
What in the world is a chiasm and why would anybody care about knowing that?
A chiasm (kī-a-zəm) is a structure that appears over and over in Scripture. When you recognize it, the structure gives some insight into what the key point in a passage or section is. That helps us correctly interpret and apply what God’s word says.
Most of us (most of my readers, anyway) are “Greek”. By that, I mean we’re Western. We have a particular way of thinking and approaching information. We expect the points to be delivered in a logical order, with increasing importance until the climax is reached. When we read an op-ed, we expect the most important idea to come last. When we hear a commercial, the clincher is the last thing. Preachers save the most significant idea or application until the end. That’s Greek.
Hebrews, on the other hand, often write with a parallel mirror structure. The most important point is in the center with the subpoints building up to and stepping down from that high point. This structure is the chiasm. Its name comes from the Greek letter chi, which Is just an X.
It makes more sense with an example. Consider Proverbs 6:16-19.
16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
Now, let’s take verse 16 as the title, and let’s rearrange the rest.
16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
See the X on the left side?
Now as Greeks, we would read that list and conclude that sowing discord among brothers is the worst. And it’s bad, no question. Anything that makes God’s list of things He hates is bad. But the chiasm structure tells us that it’s the wicked heart that is the most serious problem. Considering verses like “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 ) and Jesus’s words, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” (Matthew 15:18-19), we’d have to agree with that assessment.
But take a step back from the center and there is a parallel between hands and feet. Both indicate our actions. Another step back and we get a parallel between a lying tongue and a false witness. One more step out and there’s the haughty eyes (the attitude that you’re better than others) and the outworking of that attitude (causing discord).
The wickedness in the heart manifests in our actions, our words, and our attitudes. It is an abomination to God that wickedness dictates our attitudes, actions, and words. That doesn’t reflect Him or His image at all. He takes that very seriously.
Proverbs 6:16-19 is a good chiasm to start with, but there are many more. Some span entire chapters or even whole books. Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at some other chiasms and see the fresh insights they offer.