For this article I am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. Chiasms appear in Greek, Latin, English and other languages, but it was most highly developed in Hebrew. This writting style was essentially unknown in Joseph Smith's time.
Chiasmus can be defined most simply as an inverted type of parallelism. This is where two thoughts might be mentioned and then they are repeated in reverse order.
For MY thoughts are not YOUR thoughts, Neither are YOUR ways MY ways, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)
It we look at this graphically, the simple chiasm takes on the form of a X:
Whereas in languages such as Greek, Latin, and English, chiasms are most often composed of two elements, in Hebrew there appears to be no limit to the number of terms or ideas that may be employed. An illustration of this with five elements is found in Psalm 3:7-8;
John Welch article in Light Planet. See rest at:
Chiasmus can be defined most simply as an inverted type of parallelism. This is where two thoughts might be mentioned and then they are repeated in reverse order.
For MY thoughts are not YOUR thoughts, Neither are YOUR ways MY ways, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)
It we look at this graphically, the simple chiasm takes on the form of a X:
a b X b a The name chiasmus, derived from chi (X), the 22nd letter in the Greek alphabet. A couple examples from English are: "Old King Cole was a merry old soul, and a merry old soul was he", and "He who fails to prepare, prepares to fail."
Whereas in languages such as Greek, Latin, and English, chiasms are most often composed of two elements, in Hebrew there appears to be no limit to the number of terms or ideas that may be employed. An illustration of this with five elements is found in Psalm 3:7-8;
a. Save me
b. O my God,
c. For thou has smitten
d. All my enemies
e. On the cheek-bone
e' The teeth
d' Of the wicked
c' Thou has broken.
b' To Yahweh
a' The salvation.
A second example comes from Isaiah 60:1-3: a. Arise,
b. Shine,
c. For thy light is come,
d. And the glory
e. Of Yahweh
f. Upon thee is risen
g. For behold, dimness shall cover the earth
g' And gross darkness the peoples.
f' But upon thee will arise
e' Yahweh
d' And his glory shall upon thee be seen
c' And nations shall come to thy light
b' And kings to the brightness
a' Of thy rising.
This can show why Chiasmus was attractive to the ancient Hebrew. First, chiasms are easy to memorize and would be useful since the Hebrew tradition was mainly oral. Second, chiasmus was simple a vogue. Just as 16th century English poets were fond of the sonnet, chiasmus seems to have been preferred by many of the ancient Hebrew writers. Third, the form can be very pleasing aesthetically. John Welch article in Light Planet. See rest at:
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\E Data\posts,articles\Chiasmus.mht
It is perhaps the most instantly identifiable mark of a Jew.
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