What Is Parallelism and What Is a Chiastic Structure?—Part 2

Introduction

In part one I looked at simple parallelisms and defined their structure. We saw two primary patterns. 1) Synonymous parallelisms:

And, 2) introverted parallelisms:

Furthermore, we noted how many of these shorter, simpler parallelisms involved repetition, as if the author simply said the same thing twice. Lastly, I shared a couple of ideas put forth by people trying to explain the significance or rationale for parallelisms. In this article I’d like to share my rationale for why they exist. Although I do agree with others that they beautify the text and enhance the clarity and impact of a passage, I believe their real importance pertains to their ability to teach us Adonai’s wisdom so we can better understand the Bible’s message. Let’s see how this is done.

Parallelisms Help Us Learn Idiomatic Expressions

Sometimes Adonai uses parallelisms to help us understand idiomatic expressions. When this is the case, instead of the author essentially repeating the same thing twice, the author will make a parallel statement where the repeated phrase uses a different word, theme or concept than the initial phrase. A perfect example of this is Isaiah 58:3—‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ This is an example of a synonymous parallelism where the themes are repeated in the same order.

As you can see, by essentially saying the same thing twice, themes B/B’ clearly establish that we are in a parallelism. But do you notice how themes A/A’ are not actually parallel statements? They say two totally different things. What does “Why have we fasted” have to do with “Why have we afflicted our souls”? The answer is obvious. It appears that afflicting the soul was an idiomatic expression that meant to fast! As you can see, Adonai has equated affliction of the soul with fasting by placing them as matching elements in a simple parallelism. By placing these two dissimilar phrases within the context of matching pairs in a parallelism, we are “forced” to see the connection between the two. The logic goes like this. We are clearly in a parallelism because the phrase “You take no notice,” is simply another way of saying “You have not seen,” thus establishing part of the parallelism. What remains is for us to note that we are in a parallelism and to connect “Why have we fasted,” to “Why have we afflicted our souls?”

How is this useful? Because sometimes the Bible will use an idiomatic expression, and it is important to know this. Furthermore, you need to know what the idiomatic expression means. For example, let’s read Leviticus 23:27, a passage giving Adonai’s people instruction on how to celebrate the feast of Yom Kippur:

Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.

We are immediately confronted with the issue of knowing what it means to “afflict your souls.” Isaiah 58:3 provides the answer. To afflict your souls means to fast! This is why we fast on Yom Kippur. Once, I heard a person take issue with fasting on Yom Kippur. Using Leviticus 23:27 as a “proof text,” they said fasting was a “Jewish tradition,” and that God did not command us to fast on Yom Kippur. When I asked the person what then did it mean for a person to afflict their soul, they gave me a half-baked answer totally made up from their own reasoning. They even argued with me about this issue. Isaiah 58:3 could not be clearer. To afflict your soul is an idiomatic expression meaning to fast. The important point here is that this simple parallelism is what taught us this important truth.

We can learn many things from our Bibles by simply studying the short parallelisms within it. For example, let’s see what we can learn from Psalm 119:1-2—Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD! ² Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!

Through this parallelism we’re able to learn that the undefiled in the way are those who keep Adonai’s commandments. Furthermore, we should notice that walking in the law of the LORD means to seek Him with the whole heart. It should be obvious that parallelisms are very important. Notice how Adonai uses parallelisms to make connections between two differing concepts that we may not normally make a connection between! This is important because we can learn many things about a word, phrase, thing, topic, event, situation or circumstance by simply noting how it is connected to other words, phrases, things, topics, events, situations or circumstances through parallelisms. Let’s end with a practical demonstration of the utility of parallelisms to tackle the difficult subject known as the “Sacred Name.” There are those within Christianity who teach that you must literally say the “name of God” in order be saved. By name, they mean the Tetragrammaton (Yod Hay Vav Hay). On a recent ministry trip, my wife and I were sitting in a booth at a restaurant, talking with a close friend. In all of my conversations, I rarely try to pronounce the Tetragrammaton. And when I refer to God, I typically will say God, the Lord, or Adonai. I would say that when I refer to God, I use the term Adonai nine times out of ten. Apparently, the woman in the booth next to us had been listening to our conversation. So, at one point, she stood up and introduced herself. Apparently, she is a member of the Sacred Name Movement, because she began to indirectly challenge us on the use of the “sacred Name.” It became painfully obvious that she believes one must literally say/pronounce “the Name” in order to be saved. In other words, when one repents and call out to Adonai to be saved, if you do not literally say/pronounce the four-letter name of God, He will not save you. Sacred Namers rely on many Scriptures for their erroneous doctrine. One of their primary texts is Joel 2:32:

