Chiastic Structure Research Articles

Chiasm and the Book of Micah: Micah 4.11-13 as its Structural and Theological Core

This brief note demonstrates the chiastic structure of the book of Micah with 4.11-13 serving as its numerical centre and establishing its primary theological focus.

Chiastic thinking: A cognitive process closely related to Janusian thinking

This article aims to explore a way of thinking based on chiastic structure (X-shaped structure), chiastic thinking. Characterized by its juxtaposition of opposite structure, chiastic thinking has an intriguing connection to Janusian thinking. This is because Janusian thinking is deemed a creative process wherein two opposite concepts or images are conceived simultaneously. At the beginning of the article, conceptual combination and Janusian thinking are presented, along with empirical research data to support the effectiveness of Janusian thinking. The paper then shifts to a discussion of chiastic thinking, which occupies a unique place in human culture and civilization but does not receive due attention. In the last part of this article, the examples of chiastic thinking in literature, science, and art are provided. Across diverse disciplines, the combination of opposites manifests in various ways, often adopting different technical terms that give rise to different theories. These terms and theories may share fundamental commonalities but differ in certain aspects. The main purpose of this review article is to examine the close relation between Chiastic and Janusian thinking. Hopefully, this review article can rekindle the academic interest in these two thinking processes and give them new meaning.

Heterotopias, Non-Places and Оther Chiasmi

This paper investigates the dichotomy between Dismaland, a dystopian inversion of Disneyland, and Disneyland as an enduring bastion of joyous illusion. Through the lenses of heterotopia, non-places, and chiasmus, it explores how their coexistence authentically grounds one while estranging the other. Banksy's inadvertent use of а chiastic structure in transforming Dismaland is analyzed for its reorganizational logic, and challenging norms. Drawing on Lefebvre, Foucault, Rancière, and Nikolchina, the paper examines cultural representations, spaces, and social relations. The analysis extends to non-places vs. heterotopias, emphasizing Dismaland's resistance to non-place classification. The paper advocates for heterotopias, like Dismaland, to challenge norms andfoster alternative cultural production, critiquing interpretations of Situationist theories and proposing Rancière's spatial occupation. The conclusion explores how chiastic structure and heterotopian thinking fuel Dismaland's revolutionary potential, challenging predetermined environments, and underscores art's transformative role in societal evolution towards a renewed existence.

The Genesis of Jewish Genealogy

This paper examines the structure, message, and content of biblical genealogies in light of literary analysis and social anthropology. In particular, the focus is on the so-called “Table of Nations” in Genesis 10. My basic assumption is that most biblical genealogies are a literary genre employing various devices that carry a message using symbolic numbers, chiastic structure, and anticipation. These lists interact and supplement the narrative, sometimes as a foil to the story line. They are inserted at relevant points of change in the story of mankind from Adam and Eve to Joseph and his brothers. I even propose that these insertions are the earliest form of dividing the book of Genesis into installments, a precursor to weekly Torah readings and to the later division into chapters as in the printed text. The underlying message of this chapter is the value concept of the brotherhood of mankind stemming from one father—Noah. This innovative idea of universal kinship breaks with the common pagan view prevalent in antiquity that man’s place is to serve the gods and to have little or no personal identity. Note that the great urban cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia have left us no real records of family lineage other than the long king lists that reflect dynastic power. No doubt the importance of oral and written lineage stems from a tribal culture like that of the ancient Hebrews and their kindred. This overriding view even shaped the Nimrud pericope, describing his founding the urban centers of Babylon and Assyria. Genealogy became the natural medium expressing this message of universal kinship. Basic to understanding biblical genealogies is discerning two patterns of kinship, one, linear, stretching up to ten generations, and two, segmented genealogies, noting an eponymous “father” and his segmented offspring or wives. Our understanding of these structures in the Bible is shaped by the research of social anthropologists who studied oral genealogy among analphabetic tribes in Africa and the Middle East. I apply these observations and methodology in a detailed commentary on the Table of Nations.

The Chiasm: The Inverse Parallel of Le Corbusier

The “axis” is ubiquitous in Le Corbusier’s architectural oeuvre. “The Chiasm: The Inverse Parallel of Le Corbusier” examines the concept of the axis in the essays, “Architecture, Pure Creation of the Mind,” and “Architecture, The Illusion of the Plan,” published in Vers une architecture (1923). Le Corbusier writes: “…a sense of the harmonious that gives rise to a resonance…” and “…the trace of an indefinable absolute preexisting at the core of our being.” And decisively, “This must be the axis along which man is organized…”. The axis Le Corbusier described is, in fact, a chiastic device he employed in his writings, drawings and architecture. Chiasmus, conceptually defined, is the “inverted repetition of grammatical structure.” Inversion, as two sides of the axis, identifies representations of things related and simultaneously different. The twentieth century French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty identifies the chiasm as a concept to describe the body as sensible and sentient, a reflection in relation to the self, others, and the perceived world. Merleau-Ponty uses the chiasm to clarify reversibility and the phenomenological experience. Merleau-Ponty’s theories of chiastic inversion substantiate the chiastic structure that supports Le Corbusier’s ideology and his search for a harmonious milieu that is based in the axis.

