One of the more common structures students are likely to
encounter is Chiasm. Chiasmus is a literary structure where ideas are mirrored
or paralleled in such a way that they are either reversed or reflect back on
themselves. The word comes from the Greek letter Chi which looks like our English
X which itself exhibits a similar mirroring effect.
One of the most famous chiasms in English is Kennedy’s
famous statement, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can
do for your country.” You will notice that the ideas within the statement
reverse and the second half reflects back on the first half. When these kinds
of structures are extended over larger sections of a text they are often called
inverted parallelism. When it is a longer section of text involved, often the
parallels will build to and from an emphasized central point.[1]
I am working through an introduction to inductive study with
a group using the book of Jude. Recently, the question came up as to if Jude
has this kind of structure. Since there were several in the group who missed
the discussion, I thought it might be helpful to post something on the subject.
I think Jude has what I might call a “loose” chiastic
structure. I would not push the significance of it too far or insist that we
can discern exactly Jude’s intention in using it but I think elements of it are
clearly there. Notice the following repetition of elements in the book [followed by the verse number]:
A. Address to the Beloved [3]
B. Ungodly
people have come in (long ago designated…) [4]
C. “I want to remind you…” [5]
D. The Lord & judgment [5]
E.
He has “kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness” [6]
F.
These people blaspheme [8]
G. Michael did not blaspheme against the
devil but appealed to God’s Word [9]
F.
These people blaspheme [10]
E. “The
gloom of utter darkness has been reserved” for them [13]
D. The Lord & judgment [14]
C. “You must remember”
[17]
B. It was predicted ungodly
people would come in [17-18]
A. Address to the beloved [20]
Why would the illustration of Michael and the devil be central to the parallel? The men who have crept in are not submitting to the Word or the Church,
they are criticizing the church, and they are twisting the grace of God to
serve their own ends. They are rejecting God’s authority. They ultimately put
themselves in a place of judgement over God and His people.
Their rejection of authority and their blasphemies are
contrasted to Michael’s submission to God’s authority. Despite his high position, Michael does not even speak against the devil as boldly as these men
speak. Even the archangel does not presume to exercise his own judgment or
authority as do these men. The centrality of Christ and His authority are therefore emphasized by Michael's example of pronouncing God's Word rather than speaking from His own authority. This is precisely what these men fail to do and why they will be judged.
[1] Chiasmus and inverted parallelism can
be helpful to the interpreter but they can also be tricky. There are some
people who see it everywhere and then try to cram every text into a chiastic
structure. As I mentioned, we don’t want to impose structures upon the text
that are not there. Scholars often argue for enormous, complex, and subtle,
structures in various texts that even if present, probably would not have been
apparent to those to whom they were writing.
