

Why was it, sea, that you fled? Why, Jordan, did you turn back?

Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,” (Ps 114.1–3,5,7)

6-8 Rescue

In response to their rescue, to the near-miss as it were, the rescue and praise is described. The section begins with the saying "Baruch Adonai" (ברוך יהוה; blessed be Yhwh), which is a common blessing, with that form of the verb occurring 88 times. And why is Yhwh blessed? Because he "has not given us as prey for their teeth."

The description of what it feels like is described in an ABC-CAB chiasm in v7, where Israel is the bird who has been sprung from its trap. 

A Our soul, like a bird

B escaped 

C from the ensnarer's trap.

C` The trap is broken

A` so that we

B` have escaped.

This chiasm comes at the centre of a larger ABA structure, where in v6 the name of Yhwh is invoked, in v7 the rescue is described, and in v8 Yhwh's name is again invoked. In the first instance, in his sovereign goodness he has "not given us as prey for their teeth," while in the second "our help is in the name of Yhwh, creator of heavens and earth."

This description of Yhwh in cosmic terms as παντακρατων is in direct competition to whichever creatures have control of the watery depths, which, without Yhwh's intervention, would have destroyed Israel. But because the one who created the heavens and earth is the God of Israel, it is he whom they fear and not the waters. 

Psalm 124 as a pilgrim song

One could imagine this psalm being sung in relief upon seeing Jerusalem appear between the mountains. The difficulties of the journey, the many times the pilgrim could have been overwhelmed en route, make their safe arrival much more wonderful. In many ways this psalm answers the question, "by what means did you safely arrive here, despite the dangers on the road?"

And it is this trust in the creator of all things, who has chosen to choose Israel despite their size or strength that the name of Yhwh might be known and praised among the nations, which drove them onwards and upwards towards Jerusalem. 

Mark 2 Chiasm

not sure if this post will work - blogger's doing some funky things tonight - if it starts behaving again i'll remove this and maybe add a picture if any buttons appear to allow me to do so!

this sunday at GBC* we're doing Mark 2.1-12, and believe it or not - i've realised it's a chiasm.

A 2.1-2a - the big picture, a crowd astonished at Jesus

      B 2.2b-5 - movement to Jesus, Jesus speaks

                  C 2.6-10 - opposition's negative reaction, Jesus' positive reaction

      B' 2.11-12a - Jesus speaks, movement away from Jesus

A' 2.12b - the big picture, a crowd astonished at Jesus

mark does this a heap, or at the very least sandwiches (A B A' - cf Mark 5.21-24a; 24b-34; 35-43)

it's not so much a theological comment as a narrative device, guiding you into and then out and onwards.

* if you're a german speaker, you may be interested in coming along to german bible cafe - check out our facebook or blog if you're keen.

Isaiah 26 Chiasm

so i have this essay, right, on Isaiah 26:12-19 and what it contributes to an OT theology of the afterlife. i still have no idea of the answer, but i think i've found some more chiasms!

12   God's great deeds
13           Others may take your place - we will remember you
14           Others will be punished - they won't be remembered
15   God's great deeds

16   God brings man down
17           Pregnant writhing
                      That's us
18           Pregnant writhing
     Man is brought down

19   the dead will rise
          they'll rejoice
          they'll be sustained
      the dead will rise

and 19a is even a little chiasm of its own (will live - your dead, my corpse - will rise i.e. A-B, B-A).

BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL HELP ME?

i don't think i need to talk about the chiastic structure - it doesn't change the argument one way or the other as regards the afterlife, so i'm not quite sure what to do with it all!

Joshua 1 chiasm

We've started reading through Joshua in our fortnightly pastors' meetings. There's a fascinating chiasm in the second paragraph:

Having success in following Yhwh is only possible when Joshua is bound to the book of the law, both for himself as well as for his people. Being bound to the book looks like following them obediently, meditating in it, and doing all that is written in it. Success in taking the land and occupying it (inheriting, ירשׁ, ch2) is the promise which is predicated on this obedience.

There is also some beautiful symmetry in the two sets of negative commands: "I will not desert you and I will not leave you (v5)" is matched with "do not be afraid, do not be discouraged (v9)." And of course Yhwh will not leave you, because, in the first and last clauses, Yhwh has promised that he will be with Joshua, as he was with Moses, wherever he should walk.


Also of note is the command to "be strong and courageous," which occurs above as spoken by Yhwh to Joshua (3x), but also occurs as the last two words of the chapter. However, when they occur at the end of the chapter it is not Yhwh speaking but the tribes to the east of the Jordan, and not quite as a condition of following Joshua, but as a hope and a blessing.

What we have then is a command from above and below, Joshua being commissioned both by his God and by his people, to be strong and courageous in what he does and how he does it.


Perhaps finally it is worth restating the original context: this is not a promise for physical prosperity to all people at all times. It is a promise to Joshua for success in occupying the promised land, and for Yhwh to be with him to grant him success in so doing. I'm not saying you should send back your coffee cups with "be strong and courageous," just to say that being strong and courageous and gaining success and prosperity have very specific referents in this descriptive, not prescriptive, passage. That is all.

