{"id":116,"date":"2014-01-18T00:32:13","date_gmt":"2014-01-18T00:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookofmormontranslation.org\/?page_id=116"},"modified":"2014-01-18T00:32:13","modified_gmt":"2014-01-18T00:32:13","slug":"chiasms","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/chiasms\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiasms: Writing Forward and Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tChiasmus<\/a><\/em> (or chiastic structure<\/a><\/em>, or inverted parallelism<\/em>) is a literary or poetic<\/a> device in which words or ideas are presented and then repeated\u00a0in reverse order. Simple chiasms, such as \u201cThey don\u2019t care<\/strong><\/span> about how much<\/strong><\/span> you know<\/strong><\/span> until they know<\/strong><\/span> how much<\/strong><\/span> you care<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d are frequently employed\u00a0in modern speech.<\/p>\n

Jesus gives both a definition and an example of a chiasm in Matthew 19:30:<\/p>\n

But many that are first<\/span> shall be<\/span> last<\/span><\/strong>; and the last <\/span>shall be<\/span> first<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The elements of a chiasm are often labeled in the form ABBA, where the letters correspond to words or ideas. Shakespeare was fond of short chiasms. Here’s one from his play\u00a0As You Like It<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A <\/strong><\/span>I do now remember a saying,’The fool<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

B <\/strong><\/span>doth think<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

C <\/strong><\/span>he is wise<\/strong><\/span>,<\/p>\n

C’ <\/strong><\/span>but the wise<\/strong><\/span> man<\/p>\n

B’ <\/strong><\/span>knows<\/strong><\/span> himself<\/p>\n

A’ <\/strong><\/span>to be a fool<\/strong><\/span>.’<\/p>\n

Chiasmus was important in classical\u00a0Latin and Greek writings but was best developed in classical Hebrew and the\u00a0ancient writings of other ancient Semitic cultures. Although they are usually not apparent to the untrained eye, there are many sophisticated chiasms in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Qur’an, as well as in the Odyssey and Iliad.<\/p>\n

Here’s a relatively simple chiasm\u00a0from the Bible (Isaiah 6:10):<\/p>\n

Make the heart<\/strong><\/span> of this people fat,<\/p>\n

and make their ears<\/strong><\/span> heavy,<\/p>\n

and shut their eyes<\/strong><\/span>;<\/p>\n

lest they see with their eyes<\/strong><\/span>,<\/p>\n

and hear with their ears<\/strong><\/span>,<\/p>\n

and understand with their heart<\/strong><\/span>, and convert, and be healed.<\/p>\n

Chiasms often highlight major themes or concepts. Here’s a chiasm in \u00a0Mosiah 3:18-19 of the Book of Mormon, teaching\u00a0how the “natural man” can become a saint through Christ:<\/p>\n

A <\/strong><\/span>For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble<\/strong><\/span> themselves<\/p>\n

B <\/strong><\/span>and become as little children<\/span><\/strong>,<\/p>\n

C <\/strong><\/span>and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord<\/strong><\/span> Omnipotent.<\/p>\n

D <\/strong><\/span>For the natural man<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

E <\/strong><\/span>is an enemy to God<\/strong><\/span>,<\/p>\n

F <\/strong><\/span>and has been<\/strong><\/span> from the fall of Adam,<\/p>\n

F’ <\/strong><\/span>and will be<\/strong><\/span>, forever and ever,<\/p>\n

E’ <\/strong><\/span>unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit<\/strong>,<\/span><\/p>\n

D’ <\/strong><\/span>and putteth off the natural man<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

C’ <\/strong><\/span>and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord<\/strong><\/span>,<\/p>\n

B <\/strong><\/span>and becometh as a child<\/span><\/strong>,<\/p>\n

A’ <\/strong><\/span>submissive, meek, humble<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.<\/p>\n

The concentric layering of chiasms mimics the symmetrical patterning of living things. This layering adds beauty to a text, but it has practical benefits as well. Ancient writers used chiasmus to add\u00a0structure to their writings, to highlight details of particular importance, as a form of punctuation, and perhaps as an aid in memorization.<\/p>\n

