Chiasmus: Unique Presentations of the Lord’s Word

Title

Chiasmus: Unique Presentations of the Lord’s Word

Book Title

The Jesus Christ Focused Old Testament: Making Sense of a Monumental Book

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Chapter

41 Year of Publication

2022

Authors

Parry, Donald W. (Primary)

Pagination

111-113

Publisher

Book of Mormon Central

City

Springville, UT

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Chiasmus is an inverted parallelism; it is a presentation of a series of words or thoughts followed by a second presentation of similar words or thoughts, but in reverse order. There are hundreds of chiasms of various sizes in the Old Testament; more than one hundred exist in the book of Isaiah alone. Chiasmus size varies; many are as small as four lines, and others comprise entire chapters (e.g., 1 Kgs. 17–19). The ancient prophets often used chiasmus to reveal the lord’s words unto individuals, peoples, and nations. The prophets also present many of their prophecies of Jesus Christ in chiastic form.

An example of a simple chiasmus is Isaiah 5:20, where the terms evil and good are presented once and then again in reverse order. Isaiah 5:20 then presents two other simple chiasms: darkness/light/light/darkness followed by bitter/sweet/sweet/bitter. Another example is Isaiah 6:10, where the words heart, ears, and eyes are presented and then repeated in reverse order.

Chiasmus serves a variety of purposes: (1) its structure encourages and enhances learning or memorization of the chiasmus, because scriptural students can memorize the first presentation of words and then the same again in reverse order; (2) the repetition of the key points or concepts in a chiasmus naturally serve to emphasize certain points; and (3) each chiasmus lends an artistic or poetic quality to the text that makes it aesthetically pleasing to the reader.

The chiasms presented in the chart could easily be multiplied. The following seven examples are formatted (including underlining key expressions) to make them more readable and pleasing to the eye.

1. The Lord’s Glory and Light

A Arise,
	B shine;
		C for thy light is come,
			D and the glory
				E of the lord
					F is risen upon thee.
						G For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
						G and gross darkness the people:
					F but shall arise upon thee,
				E the lord
			D and his glory shall be seen upon thee,
		C and the nations shall come to thy light
	B and kings to the brightness
A of thy rising. (Isa. 60:1–3; translation by the author)

2. A Messianic Prophecy

A Yet he opened not his mouth:
	B he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
	B and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
A so he openeth not his mouth. (Isa. 53:7)

3. The Lord’s Supremacy and Greatness

A For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
	B neither are your ways my ways, saith the lord.
		C For as the heavens are higher
		C than the earth,
	B so are my ways higher than your ways,
A and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa. 55:8–9)

4. The Lord Saves Ancient Israel

A He caused the waters to flow out
	B of the rock for them:
	B he clave the rock also,
A and the waters gushed out. (Isa. 48:2)

5. An Atonement for the Soul

A And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul
	B that sinneth ignorantly,
	B when he sinneth by ignorance before the lord,
A to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. (Num. 15:28)

6. The Elijah Narrative (1 Kgs. 17–19)

A The lord directs Elijah to go to Transjordan (17:2–7)
	B Elijah travels north of Israel (17:8–24)
		C Elijah returns to Israel (18:1–2)
			D Obadiah and Ahab travel (18:3–6)
				E Dialogue of Elijah and Obadiah (18:7–15)
					F Meeting of Elijah and Ahab (18:16–20)
						G Baal’s prophets are not successful in calling down fire (18:21–29)
						G Elijah successfully calls down fire (18:30–40)
					F Meeting of Elijah and Ahab (18:41–42)
				E Dialogue of Elijah and his servant (18:43–45)
			D Ahab and Elijah travel to Jezreel (18:45–46)
		C Elijah flees Israel (19:1–3)
	B Elijah travels south of Israel (19:3–18)
A The lord directs Elijah to go to Transjordan (1 Kgs. 19:19–21)

7. The Lord’s Revelation to Moses

A And the Lord said unto Moses,
	B The man shall be surely put to death:
		C all the congregation shall stone him with stones . . .
		C all the congregation . . . stoned him with stones,
	B and he died;
A as the lord commanded Moses. (Num. 15:35–36)

Table of Contents

Book

The Jesus Christ Focused Old Testament: Making Sense of a Monumental Book

Parry, Donald W.