Proverbs 3:1-12 Chiasm

yes, i know, it's been too long between chiasms. here's a little sugar for you all:

1 My Son, do not forget my teaching,
 but keep my commands in your heart,
2  for they will prolong your life many years
 and bring you prosperity.
3  Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
  bind them around your neck,
  write them on the tablet of your heart.
4  Then you will win favour and a good name
  in the sight of God and man.

5        Trust in the LORD with all your heart
        and lean not on your own understanding;
6         in all your ways acknowledge him,
        and he will make your paths straight.

7               Do not be wise in your own eyes;
              fear the LORD and shun evil.
8               This will bring health to your body
              and nourishment to your bones.

9         Honour the LORD with your wealth,
         with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10        then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
         and your vats will brim over with new wine.

11 My Son, do not despise the LORD’S discipline
  and do not resent his rebuke,
12  because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
  as a father the son he delights in.

as you can see from what i've bolded, the structure presents itself:
1&11 - my son
5&9 - Trust/Honour the Lord
7&8 - the central idea
yep, we've got a typical A B C B' A' chiasm

i'm actually preaching on proverbs 3 this week (see post below), here are my notes that i plan to preach from for this section:

• My son - tefillin, t-shirt. v3b,c - breath, heart.
  
• maybe mention Hebrews 12 - the good father, the son who can trust in his father
  
• Trust - lean = chair
  
• Honour --> generosity
  
• Central idea = 7-8 = Don’t determine for yourself what wisdom is. but fear the Lord, knowing he is the one with power over life and death, he is the one who by means of a crucified Palestinian carpenter was able to reconcile a sinful humanity to himself.
  
• What healing and refreshment this will bring!
  
• It’s not all about us.
  
• We need to keep remembering our poverty, our inability to create a universe – let alone to keep a family functioning. But we have God’s wisdom – revealed ultimately in Christ.
  
• So we keep turning away from evil, and to this omniscient (all wise) God.

i think that with our new website at St Albans Lindfield, there may be the opportunity to listen to my sage words. check there in a week or so. or just check out the site anyway - it's pretty!

Psalm 91 - Yhwh the protector

Exodus Context

There's lots going on in Psalm 91. It's the second of the Exodus psalms, and, seen from that perspective, could be said to describe the experience of living through the ten plagues (Ex 7-12). The emotion is that of living between the darkness of the experience but the hope of the promise. As such, after a summary introduction (91:1) this psalm is mostly the words of the faithful believer (91:2) encouraging their people (91:3-13) to believe in the promises of Yhwh (91:14-16).

Structural Fun

The psalm itself is quite intricate, with chiasms and gapping a plenty.

The first instance of chiasm is in the first verse: with an abcbca structure:

The one who dwells in the tent of the Most Highin the shadow of Shaddai shall lodge,

Similar structures can be found throughout the psalm, with an interesting one in v13, this time with a abccab structure:

Upon the lion and adder you shall tread,
you shall trample the cub and the serpent

91:15 provides a unique structure with two verbs, a SNC, and then two verbs again:

He will call to me
      and I will answer
           With him am I in distress
      I will protect him
and I will honour him

Gapping, or ellipsis, is where words are presented in one stich and inferred in another. The easiest examples come in vv5-6 and v7. V5 provides the verb: "(do not) fear", which is then implied in the following three stichs as follows:

5 Do not be afraid of terror at night
[do not be afraid] of the arrow which flies in the day
6 [do not be afraid] of the pestilence which comes in darkness
[do not be afraid] of destruction which devastates at noon.

Verse 7 similarly provides the verb in the first stich and then elides it in the second. There is perhaps even an antithetical chiasm going on, with people falling in 7a-b and the cause of their falling not approaching in 7c (I've left the English clunky to make the point.):

Should fall 1000 at your side,
[should fall] 10,000 on your right
To you it shall not approach.

Perhaps the most complicated verse is v9, which is hard to work out what is happening. It seems from the first stich that Yhwh is the addressee: "For you Yhwh are my refuge", with the verb "to be" implied. But the second stich is not addressing Yhwh but the one who has Yhwh as their refuge: "The Most High you have set as your shelter." I think Goldingay is probably correct here (in his BOTWP commentary) when he suggests, if I've got him right, that there is gapping from in both stichs which make sense only with reference to each other. 

When you have Yhwh [set] as “my refuge”
[when you have] the Most High set as your shelter

This solution makes most sense of the first-person suffix on "my refuge" in 9a; the alternative would be for 9a to be an interjection, which is possible, but unlikely. Rather, the כי־אתא from 9a is carried over into 9b, and the שמת in 9b is assumed by 9a.

The Name of God

It is also interesting that there are four terms for God in this psalm. 

1a, 9b עֶלְיוֹן (Elyon/Most High)
1b שַׁדַּי (Shaddai/Almighty)
2a, 9a יְהוָה (Yhwh)
2b אֱלֹהִים (God)

That there are four names/titles for God is in itself quite unique; the only other chapter in the Bible where all four terms occur is with Balaam in Numbers 24, where even a fifth, אֵל (the short version of אֱלֹהִים), is used. There is however an additional import of using these four titles in Psalm 91, as 14b-15a explain the importance of knowing God's name:

I will protect him/for he knows my name.
He will call to me/and I will answer

Only the one who knows the name(s!) of God may call to him, and that is certainly the case for the supplicant in this psalm. They know his name, will call to him, and can rely on him to answer.