Chiasms can encompass entire chapters or even books of the Bible. Most chiasms in the Bible have been somewhat obscured by the process of translating the text into English. Even the biblical chiasms that are easy to see\u00a0would have been even more apparent in the original Hebrew. Here’s a chiasm from Genesis 9:6 [ESV]:<\/p>\n

Who sheds<\/strong><\/span> the blood<\/strong><\/span> of a man<\/strong><\/span>, by a man<\/strong><\/span> shall his blood<\/strong><\/span> be shed<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

As it was originally composed in Hebrew, the above phrase had exactly six words, arranged\u00a0in the form ABCCBA:<\/p>\n

\"Hebrew<\/p>\n

A chiasm in Psalm 3:7-8 would also have been quite clear in the original Hebrew, as shown in\u00a0Young’s Literal Translation<\/em> of the Bible:<\/p>\n

A <\/strong><\/span>Save<\/strong><\/span> me,<\/p>\n

B <\/strong><\/span>my God<\/strong><\/span>. Because<\/p>\n

C <\/strong><\/span>Thou hast smitten<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

D <\/strong><\/span>All mine enemies<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

E <\/strong><\/span>[on] the cheek<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

E’ <\/strong><\/span>The teeth<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

D’ <\/strong><\/span>of the wicked<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

C’ <\/strong><\/span>Thou hast broken<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

B’ <\/strong><\/span>Of Jehovah<\/strong><\/span> [is]<\/p>\n

A’ <\/strong><\/span>this salvation<\/strong><\/span>;<\/p>\n

However, in most other English versions\u00a0of the Bible, the chiasm has been “lost in translation.” Here it is, scrambled, in the King James Bible:<\/p>\n

A <\/strong><\/span>Save me,<\/p>\n

B <\/strong><\/span>O my God: for<\/p>\n

C <\/strong><\/span>thou hast smitten<\/p>\n

D <\/strong><\/span>all mine enemies<\/p>\n

E <\/strong><\/span>upon the cheek bone;<\/p>\n

C’ <\/strong><\/span>thou hast broken<\/p>\n

E’ <\/strong><\/span>the teeth<\/p>\n

D’ <\/strong><\/span>of the ungodly.<\/p>\n

A’ <\/strong><\/span>Salvation<\/p>\n

B’ <\/strong><\/span>belongeth unto the Lord:<\/p>\n

There’s an interesting case in which a chiasm that is\u00a0damaged in the Bible is repaired in the Book of Mormon. Here’s Isaiah 3:1 as it appears in the King James Bible:<\/p>\n

For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay<\/strong><\/span> and the staff<\/strong><\/span>, the whole stay<\/strong><\/span> of bread, and the whole stay<\/strong><\/span> of water.<\/p>\n

And in the quote from Isaiah found in 2 Nephi 13:1:<\/p>\n

For behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, the stay<\/strong><\/span> and the staff<\/strong><\/span>, the whole staff<\/strong><\/span> of bread, and the whole stay<\/strong><\/span> of water.<\/p>\n

It is likely that a scribe inadvertently dropped the final letter from ms’nh<\/em> (Hebrew for staff<\/em>), resulting in ms’n<\/em> (Hebrew for stay<\/em>). Although none of the known Isaiah manuscripts has staff<\/em> here, staff of bread<\/em> is used several times elsewhere in the Old Testament, while stay of bread<\/em> is not, suggesting that staff of bread<\/em> was the phrase the Hebrews would have used.<\/p>\n

Even though important anciently, the knowledge of chiasms in scripture lay dormant for centuries, and they were not well-known or appreciated even by biblical scholars until after the Book of Mormon was published. Chiasms in the Book of Mormon weren’t discovered until 1967 when\u00a0John Welch<\/a>, a missionary in Germany, learned about chiasms in the Bible and thought to look for them in the Book of Mormon. He found many. Elaborate chiasms are still being discovered in the Book of Mormon. For example, Moroni’s chiasm below, as well as Mormon’s chiasm about peace and prosperity<\/a>, were\u00a0first identified\u00a0in 2014.<\/p>\n

