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Chiasmus: Unique Presentations of the Lord’s Word

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Chiasmus: Unique Presentations of the Lord’s Word
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The Jesus Christ Focused Old Testament

Donald W. Parry

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Contents

Introduction
Prophecies of Jesus Christ’s Mortal Ministry and Atonement
Symbols that Testify of Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ: Conquering Hero
Jesus Christ is the Lord of History: Nine Major Historical Eras
The Lord Jesus Christ: Potter, Captain, Shepherd, and More
The Lord Jesus Christ Controls the Nations: Book of Judges Case Study
Old Testament Passages Cited by Jesus Christ
Messianic Prophecies in the Psalms
Psalm 22 and Its Fulfillment in Jesus Christ
Isaiah’s Prophecies of the Mortal Messiah
The Messiah in Isaiah 53: Four Recurring Themes
Names, Titles, and Metaphors of the Lord Jesus Christ
Lord (Jehovah): The Most Frequently Used [Content] Word in the Hebrew Bible
Equivalent Designations of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old and New Testaments
God: Compound Names
Lord: Compound Names
The Lord Is Our Savior
The Lord (Jehovah) Is Our Redeemer
The Lord Is Our Atoner
Jesus Christ Is the Messiah
Jesus Christ Is the Lord
One, Three, and Seven: Sacred and Symbolic Numbers
Seven and Sacred Time
Prophets and Prophetesses: The Lord’s Messengers
Eve: Life and Help: A Type of Christ
Adam: “The Figure of Him that Was to Come”
Melchizedek: Type of Christ
Isaac: Type and Shadow of Christ
Joseph of Egypt: Foreshadow of Christ
Moses: Type and Shadow of Jesus Christ
Elijah: Symbol of Jesus Christ
Job: Suffering Servant, A Type of Jesus Christ
Hosea’s Family: Symbols of the Lord for Ancient Israel
The Sign of Jonah: Pointing to Christ’s Death
Priests and High Priests: Foreshadowing Jesus Christ
The Lord Reveals Cycles of Sacred Time
Striking Blood on the Doorposts: The Passover Anticipates Jesus Christ
The Day of Atonement: Messianic Foreshadowing
“A Feast to the Lord”: Sacred and Secular Meals
Parallelisms: Teaching About the Lord Jesus Christ Through Poetry
Chiasmus: Unique Presentations of the Lord’s Word
The Psalms: Praises to the Lord Jesus Christ
Lord: Focused Prophetic Speech Forms
Prayers: Mortals Seeking the Lord’s Divine Favor
Worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ through Music and Song
Law of Moses: Anticipated Jesus Christ and His Atonement
Manna: Symbol of Jesus Christ
Symbols of Christ in the Tabernacle of Moses
Sacrifices Under the Law of Moses: Six Acts
Sacrifices: Symbols of Jesus’s Atoning Sacrifice
Diet Code: Unclean and Clean Animals
God Is a Holy Temple: Temples and Sacred Space
The Atonement-Focused Earthly and Heavenly Temples
Jesus’s Royal Ancestry: Rulers of the Kingdom of Judah
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Contents

Introduction
Prophecies of Jesus Christ’s Mortal Ministry and Atonement
Symbols that Testify of Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ: Conquering Hero
Jesus Christ is the Lord of History: Nine Major Historical Eras
The Lord Jesus Christ: Potter, Captain, Shepherd, and More
1 2 … 10 Next »

Donald W. Parry, “Chiasmus: Unique Presentations of the Lord’s Word,” in The Jesus Christ Focused Old Testament: Making Sense of a Monumental Book (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2022), 111–113.

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)

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