Macro structure

In terms of the psalm as a whole, it could be that there is a concentric pattern encompassing and giving shape to the bulk of the psalm (91:3-13). On the margins, vv4-6 and 11-12 have more or less the same structure: God will deliver you, you will be safe, so you need not fear. At the centre vv7-8 and 10 declare that evil may befall others but not you, and the reason for this is the key verse, v9, echoing vv1-2, that Yhwh/Elyon is your dwelling place and refuge.

The psalm as a whole ends up looking something like this:

1-2 Claim: there is safety in Yhwh
      3-13 Encouragement: In the midst of trials Yhwh will protect the one who makes Yhwh their refuge
14-16 Response: Yhwh will protect those those call to him

The structure of the body (3-13) is perhaps an abcdedabc structure as follows:

a he will deliver you
       b you will be safe
             c so you need not fear
                   d others will fall but not you
                           e for Yhwh/Elyon is your dwelling place and refuge
                   d evil/plague won’t hit you
a he will deliver you
       b you will be safe
            c so you need not fear

In sum, this psalm is a great encouragement to put your trust in Yhwh as your protector and redeemer, to call out to him in hope and in faith, trusting that he hears and will answer - indeed he has heard and has answered - and will respond with long days and salvation, even if, as Jesus discovered, that comes on the other side of death.

Some patterns in 1 Corinthians 13

While researching my masters on the structure Ecclesiastes, I came across John Harvey's "Listening to the Text", where he sets the foundation for how one should and should not seek to understand and describe structures in texts. I found it immensely helpful (I say "chiasm" a lot less these days, preferring "ring structure" or "concentric symmetry"), but his interest is really in Paul's letters (and even then, his Hauptbriefe), so I couldn't make use of any examples, just the theory. 

But now I'm in 1 Corinthians, I've been able to refer to some specifics in his book, and while he's sceptical about the second structure (because of a lack of linguistic parallels), his suggestion for the third is pretty convincing. So I'll suggest my own for the first, and develop his (rejected) one for the second, and also show a bigger picture one which I think is helpful.

Bookends, 12:31; 13:13

Beginning at the end then, it's noteworthy that the end of 1 Corinthians 12 finishes with Paul telling the Corinthians that they should rather desire the "greater" (μείζονα) gifts. He then goes on to discuss love, what it is and what it isn't, which seems so out of place that Conzelman for instance suggests ch13 is an interpolation, or has been dislocated from perhaps after ch12. However, after mentioning faith, hope and love, he returns to the word "greater" (μείζων) to describe love in comparison with faith and hope. I think it's fair to say that love, and ch13 as a whole, is the governing principle for the wider unit chs12-14. As good as prophecy, tongues and the other charismata are, it is love which must govern and order their use.

Life without love, 13:1-3

The first section, vv1-3 is just three parallel phrases, beginning Paul's use of triplets in this passage (see also v8, 13). These three verses all have three parts: 

1. If I am x
2. But I have not love
3. I am y

Where x is something which could be good, but is probably used to boast in their context, and where y is something not so great: in v1 it is an annoyance, in v2 it is nothing, and in v3 it gains him nothing.

This ties well back to the issues brought up in chs1-4, where the Corinthians are boasting and getting in fights over the wrong thing. Here too, while Paul thinks tongues are great, as is prophecy and great faith and gospel-centred priorities, these things without love are nothing. Instead of things that are not becoming things that are, here they are inverting that, turning things that are into nothing.

What love does/doesn't, 13:4-7

Harvey's issue with any paragraph-wide structure here is the lack of lexical parallels. Which is fair enough. But what we do have are four sections which are each tightly contained, and together forms something of an ABBA structure.

Love is patient
Kind is love

Love doesn’t:
get jealous,
brag,
puff up,
dishonour,
self-seek,
get provoked,
record wrongs

Love doesn’t rejoice in evil
but
does rejoice with the truth.

Love always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.

Note there is a legit chiasm in the first verse (v4a), and then a list of "doesn'ts" (v4b-5), then a contrast between οὐ χαίρει and συνχαίρει, while finally the passage crescendos with a four-fold πάντα. So while there aren't bracketing words or structures to this section, the movements between each sections, with the positive outside and negative inside, I think holds this section together well as a "what love does/doesn't". 

Love outlasts, 13:8-13

Finally in the last section there is a more legit concentric ABCDCBA structure, complete with a bookend of ἡ ἀγάπη (v8,13), but also alternating sets of contrasts.