Moroni’s writing in Ether 12:23-25 predicts that unbelievers will mock the Book of Mormon because of the awkward writing.<\/p>\n

And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them; And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them. Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.<\/p>\n

And maybe they mock with good reason! To the naive reader, the passage above seems\u00a0to be a jumbled mass of stumbling, redundant\u00a0sentences. But it is not. The naive reader has been fooled. The above passage is actually a finely structured\u00a0chiasm in the form ABCDEEDCBA. It may look like a mess in English, but as Hebrew poetry, it’s a work of art.<\/p>\n

A <\/strong><\/span>And I<\/span><\/strong> said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things<\/span><\/strong>,<\/p>\n

B <\/strong><\/span>because of our weakness in writing<\/strong><\/span>;<\/p>\n

C <\/strong><\/span>for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word<\/strong><\/span> by faith,<\/p>\n

D <\/strong><\/span>but thou hast not made us mighty in writing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

E <\/strong><\/span>thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the<\/strong><\/span> Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;<\/p>\n

E’ <\/strong><\/span>And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the <\/strong><\/span>awkwardness of our hands.<\/p>\n

D’ <\/strong><\/span>Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty<\/span> <\/strong>even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.<\/p>\n

C’ <\/strong><\/span>Thou hast also made our words powerful <\/strong><\/span>and great,<\/p>\n

B’ <\/strong><\/span>even that we cannot write them<\/strong><\/span>; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness<\/span><\/strong>, and stumble because of the placing of our words;<\/p>\n

A’<\/strong> <\/span>and I<\/span><\/strong> fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our word<\/strong><\/span>s.<\/p>\n

The Lord responds with, “Fools mock, but they shall mourn.”<\/p>\n

The center\u00a0of the chiasm\u00a0summarizes the prophets’ frustration: their inability to effectively\u00a0express\u00a0their inspired\u00a0words in writing.\u00a0Moroni had previously referred to his awkwardness in writing in Mormon 9:33:<\/p>\n

And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record.<\/p>\n

This scripture suggests that the awkwardness (or imperfection) of writing in the Book of Mormon is at least partially due to the difficulty of converting the thoughts (and writing style?) of the authors from Hebrew into other languages. In fact, the classic Hebrew poetic structure of Moroni’s writing suggests that it was originally composed in Hebrew. By putting this text in the form of a chiasm, Moroni is demonstrating his skill in Hebrew poetry,\u00a0poetically mocking those “fools” who would mock his writing. A bit of Hebrew\u00a0sense of humor?<\/p>\n

Let’s pause to consider\u00a0what a solid, genuine chiasm is, and isn’t. Chiasms can be easily invented out of highly repetitive text. For example, by selecting from the assorted\u00a0first names in a phone book, you could\u00a0construct a chiasm hundreds of levels deep. But why would you? Such a chiasm would be\u00a0pointless. Genuine chiasms, on the other hand, are written for a purpose. The author of a text may use\u00a0the inverse-parallel structure of a\u00a0chiasm to enhance his message of cause and effect, of prophecy and fulfillment, or of past and future, or to otherwise help tell a story. See Chiasm Caution<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0for more characteristics of genuine Hebrew-style chiasms.<\/p>\n

More Fascinating Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forty-five Years of Chiasmus Conversations: Correspondence, Criteria, and Creativity <\/a>
\nChiasmus in Antiquity<\/a>
\nDoes Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Chance?<\/a>
\nWhen Are Chiasms Admissible as Evidence?<\/a>
\nChiastic Structuring<\/a>
\nChiasmus<\/a> at FairMormon.org
\nChiasmus Resources<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chiasmus (or chiastic structure, or inverted parallelism) is a literary or poetic device in which words or ideas are presented and then repeated\u00a0in reverse order. Simple chiasms, such as \u201cThey don\u2019t care about how much you know until they know how much you care,\u201d are frequently employed\u00a0in modern speech. Jesus gives both a definition and … Continue reading Chiasms: Writing Forward and Back<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1339,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-116","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookofmormon.tech\/translation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}