고린도전서 15:45의 이해와 해석에 대한 제안 — “살아 있는 육신”인 아담과 “살려 주는 영”인 그리스도 —

As K. E. Bailey rightly observes, 1 Corinthians 15:45 lies in the heart of the chiastic structure of verses 35-50, but its meaning is difficult to understand. Especially understanding the meaning of ψυχὴν ζῶσαν and πνεπῦμα ζῳοποιοῦν in verse 45 was not easy, and it gave the previous Korean translations problems to translate the phrase. On this account, this article examines Paul’s use of Genesis 2:7 in 1 Corinthians 15:45, and how Paul contrasts the first Adam and the last Adam.BR Paul contrasts the first Adam with the last Adam in a dualistic way. First, Paul makes an ontological contrast which sets an antithesis of Adam who is living but only as a natural being, placed in death and belonging to dust, and Christ who is the spirit, raised from death and belonging to heaven. Paul already explains this contrast in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 where he makes a sharp distinction between a natural/fleshly person (ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος) and a spiritual person (ὁ πνευματικός). Moreover, in 1 Corinthians 3:1, Paul argues that he could not address the Corinthians as spiritual people (πνευματικοῖς) but as people of the flesh (σαρκίνοις). This shows that Paul uses the spiritual as an antithesis to natural or fleshly. Thus Paul’s contrast continues in 15:45 where he makes an ontological contrast between the first Adam who is still a natural being and the last Adam who is now a spiritual being.BR Second, Paul makes a functional contrast which sets an antithesis of Adam who received life from God and Christ who gives life (like God). The verb to give life (ζῳοποιέω) is explicitly and exclusively used with regard to God’s ministry in verse 22 and 36 in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The first Adam was a being that received life from God, but the last Adam is a being that gives life. Through this dualistic contrast, Paul claims that the life-giving ministry that belonged to God in Genesis is now entrusted to the resurrected Christ, which leads to Paul’s exhortation for the Corinthians to belong to Christ and to abound in the work of the Lord. Thus this article aims to suggest an interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:45 based on the dualistic contrast between Adam and Christ.

Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D.V. De Silva. Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary

Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D.V. De Silva. <i>Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary</i>

R. El̔azar son of R. Šim̔on the thief catcher ( bB. Metz. 83a–84a)

The article analyses the first half of the story cycle about R. El̔azar son of R. Šim̔on with regard to its literary and redactional aspects and its web of contexts. The cycle’s chiastic structure is identified, as well as its ‘symphonic’ character: motifs appearing for the first time in the Mishnah are repeated in different variations throughout the sugya, creating a dialogue among its various units. The article concludes that, despite R. El̔azar’s irregular conduct, this is not a tale of repentance. The stories instead depict the changes in R. El̔azar’s attitude towards ‘natural law’. In the opening story R. El̔azar seeks divine order through observing the outside world; in the last story he arrives at the conclusion that his body is the tool through which divine order can be recognized.

The Cultic Reformation Chiastic Structure in the Book of Kings

The Book of Kings presents religious reforms in ancient Israel and Judah in an elaborately designed pattern. Repetitive verbal and thematic parallels concerning reforms and political incidents reveal a systematic–concentric chiastic structure. A good king/bad king pattern framed within a concept of “one Israel” shows that Solomon’s/Jeroboam’s and Manasseh’s/Josiah’s reforms are placed at the opposite ends of the chiasmus, enveloping those of Asa/Ahab and Ahaz/Hezekiah and then Jehu’s/Joash’s reforms centered within the larger structure. By virtue of their positioning inside the structure, the Yahwistic reforms of Solomon, Josiah, and Jehu/Joash are emphasized as compared to other kings’ reforms. All of northern Israel’s reforms fail, while in Judah only some succeed, and even these have limitations and require further development. The Davidic heirs and their supporters may now perceive that Kings presents and pursues the pro-Yahwistic reforms as the ideal ones, based on the Davidic covenant, while rejecting the potentially problematic ones.

