Puzzled About Chiasms?

Chiasms (KI-az-uhmz) are tricky little literary devices commonly used in a lot of ancient writings that originated as spoken traditions, as the Bible did. In spoken language, chiasms are infectious to the memory--they really stick with you. Point of fact:

"The last shall be first, and the first shall be last." (Matt. 20:16)

How many of us have that New Testament saying memorized? Easy, right? That's because it's a chiasm! Notice how the word "last" appears at the beginning of the sentence and is repeated at the end. Notice how the word "first" comes at the end of the first phrase and the beginning of the second phrase. That's a chaism. It has a "mirror" structure--the second part is identical to the first, only backwards: LAST FIRST/FIRST LAST.

They're called chiasms because the pattern resembles the letter X--chi (KI) in Greek. Clever, if confusing, right?

For my money, this saying comes straight from the mouth of Jesus. He was, of course, a master of rhetoric and used the common ways of speaking for his time. Possibly Matthew refined it, but that's a whole other topic!

Want more about chiasms? They're all over the place in the Bible. Alexis Chacchia, CBS faculty member, found a wonderful introduction (or a solid refresher) on how chiasms work and where they appear in the Bible. Click on the link below to listen to this excellent podcast. (It takes about 34 minutes, but even the first 10 minutes will be eye-opening, I think!)

http://beyondreadingthebible.com/11-chiasms/