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.

By making use of our understanding of parallelisms, we can easily learn what the phrase “the name of the LORD” really means. In the following example (Psalm 20:1—May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you), notice how the name of the God of Jacob is simply an idiomatic way of saying the LORD! Therefore, when the psalmist states “may the name of the God of Jacob defend you,” he’s praying that the LORD (God himself) will defend you, not that a four-letter name would defend you! By noticing that Psalm 20:1 is spoken as a parallelism, we know for certain that the name of the God of Jacob is clearly referring to the LORD. This is a synonymous parallelism as shown below.

Further proof that we have made the proper connection (and interpretation) can be realized when we connect elements B and B’. It should be obvious to anyone that the phrase “answer you in the day of trouble,” is spoken in parallel with “defend you.” Therefore, isn’t “answer you in the day of trouble” simply another way of saying “defend you”? Yes, it is! When Adonai defends you, it’s simply the way He is answering you in the day of trouble. So, if elements B and B’ are equivalent, then elements A and A’ are also equivalent. The name of the God of Jacob is simply an idiomatic expression meaning the LORD Himself. Here are other examples showing that Adonai’s name is referring to Him, not a four-letter name. Some are synonymous parallelisms and some are inverted/introverted parallelisms.

Psalm 103:1—Bless the LORD O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

Psalm 76:1—In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel.

Psalm 69:30—I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

In the next two examples, the name of the LORD simply means His praise. Isaiah 48:9—For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off.

Psalm 102:21—To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And [to declare] His praise in Jerusalem.

In the next two examples, the name of the LORD simply means His glory. Psalm 102:15—So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth [shall fear] Your glory.

Isaiah 59:19—So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And [they shall fear] His glory from the rising of the sun

In the next example, the name of the LORD actually means Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is the place where His name dwells! The verse starts off literally saying Jerusalem will be called the throne of the LORD! Therefore, if someone were to say, “Let’s go up to the throne of the LORD.” They’d essentially be saying, “Let’s go up to Jerusalem.” Jeremiah 3:17—“At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.”

In the following example, notice how singing praise to the name of the LORD Most High is simply equivalent to praising the LORD! When the psalmist states that he will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High, he is not saying that he’s going to sing praise to the LORD’s literal name. He’s saying he’s going to sing praise to the LORD! Psalm 7:17— I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

As noted before, even if you’ve only been studying your Bible for a few months, you have already been confronted by tens of parallelisms. They are seemingly without number within the Scriptures and present a fertile area for study. I’d like to introduce you to one other shade of parallelism, the simplest form. I’ve already introduced you to the AB patterns found in parallelisms. However, some parallelisms are even simpler than those that follow the AB pattern. In its basic essence, a parallelism occurs whenever the writer repeats himself with similar words. Note how these simple one-statement parallelisms also teach us that the name of the LORD is simply the LORD Himself.

Isaiah 60:9— Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of the LORD your God, And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He has glorified you.

Genesis 21:33—Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

As you can see, parallelisms are rich in content and an important part of our study of Scripture. In the next article, I will show how the Scriptures expand the concept of synonymous and inverted parallelisms beyond simple ABC/A’B’C’ structures to structures that are longer and more complex. Nonetheless, even these larger structures are based on the simple interpretive schemes we’ve learned thus far.