The power of chiasmus: Exploring the prayer of Esther in LXX Esther

As a figure constitutional of meaning within texts and schemes of thought, chiasmus plays an essential role. Taking chiasmi beyond their purely stylistic role calls for exploring their structural and meaning-defining role within texts and systems of thought. This study endeavoured to investigate the chiastic structure(s) of LXX Esther’s Addition C, the Prayer of Esther. The reverse parallelism of chiasmus can symbolise a wide series of affiliations. Jamin Pelkey’s semiotic typology of chiasmus was utilised as a heuristic prism to explore the chiastic structure(s) referred to in LXX Esther’s Addition C (17k–z) and Addition D. A crucial question is in what ways and how these chiasmi contribute to communicate intersections or meeting points between two possibilities. Chiasmus can be employed both to outline contradictions or rifts between some set of oppositions and at the same time bring these differences into dialogue. It was illustrated how oppositions and contradictions related to the prayer of Esther are transcended.Contribution: Referring to the narrative of LXX Esther, this article contributed to contested historical thought, source interpretation and literary studies.

Zongmi’s Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity: Rhetorical Characteristics and Their Implications

Zongmi 宗密 (780–841) is a pivotal figure in understanding the characteristics of East Asian Buddhist philosophy, especially that of Huayan and Chan. And it is in the Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity (Yuanren lun 原⼈論) that Zongmi developed his integrated and universal system of philosophy that incudes Confucianism and Taoism in addition to the five schools of Teaching and Chan. This paper probes the rhetorical characteristics of the Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity focusing on the six categories of panjiao 判敎, the chiastic structure from shallow to deep, and the unique terminology Zongmi coined in the matrix of inclusive reconciliation.BR Zongmi devises a two-layered chiastic structure in the Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity. On one layer, he writes the panjiao in a forward order and then in reverse. At the same time, he makes a chiastic contrast “from shallow to deep.” At the center of the chiastic structure, he deliberately places his own terms such as the One True Numinosity (yizhen lingxing 一眞靈性), which he adopted from Buddhist elemental concepts and transformed them into more universal notions in East Asian philosophy, a recurring occurrence in the history of East Asian Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism This experimental application of rhetorical criticism of East Asian Buddhist texts proves that the method can contribute enormously to our understanding of the broader picture and the depth of the text.

Jeffrey A. D. Weima, The Sermons to the Seven Churches of Revelation: A Commentary and Guide

Jeffrey A. D. Weima, <i>The Sermons to the Seven Churches of Revelation: A Commentary and Guide</i>

Beauty and truth, truth and beauty: Chiastic structure increases the subjective accuracy of statements.

The Keats heuristic suggests that people find esthetically pleasing expressions more accurate than mundane expressions. We test this notion with chiastic statements. Chiasmus is a stylistic phenomenon in which at least two linguistic constituents are repeated in reverse order, conventionally represented by the formula A-B-B-A. Our study focuses on the specific form of chiasmus known as antimetabole, in which the reverse-repeated constituents are words (e.g., All for one and one for all; A = all, B = one). In three out of four experiments (N = 797), we find evidence that people judge antimetabolic statements (e.g., Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.) as more accurate than semantically equivalent nonantimetabolic statements (e.g., Success is getting what you wish. Happiness is wanting what you receive.). Furthermore, we evaluate fluency as a potential mechanism explaining the observed accuracy benefit afforded to antimetabolic statements, finding that the increased speed (i.e., fluency) with which antimetabolic statements were processed predicted judgments of accuracy. Overall, the present work is consistent with the growing literature on stylistic factors biasing assessments of truth, using the distinctive stylistic pattern of antimetabole. We find that information communicated using an antimetabolic structure is judged to be more accurate than nonantimetabolic paraphrases. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Awaiting Mercy: Structural Commentary on the Epistle of Jude by Kalina Wojciechowska and Mariusz Rosik