8a Love never ends

8b–d Prophecies, tongues, knowledge will cease

9–10 In part? Won’t matter

11 Children will grow up

12 In part? Will be fully

13a Faith, hope, love will endure

13b Love is the greatest

So there is a lexical bookend, a doxology to love. Then a contrast between those things which will cease (a triplet: prophecies, tongues, knowledge) and those which will endure (another triplet: faith, hope, love). The third level into this structure reuses the "in part" (ἐκ μέρους) idea, which is thrice in vv9-10 and returns once in v12. There is also a contrast between a negative implication in vv9-10 and a positive application in v12. Finally the central section uses the word "child" four times, which is probably an unsubtle way of telling the Corinthians to grow up!

In summary then, I think ch13 holds together well, in three clear sections, with three clear ideas in each. Each of the three sections hold together tightly and make it clear both where the Corinthians should aspire, but also where they are failing, which makes all the more sense as they reflect on the state of their public worship in the chapters either side.

If you're interested in structure, you should check out John Harvey's book. Here is my goodreads review if you want some more thoughts. 

John 5:16-20 Chiasm

well, to all you who think i'm chiasm mad, i've found another one!

start from the top if you are a Greek nerd, from the bottom if you've got better things to do than learning a dead language (like talking to real people and that kind of thing)


16 καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐδίωκον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι ταῦτα ἐποίει ἐν σαββάτῳ.

            17 Ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι·

18 διὰ τοῦτο οὖν μᾶλλον ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀποκτεῖναι, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἔλυεν τὸ σάββατον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατέρα ἴδιον ἔλεγεν τὸν θεὸν ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ θεῷ.

            19 Ἀπεκρίνατο οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐ δύναται ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ οὐδὲν ἐὰν μή τι βλέπῃ τὸν πατέρα ποιοῦντα· ἃ γὰρ ἂν ἐκεῖνος ποιῇ, ταῦτα καὶ ὁ υἱὸς ὁμοίως ποιεῖ. 20 ὁ γὰρ πατὴρ φιλεῖ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πάντα δείκνυσιν αὐτῷ ἃ αὐτὸς ποιεῖ, καὶ μείζονα τούτων δείξει αὐτῷ ἔργα, ἵνα ὑμεῖς θαυμάζητε.

there is actually a purpose to this structure - the two A sections (v16, 18) give us the explanation - 'and because of this', 'therefore because of this'.

the B sections both give us Jesus' responses.

there is amplifying parallelism, as the As are upped - v16 they were pursuing him, v18 they are seeking to kill him. likewise v17 Jesus says that he and his father are both still slogging away as they always have been; v19-20 fill this out.

16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

            17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

            19 So Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel."



i should add, we were warned in class about not finding chiasms under every rock we look under - if you think i've imagined this one, do let me know (hopefully before Tuesday midnight when i have to hand an exegetical on this passage in!). hmmm... maybe i should just talk about parallelism and not chiastic structures - they're usually more ABBA or ABB'A' than ABAB aren't they?

Notes on Zechariah 5 and 6a

This week I'll finish off the vision section of Zechariah, which began (1:8vv) and now ends with horses patrolling the earth (6:1-8). There are also two visions in chapter 5, one of a flying scroll and the other of a flying basket. I guess you could also say the horses are flying, but that's in a more metaphorical sense. 

5:1-4 Flying Scroll

5:5-11 Flying Basket

6:1-8 Flying Horses

Of course, there are better ways to describe each vision, so:

5:1-4 A flying curse scroll condemns theft and lying

5:5-11 A basket containing wickedness is flown far away

6:1-8 Horses patrolling the earth cause God's spirit to rest

There are things which all three visions share in common, and lexemes is a key one. 

• Coming/going (יצא) is very consistent through these visions. A sense that everything is happening is created. The scroll zooms in, the basket zooms away, and the chariots zoom in and out of the scene. 
• Each vision mentions the whole earth/land (כל הארץ). In the first instance this is Yehud (Judah), because the focus is the cleansing of the land from sin. But it also broadens out to describe the whole world - the Persian empire, and even beyond.
• The first and second visions also discuss houses, the house of the thief and liar, and then the house being built for the woman in the basket. The contrast here is with the house which has been the focus throughout Zechariah up to this point: the temple, or house, of Yhwh. 

I'm still thinking through the connections between the visions as a whole, which are said to be chiastic. For instance, here's one way they could be construed:

1.7–17: The promise of rest centred on Yhwh’s house (horses!)

2.1–4: Judgement on the scattering nations (horns!)

2.5–17: His house in Jerusalem is the place Yhwh will dwell (measuring man!)

3.1–10: Joshua the priest over Yhwh’s House (heavenly court!)

4.1–14: Not by might or by power but by Yhwh’s Spirit (lampstand!)

5.1–4: Curse on the house of the thief/liar (flying scroll!)

5.5–11: A far-away house for wickedness (idol in a basket!)

6.1–8: Yhwh’s Spirit at rest (horses!)

I've massaged the titles a little to make the parallels a little clearer. The first and last are the clearest because of the shared vision (horses!), and the contrast between the second/third and sixth/seventh passages are workable in terms of near (the house/houses) and far (the nations, the idol's home). The middle two are about the two key players (Joshua and Zerubbabel), and maybe there's a thread through the first, fourth, fifth and eighth visions. 