56 Chapters

Introduction

Parry, Donald W. | pp. i-viii

Prophecies of Jesus Christ’s Mortal Ministry and Atonement

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 1-5

Symbols That Testify of Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 6-9

The Lord Jesus Christ: Conquering Hero

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 10-12

Jesus Christ Is the Lord of History: Nine Major Historical Eras

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 13-16

The Lord Jesus Christ: Potter, Captain, Shepherd, and More

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 17-21

The Lord Jesus Christ Controls the Nations: Book of Judges Case Study

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 22-23

Old Testament Passages Cited by Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 24-28

Messianic Prophecies in the Psalms

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 29-31

Psalm 22 and Its Fulfillment in Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 32-33

Isaiah's Prophecies of the Mortal Messiah

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 34–36

The Messiah in Isaiah 53: Four Recurring Themes

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 37-38

Names, Titles, and Metaphors of the Lord Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 39-43

Lord (Jehovah): The Most Frequently Used [Content] Word in the Hebrew Bible

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 44-47

Equivalent Designations of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old and New Testaments

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 48-50

God: Compound Names

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 51-53

Lord: Compound Names

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 54-56

The Lord Is Our Savior

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 57-59

The Lord (Jehovah) Is Our Redeemer

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 60-61

The Lord Is Our Atoner

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 62-63

Jesus Christ Is the Messiah

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 64

Jesus Christ Is the Lord

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 65-66

One, Three, and Seven: Sacred and Symbolic Numbers

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 67-69

Seven and Sacred Time

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 70-71

Eve: Life and Help: A Type of Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 78-79

Adam: "The Figure of Him that Was to Come"

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 80-81

Prophets and Prophetesses: The Lord's Messengers

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 72-77

Melchizedek: Type of Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 82-83

Isaac: Type and Shadow of Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 84-85

Joseph of Egypt: Foreshadow of Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 86-87

Moses: Type and Shadow of Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 88-89

Elijah: Symbol of Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 90-91

Job: Suffering Servant, A Type of Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 92-93

Hosea’s Family: Symbols of the Lord for Ancient Israel

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 94-95

The Sign of Jonah: Pointing to Christ’s Death

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 96-97

Priests and High Priests: Foreshadowing Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 98-99

The Lord Reveals Cycles of Sacred Time

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 100-101

Striking Blood on the Doorposts: The Passover Anticipates Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 1102-103

The Day of Atonement: Messianic Foreshadowing

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 104-105

"A Feast to the Lord": Sacred and Secular Meals

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 106-107

Parallelisms: Teaching About the Lord Jesus Christ Through Poetry

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 108-110

Chiasmus: Unique Presentations of the Lord’s Word

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 111-113

The Psalms: Praises to the Lord Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 114-115

Lord: Focused Prophetic Speech Forms

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 116-117

Prayers: Mortals Seeking the Lord's Divine Favor

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 118-119

Worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ through Music and Song

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 121-123

Law of Moses: Anticipated Jesus Christ and His Atonement

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 124-125

Manna: Symbol of Jesus Christ

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 126-127

Symbols of Christ in the Tabernacle of Moses

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 128-129

Sacrifices Under the Law of Moses: Six Acts

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 130-131

Sacrifices: Symbols of Jesus's Atoning Sacrifice

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 132-133

Diet Code: Unclean and Clean Animals

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 134-135

God Is a Holy Temple: Temples and Sacred Space

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 136-137

The Atonement-Focused Earthly and Heavenly Temples

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 138-140

Jesus's Royal Ancestry: Rulers of the Kingdom of Judah

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 141-142

Bibliography

Parry, Donald W. | pp. 144-145

Bibliographic Citation

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