Reviewed by: Awaiting Mercy: Structural Commentary on the Epistle of Jude by Kalina Wojciechowska and Mariusz Rosik Dominik Tomczyk kalina wojciechowska and mariusz rosik, Oczekując miłosierdzia. Komentarz strukturalny do Listu św. Judy [Awaiting Mercy: Structural Commentary on the Epistle of Jude] ( Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe ChAT, 2020). Pp. 458. PLN 92, 40. The Epistle of Jude is one of the four shortest NT writings (following the Epistle to Philemon and the Second and Third Epistles of John). The 456-word text contains 227 unique words (Philemon consists of 328 words of which 141 are unique). In the mid-1970s, D. J. Rowston suggested that "the most neglected book in the New Testament is probably the book of Jude" ("The Most Neglected Book," NTS 21 [1975] 554). Even Martin Luther considered it merely an "extract" of 2 Peter (p. 43), although today quite the opposite view is held. It is therefore not surprising that in biblical studies this letter has attracted little attention, which led to the neglect of Jude's theological message. Does this mean that the twenty-five verses of this epistle are bereft of theological meaning for the church and believers? The present book is not the first time that Polish Bible scholars Kalina Wojciechowska (Lutheran; Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw) and Fr. Mariusz Rosik (Catholic; Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław) have jointly reflected on NT texts. In 2018, they published a structural commentary on the Epistle of James, in which they highlighted the theme of wisdom in their exegesis (Mądrość zstępująca z góry: Komentarz strukturalny do Listu św. Jakuba [Wisdom that Comes from Heaven: Structural Commentary on the Epistle of James] [Wydawnictwo Naukowe ChAT; Warsaw, 2018]; English translation in preparation by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht). In the present work, they seek to restore the Book of Jude to its rightful place in contemporary biblical reflection (p. 33). An individual commentary on the Epistle of Jude "is rare" (p. 33). This commentary is divided into two parts. The first part presents a typical introduction to the main topics concerning the epistle: its contents and canonicity, authorship and date, recipients, vocabulary and style, literary genre, and structure. The second part of the monograph is an extensive structural commentary. In contrast to the proposals of other commentators (Richard Bauckham, G. L. Green, F. D. Watson, Ernst R. Wendland, and C. D. Osburn), W. and R. propose their own chiastic structure of the epistle, in which Hebrew rhetoric "overlaps the Hellenistic rhetorical structure" (p. 94). With this approach, "it is possible to view the text in a more holistic way and to draw out not only its alarming and paraenetic (protreptic) aspects but the theological aspect as well" (ibid.). [End Page 340] The table below presents the general organisational structure of the commentary as adopted by the authors (p. 94). Structure of classical rhetoric Epistle of Jude Structure of Hebrew rhetoric 1. Prescript 1–2 1–3 Salvation A 2. Exordium/prooimion 3–4 4 Godlessness and judgment B 3. Narratio 5 5ab Salvation A′ 5c Godlessness and judgment B′ 4. Probation/argumentatio 6–19 6–19 Godlessness and judgment B″ 5. Peroratio/epilogos 20–25 20–25 Salvation A″ In contrast to commentaries that take a linear approach to the structure of Jude, W. and R.'s concept of the concentric structure of the epistle allows its full theological message to be extracted. In the view of the authors, if the correct literary structure of the book is not grasped, its theological depth remains unrevealed. According to W. and R., vv. 14–15 (eschatological judgment announced from the beginning of salvation history) are the axis of the text in their synthesis of the main "elements of Jude's soteriology, Christology and hermeneutics" (p. 34). This is in contrast to S. M. Coder and Wendland, who see v. 11 as the center, or C. D. Osburn, who argues for vv. 17–19. The chiastic structure of the book clearly shows the "hidden" elements of Jude's teaching on salvation in the face of eschatological judgment (p. 95). Verses 14–15 of the epistle, according to the W. and R.'s structure, are a "culmination of theological...

Význam ἐφ᾿ ᾧ v Řím 5,12

The Letter to the Romans represents the high point of Paul&#8217;s teaching and theological reflection, although it contains, as his other letters, some statements that are difficult to understand. One of the places in the Letter to the Romans which makes translation and interpretation difficult is the meaning of &#7952;&#966;&#8127; &#8103; at the end of Romans 5:12. Various meanings of &#7952;&#966;&#8127; &#8103; in Romans 5:12 have been proposed over the centuries and decades. In general, we can say that the different ways of interpretation can be divided into two categories based on whether the formulation &#7952;&#966;&#8127; &#8103; is understood as a phrase introducing a relative clause or as the equivalent of a conjunction. The interpretation which assigns a causative value with the meaning &#8220;because, since&#8221; to the expression &#7952;&#966;&#8127; &#8103; seems to be the best of all the modes of interpretation put forward. The preference for this suggestion arises from several facts. First, this meaning is well attested to in ancient sources. Furthermore, the causal meaning of the phrase is also present in principle in other places in Paul&#8217;s letters where this syntagm is used (2 Cor 5:4; Phil 3:12; 4:10). Finally, it is of importance to emphasise that, above all, the nature of the whole sentence of Romans 5:12, which is characterised by a chiastic structure, requires a causal understanding.