The issue with this approach is the chiasm was uncovered by the image of the visions (horses!), but that's the only time it works. Every other parallel is thematic or a keyword. I guess I want my chiasms (if this is even properly a chiasm - something beyond the verse level is better called a parallel or envelope structure) to present themselves. There's a fair bit of work to get here, and even then it's not too tight. 

For me it makes more sense that these visions, like any dream, are pieced together from sights and sounds and experiences from every day. There are people building walls and temple furniture, there are discussions about Zerubbabel and Joshua, about Babylon and Persia, and the horses and chariots of the empire are zipping around, being the eyes and ears of Darius. Now, it can well be the case that both of these are true. But there is enough to keep them together without insisting on an intentionally designed structure.

5:1-4 A flying curse scroll condemns theft and lying

A similar introductory formula to the other visions has Zechariah seeing unprompted for once. Normally the angel draws his attention to something but the scroll is obvious enough to see, because it is flying, and also because it is massive. It's something like 10m x 5m (20x10 cubits), although it's not clear if this is rolled up or not. It's also not clear if Zechariah can see what's on it, or the angel just knows and tells him.

In any case, the angel is there to help and without the 20 questions of the previous vision tells Zechariah what's happening. It's a flying scroll which is also a curse. It's a מגלה עפה ... האלה (megillah 'aphah ... ha'alah). And it has two specific targets, every thief and everyone who swears ... who swears falsely by my name.

The explanation of what swearing entails is held off by a verse, perhaps for suspense, or there was just no need to explain it. Of course swearing in parallel with theft will be the bad type of swearing, and we find out quickly enough that it is.

The assumption here is that these two targets are breaking two commandments of the Decalogue, the 8th (don't steal) and either the 3rd (don't misuse my name) or the 9th (don't bear false witness). The difficulty with the second one is it takes terms from both the 3rd and 9th commandments. But the solution is I think resolved by referring to Leviticus 19, where the wording is almost identical to Zechariah 5:4. This also importantly places these commandments in the context of life in the land, which is not to be like the nation they have been rescued from nor the nations surrounding them. This is the reasoning behind the sexual ethics in Leviticus 18 and also makes sense of the fruit laws in Leviticus 19. The point then of theft/swearing being targets is that these are laws, which, when broken, would lead to them being yet again vomited out of the land. 

5:5-11 A basket containing wickedness is flown far away

This time it's the angel who is doing the coming and going, and he tells Zechariah to look at what things are coming and going up above. It's another flying object, a basket, evidenced by the command to raise his eyes and look. But although he's looking up, he is also looking in, and sees a woman (אשה) in a basket (איפה) - an ishshah in an ephah. to go with our megillah 'aphah ha'alah from the previous vision.  

Of course, it's not all revealed at once. First he sees the basket, then sees a lead disk rising, and then he sees the woman, only for her to be pushed down by the lead cover. 

So far then we have three measurements, two of which are also eponymous for their object (container/weight). We did have cubits for the scroll, and now we have an ephah, which can also stand for the basket, and on top of this is a kikar, which is the word both for a talent (in this case, of lead) and also the shape it comes in, a round object, in this case a cover for the basket. 

There is a textual issue, despite manuscript evidence, where the woman in the based is called עינם (their eyes?), but is pretty universally read עונם (their iniquity) based on logic as well as the evidence of the versions. There are attempts to make it mean something, such as "appearance", as in the appearance of iniquity, but this still assumes it's iniquity.

More interesting to me is the next description, that she is wickedness. The fun pun here is that רשעה is a near anagram for the goddess אשרה. And this then explains how this woman is able to fit in a basket - she is not alive but an idol. She is from Babylon (the plains of Shinar) and to there she will return. 

How will she get back there? Two other women, with stork wings. And the counter pun is now found with the wings of the stork, the חסידה, which is of course very close to חסד. Wickedness represented by Asherah is removed by the stork-winged women representing faithfulness. 

I'm sort of interested by who these women are; divine messengers are generally not feminine in appearance or description (as far as I can recall) so I want to assume these are angels of some description but we really know nothing else. And of course it's a dream. 

6:1-8 Horses patrolling the earth cause God's spirit to rest

Last off are the horses, but this time they're pulling chariots. Which raises the question of whether they were pulling chariots too back in chapter 1. Maybe that's how the same person could be riding a horse as well as standing among the myrtle trees - he was standing aboard his chariot, so he was both mounted and standing. We also have a different number of horses. There were three colours in chapter 1, now there are four, and possibly different colours, but it also reduces to three colours of horses. Presumably each chariot has horses all of one colour.

Where are they going? North, south, and a third direction. NIV says it's west, as in behind, as in, from an easterly orientation. But it makes more sense to say after the north horses, because that's what it says, but also because west would be into the sea, and also because north is the end point in 6:8 of the chapter. What's with north and south? I think it's because the nations who have been most in their faces are Egypt (south), and Syria, Babylon, Assyria and Persia - because everyone needs to access Yehud from the north, if they aren't going through 1000km of desert.