Supplemental Material for Beauty and Truth, Truth and Beauty: Chiastic Structure Increases the Subjective Accuracy of Statements

Supplemental Material for Beauty and Truth, Truth and Beauty: Chiastic Structure Increases the Subjective Accuracy of Statements

Zhuangzi, Peirce, and the butterfly dreamscape: concentric meaning in the Qiwulun 齊物論

AbstractWaking from a vivid dream, the sage finds himself lost between worlds of possibility and ultimately transformed. Zhuangzi’s famous butterfly story may seem familiar, but the text-linguistic structures of its broader interpretive context are little discussed and poorly understood. In this paper I argue that theQíwùlùn齊物論 chapter, like so many other ancient writings, is composed in a concentric, chiastic pattern, with sections in each half mirroring each other throughout, while the central sections provide a pivotal peak and interpretive key that radiate meaning back out to the margins. To quote Mary Douglas, “the meaning is in the middle.” The middle is also the place of Peircean Thirdness. In this paper I map the chapter’s text-level chiastic structures and trace its intimations of Peircean semiotic pragmatism. The core rings of the text endorse contrite fallibilism while also prefiguring triadic structure, the pragmatic maxim, and the continuity thesis. Referencing cultural and historical contexts plus recent scholarship on Zhuangzi and Peirce, I ultimately argue that this ancient text, like the pragmatist semiotic it foreshadows, can be better appreciated and applied by embracing the interplay of centers and margins, discarding debilitating ideologies, and waking up to new degrees of freedom.

“Testing God” Becomes “Rejection of the Land”: Israel’s Sin in Psalm 106 in Light of the Psalm’s Chiastic Structure

Psalm 106 is an intriguing text as it concerns various subject matters. In forty-eight verses, it deals with praise to the Lord which is followed by petition following, then switches its interest to report Israel’s history spanning from the days in Egypt to the exile, and returns and ends with another praise and petition to the Lord. Thus, scholars have tried to determine its nature and message with varying interests in the text.<BR> Among various subjects, this article focuses on Israel’s sin in Psalm 106. Notably, it attempts to reveal the meaning of verses 13-15 and the function of the psalm’s structure. Concerning verses 13-15, there is no single scholarly consensus on the meaning of the passage. These verses are often referred to as one of the most puzzling texts to interpret among many psalms. This study gave particular attention to these verses since they serve to describe the Israelites’ fundamental issue in the wilderness. This article suggests one way to understand the meaning of verses 13-15, especially concerning the nature of Israel’s sin. Regarding the psalm’s structure, a few scholars have expounded on the chiastic structure of the psalm. Unlike other structural analyses, this article uniquely notices that the psalm’s structure exposes the progressive nature of Israel’s sin.<BR> In order to advance the argument, this article first undertakes a poetic analysis of verses 13-15 to reveal their meanings. Second, since it argues the development of Israel’s sin in Psalm 106, this article articulates the chiastic structure of the psalm. Lastly, this article locates verses 13-15 in the chiastic structure and demonstrates the gradual intensification of the Israelites’ sin in that structure.<BR> Verses 13-15 locate the first incident in the wilderness in the structure; thus, they exhibit Israel’s fundamental failure i.e., testing God. In the structure, the sin of “testing God” (vv. 13-15) gradually grew and developed into another phase of sin, “jealousy” (vv. 16-18). Further, the structure of Psalm 106 shows that the development of sin is crystallized by the Israelites’ worshipping idols (vv. 19-23, 28-31), and this wickedness led the people to reject the promised land (vv. 24-27).<BR> In sum, this article suggests one way to understand the meaning of verses 13-15 and reveals the theological contribution of Psalm 106’s chiastic structure that Israel’s “Testing God” is a fundamental sin among Israelites which ultimately results in the loss of the promised land.

Foucault’s Queer Virgins: An Unfinished History in Fragments

This essay attends to the place of virginity at the center of the fourth volume of Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality, Confessions of the Flesh. Reading virginity through a rhetorical lens, the essay argues for an ethics and a politics of counter-conduct in Foucault characterized by chiasmus, a rhetorical structure of inverted parallelism. That chiastic structure frames Foucault’s Confessions, and all of his work, as a fragmented, self-hollowing speech haunted by death and the dissolution of the subject. The essay reads Foucault as apophatic speech that returns to us, no longer itself, made strange. In that deathly movement of eternal recurrence, Foucault’s Confessions speak after death from the x’d out place of the queer virgin: on a threshold that separates life from death, in a movement of metanoia or ethical conversion. As an unfinished history in fragments, the essay’s form brings attention to incompletion as a crucial aspect of Foucault’s work. The fragmentation that characterizes an unfinished history underscores poetic discontinuity as the hallmark of Foucault’s genealogical method and thought.

Judges and Ruth

Judges and Ruth