This doesn't resolve the question of where precisely the spirit ends up in v8. Is it in Damascus, Babylon, or Ecbatana? Or is it just [gestures wildly] somewhere up that way? Perhaps the answer is less where but what. As in, what is the purpose of Yhwh's spirit being at rest in the north? The most consistent answer is with the same meaning as chapter 1, that this is a sign the earth is at rest, and the returnees can now get to work building the temple and being the people of God, in God's place, and under God's rule. 

This has all taken three days to get to the end of, because I keep getting called away. Sleep is calling now, and then I'll preach through it tomorrow. And then, the rest of 6 and chapter 7! Until then. 

Hebrews 4.14-5.10 Chiasm

what do you think:

A 4.14 – Because he’s ascended to heaven let us hold fast
    B 4.15 – Jesus an empathetic human priest.
        C 5.5 – Jesus a Son-priest
            D 5.6 – Jesus a Melchizedek-priest
    B’ 5.7 – Jesus lived an earthly life
        C’ 5.7 – Jesus learnt obedience despite being the Son
A’ 5.9-10 – Source of eternal salvation for those who believe.
            D’ 5.10 – Jesus the Melchizedek-priest

i was hoping it could be a little prettier.
maybe can't even call it properly chiastic. more recursive.
but i'm preaching on it tomorrow morning, important as the chiasm is it might have to wait...

Acts 1 Chiasm

Luke-Acts exam in a few hours.
a little chiasm to keep you going:

Acts 1.2

a   ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας
b       ἐντειλάμενος τοῖς ἀποστόλοις
c           διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου
b'      οὓς ἐξελέξατο
a'  ἀνελήμφθη

... until the day he was taken up (a,a')
after commanding the apostles he had chosen (b,b')
by the holy spirit (c)

you like?

Notes on Zechariah 8

The first half of Zechariah, or First Zechariah, as it might be called, finishes with one big two-chapter-long parallel structure:

A 7:1-2 Some entreat Yhwh (for poor reasons)

B 7:3-6 Rebuke in regards to fasting

C 7:7-8 Ethical commands, incl. not plotting evil in your hearts

D 7:11-14 Yhwh's anger for disobedience

E 8:1-3 Restoration of the city 

F 8:4-6 Joy for the inhabitants

G 8:7-10 Yhwh will save and return and be their God

F` 8:9-10 Formerly fear for the inhabitants

E` 8:11-13 Restoration of the land

D` 8:14-15 Yhwh's disaster when angered turned into doing good

C` 8:16-17 Ethical commands, incl. not plotting evil in your hearts

B` 8:18-19 Fasting turned into feasting

A` 8:20-23 Many entreating Yhwh from all the nations

I think this works okay. It's often more thematic than lexical. But that's okay. The issue is that when you start with the big structure, you miss things you discover when breaking it down further, and other connections appear. We saw that last week with 6b-7, and there are interesting connections within 8 which would be missed if only examining these verses within the larger context.

From the outset, Zechariah 8 feels very different to Zechariah 7. Where Zechariah 7 had only three speech formulas (v4,9,13), Zechariah 8 has sixteen. These help structure the text more clearly than the parallel structure. We might even use the terminology of major and minor breaks here. The first comes at 8:1, "And the word of Yhwh of Armies came, saying," (וַיְהִי דְּבַר־יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת לֵאמֹר), and then repeats, with the addition of "to me" (אֵלַי), in 8:18. 

Then come the minor divisions, "Thus says Yhwh (of Armies)", in v2,3,4,6,7,9,14,19,20,23. There are also four "asides", three "declaration of Yhwh of Armies" (v6,11,17) and one "says Yhwh of Armies (v14b), which I think are more stylistic than structural. 

Putting this all together, as well as some lexical repetition which I will explain as I work through each stanza, I think there are four larger sections, as follows:

I: 8:1-8

1 The word of Yhwh of Armies came, saying

2 Thus says Yhwh of Armies

3 Thus says Yhwh

4 Thus says Yhwh of Armies

6 Thus says Yhwh of Armies - declaration of Yhwh of Armies

7 Thus says Yhwh of Armies

II: 8:9-15

9 Thus says Yhwh of Armies

11 - declaration of Yhwh of Armies

14 For thus says Yhwh of Armies - says Yhwh of Armies

III 8:16-19 

17 - declaration of Yhwh

18 And the word of Yhwh of Armies came to me, saying

19 Thus says Yhwh of Armies

 IV 8:20-23

20 Thus says Yhwh of Armies

23 Thus says Yhwh of Armies

I: 8:1-8

This first stanza presents as a series of five "thus says Yhwh (of Armies)" statements. They describe Yhwh's intent to transform his people and his place by being with them. Each statement is between two and four stichs long, usually in parallel, either chiastic or whatever the opposite of chiastic is (synonymous?). That is, they are either ABBA or ABAB in form. 

The "declaration of Yhwh of Armies" at the end of v6 sets 8:7-8 apart as the culmination of this stanza, with a shout out to the covenant promise to Abraham, often repeated by the major prophets, that "they will be my people and I will be their God". There is also the addition of "in truth and in righteousness", a reminder of this thread in Zechariah of the importance of truth and the banishing of lying and misrepresentation. 

II: 8:9-15

This stanza is tricky in that it has a bracket but also a coda. At first it seems the section should be 8:9-13, bracketed by "strengthen your hands" (תֶּחֱזַקְנָה יְדֵיכֶם) as the first and last phrase. There are also numerous other repetitions, such as a chiasm spanning 8:11-12 (A/A` the remnant of this people, B/B` peace seed/heaven's dew, C/C` the vine gives fruit/the earth gives produce), and then v13 has two parallel pairs of stichs. 

But what confuses this is that before "strengthen your hands" we hear "do not fear!", a phrase which is repeated at the end of v15. It seems then that while 9-13 should be a section, we are supposed to read the two "do not fear" refrains as holding all of these together. 

Unfortunately the NIV botches the past-referring part of v9-10, again rearranging the Hebrew to make it make sense in English but mangling the sense of it. I think it's trying to say that these are the days of the founding of the temple, and v10 alone is the past. The point being, your conditions are pretty great now. Previously you had to do this gratis, but now you're getting paid, so get to it. 

And if they can get to it, then the promise Haggai made a couple of years earlier will be fulfilled, where the time when you worked for nothing will be transformed into your labour bearing much fruit. This is a time, from 14-15, where the past treatment (I determined to do evil, זממתי להרע) will be repealed and I will now do good (להיטיב) for you. 

III 8:16-19 

This section starts off out of nowhere; I think what's going on is there's a hinge around the speech commands in the middle: "- declaration of Yhwh; Now the word of Yhwh of Armies came to me saying, Thus says Yhwh of Armies". And it's bracketed by hate and love. Plotting evil and lying? These things I hate (v17). Truth and peace? Love them! (v19).

These are the ethical commands we saw back in 7:7-8, combined with the fasting/feasting of 7:3-6. There are also two extra fasts added in, which is fun. There was the fifth month fast in 7:3, fifth and seventh in 7:5, and now, in 8:19, a total of four, with a fast in each of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months. The point is every fast is now a feast, as the conditions are reversed. So the question of Bethel-Sarezer was not the wrong question, but evidently done from the wrong motives. Rather than looking for an excuse to cease fasting, the attention should have been on getting the temple done. It sounds a bit like the paneled housing complaint Haggai makes. Stop worrying so much about things you want, ask what Yhwh wants, and focus on that. And as you do that, all you need will be given you.

IV 8:20-23

These final verses remind us of the picture at the beginning of chapter 2, the walls could never be built large enough to encompass all the people who will be coming to be near Yhwh. 8:21-22 contains another abccba chiasm (a/a` entreat, b/b` seek Yhwh, c/c` i will go/they will come), and then at the end the verb "to be strong" returns, although this time in a different stem. חזק in the qatal was about strengthening their hands, but here in the hiphil it's about grasping firmly, in this case to the hem of a Judahite, so that they might be brought to his God.

This is a fascinating picture, as it's explicitly not a picture of the scattered remnant returning, but non-Jews, Gentiles, being irresistibly attracted to the God of the Jews.

And this is the picture with which Zechariah 1-8 concludes. A God who is at work in his scattered remnant to return them and rebuild his house, to cleanse it of wickedness and duplicity, so that his people might be his and he their God, and they and all people might know him and worship him in fulness and in truth. 

Matthew 13 Chiasm Structure

My work for Sunday. The three E's stand out as being key to understanding the chapter.

Thyatira's Chiasm - Revelation 2:19

There's so much going on in Revelation in terms of structure. One interesting feature of the book is where irregular constructions are used to highlight something. In 2:19, as Jesus outlines the commendable things in the Thyatiran church, there is this odd construction with the word σου (of you) occurring, not after each item, nor only after the whole list, but before and after the list of five positive traits.

οἶδά 

σου 

τὰ ἔργα 

καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην 

καὶ τὴν πίστιν 

καὶ τὴν διακονίαν 

καὶ τὴν ὑπομονήν 

σου

"I know of you, the works and the love and the faith and the service and the endurance, of you." It should just be translated "I know your works and your love and your faith and your service and your endurance," but "your" only occurs before and after the list.

Why? It could be, perhaps, that it's trying to draw attention to this group of admirable traits present in Thyatira, despite the difficult context they find themselves in. And, above all of them, it could be that the central one--their faith/trust/belief--is what is of supreme importance.

When this letter (2:18-29) begins wrapping it, it returns to the idea of trust. 2:25 reads,

"Only this: what you have, hold on to it, until I come." 

It is only by their faith in Christ, and not the teaching of Jezebel (20-23a), the deep things of Satan (24), that they have can be certain of conquering and keeping the works of Jesus until the end (26). 

So it could just be that John didn't want to write σου out five times, but he did write it twice, including once before the list begins, so I think it's fair to say there was some purpose in doing so. It could have been to draw attention to the whole list, or it could be to draw especial attention to the central idea: your faith/trust/belief in Jesus.

John 9 Chiasm

I'm in a chiasmic mood today. Here's how I see John 9 playing out:

A 9.1-5 Jesus is the light of the world - but darkness is not far away

B 9.6-7 The incredible - the blind man sees!

C 9.8-12 incredulity from the crowd

D 9.13-17 incredulity from the Pharisees I (man)

C' 9.18-23 incredulity from the Pharisees II (parents)

D' 9.24-29 incredulity from the Pharisees III (man)

B' 9.30-34 Credibility of Jesus - the blind can see!

A' 9.35-41 Because of Jesus the blind see and those who see are blind

The tumult of Psalm 124

Psalm 124 could in many ways be seen as the second half to Psalm 123.

123.1-2 Recognition of Yhwh
    123.3 Call for help
        123.4 Description of the danger
        124.1-5 What would've happened
    124.6-7 Response of rescue
124.8 Praise of the creator

But the psalm also tells a story on its own, and it does so through some clear repetition.

Verses 1-2 both begin with identical phrases, setting up an hypothetical negative, which is where Yhwh was not interested in Israel. The speaker is "us" - Israel - and the passage reuses the first-person plural ending a whopping twelve times in only eight verses.

Verses 3-5 then explain what would have happened, with each verse beginning with אזי - "then". It seems to use imagery from the escape from Egypt through the Reed Sea, where the anger of the Pharaoh forced them to flee through the waters, which would have otherwise have engulfed Israel, had Yhwh not protected them.

The last verses (6-8) form a little concentric structure with something of a chiasm in v7:

6a Blessed be Yhwh
    6b He did not give us as prey for their teeth:
        7a Our soul like a bird escaped the ensnarer's trap
        7b The trap is broken and we have escaped
8 Our help is in Yhwh

Here's v7 in Hebrew for those with eyes to see, with the same mark-ups as the English:

נַפְשֵׁנוּ כְּצִפּוֹר נִמְלְטָה מִפַּח יוֹקְשִׁים
הַפַּח נִשְׁבָּר וַאֲנַחְנוּ נִמְלָטְנוּ׃

In v7 the parallels are our soul/we, escaped/escaped, trap/trap, where two of the three are more-or-less exact parallels and the second part of the first (our soul/we) introduces an unnecessary pronoun to reinforce the parallelism.

There are some similarities to Psalm 114, as part of the Egyptian Hallel psalms there, which are used here to remind those pilgrims en route to Jerusalem of Yhwh's past faithfulness and the implication that the Yhwh who was for them then is certainly for them still.

The use of ראה to structure the Observation Panels

As mentioned in the previous post on this subject, the body of Ecclesiastes can be seen to comprise of four pairs of alternating panels, with the A panels containing Qoheleth's observations, while the B panels contain his collected wisdom.

First-Person Verbs
What stands out in the reading of Ecclesiastes is the proliferation of first-person verbs. The narrative is not the normal type of Hebrew narrative, describing the goings-on of a third person, but are written in the first-person. The first section (1.12-2.26) contains a whopping 42:38 first-:third-person verbs, which gives a ratio of 1.11. Compare this with Ecclesiastes as a whole (which is the highest of all the books with 0.26), or with the canonical wisdom books (0.21), the whole Hebrew Bible (0.18) or, right at the bottom, Ben Sira (0.09).
The point here is that Ecclesiastes is unique in having the narrative being told from a first-person point of view.

You can see there are spikes, with large concentrations of first-person verbs in various sections, while there is a (there are a?) paucity in other places, where the third-person takes over. Add to this that in the observation panels there are other verbs which are virtual first-person verbs, namely where Qohelet speaks to his heart.
Of course, it is not enough to simply point this out; the question is what delineates these first-person observation sections from the wisdom which surrounds them?

Occurrences of ראה 
Looking at just the first-person occurrences of ראה, it becomes evident that there is a regularity to where it is used, but also a rhetorical use of the verb. It begins units, and often ends them, such that four panels reveal themselves:

Observation Panel 1: 1.12-2.26 (four units which begin with first-person use of ראה : qatal 3x, yiqtol 1x)
Observation Panel 2: 3.10-4.15 (four units, four of which begin with a first-person use of ראה, three of which also conclude with first-person use of ראה : qatal 5x, yiqtol 2x)
Observation Panel 3: 5.12-6.12 (three units, each of which begin with the first-person qatal use of ראה)
Observation Panel 4: 7.15-9.13 (five units, each of which either begin or end with a first-person use of ראה, and begin or end with another use of ראה : qatal 5x, imperative 2x, infinitive 3x)

What we see here is the first and third panels begin with ראיתי or אראה, while the second and third are bookended with a use of ראה. For the astute reader you will have noticed there are two further uses of ראיתי, namely in 10.5,7. We maintain this is an 'observation interlude', which forms some symmetry with the 'wisdom interlude' found in the second panel, at 4.4-5.

Internal Structure of the Observation Panels
What remains to be said is that the four panels each contain discrete units, each of which are either begun by, or both begun and concluded by, an observation using the verb 'to see'. Chiasm-crazy as I am, it's hard for me not to see the chiasms present in the individual units, where an observation is made, discussed and conclusions then made. Within each panel the units are linked by a theme, which is most obvious in the first panel (1.12-2.26), but is evident in the other three panels also.

In the next post I want to talk a bit about the Wisdom Panels which form the matching pairs to the Observation Panels. Stay tuned!