Discovering Chiasms Challenge #2 from Deuteronomy 30

This is the second challenge in a series intended to help develop and refine your ability to glean greater understanding of God's Words in the Bible. In the previous quiz Discovering Chiasms Challenge #1 from John 16, we looked at some asymmetry within a chiasm and the effect it had on the analysis of the passage. (See my article What is a Chiasm? if you are already confused.) This quiz looks at balance of the levels.

See if you can find the structure in the following verses. Click on "Show Structure" once you have your answer. Click again on "Analysis: Why is it there?" to check your analysis with mine. I suggest that the Personal Reflection at the end of the lesson can be the most important part of these quizzes.

6 "… love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 Also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 And you will again obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments which I command you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deut 30:6-10 NKJV)

A  Love the Lord with all your heart and soul, that you may live and your enemies will be cursed (v6b,7)   B  Obey the voice of the Lord your God and do all His commands (v8)     C  The Lord will make you abound (v9a)       1) in the work of your hand (v9b)       2) in the fruit of your body (v9c)       3) in your livestock(v9d)       4) in your produce (v9e)     C′  For the Lord will again rejoice over you (v9f)   B′  Obey the voice of the Lord your God and keep all His commandments and statutes (v10a,b) A′  Turn to the Lord with all your heart and soul (v10c)

Analysis: Why is it there?
As you will see, this structure reveals the definition of the circumcised heart that is used by the apostle Paul in Romans 2:29. Please allow me to explain.

Did you find the chiasm? Hopefully the repetition of themes was fairly apparent. Repetition is also found in both modern and classical music – themes appear and then re-appear. I believe that the Hebrew people, normally without access to a written document, would memorize the passages based on the rhythms in the repeating patterns.

The structure of this passage is two literary devices: a chiasm and a list. The chiasm is shown with upper case letters ABCC'B'A' and the list is represented by numbers 1234.

The preceding portion of this chiasm reads, "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants". This is called an introductory epitome which, as Jerome Walsh explains, "acts as a sort of introductory outline or table of contents." 1 Therefore this chiasm is a definition of circumcision of the heart.

There are several places where circumcision of the heart is mentioned in the Bible, most notably Deuteronomy 10:16, Romans 2:29, and this verse. A question is often asked, "How does one circumcise their heart?" The answer is shown by analyzing the chiasm: love the Lord your God, obey His voice, and keep all His commandments.

Notice the outward to inward flow of this chiasm: it begins at the A-A' level with the heart, flows to the B-B' level in obedience, and then the Lord's response is on the C-C' level. All of the 1234 items in the list begin with the word "in", similar to how bullets are used in modern English to identify items for a kitchen recipe. The first two items in the list, 1 and 2, may be a grouping of man's toils, while the second two items, 3 and 4 seems to be a grouping of God's toils.

Nonetheless, the emphasis of this literary structure is found in the center point: the blessings due to love and obedience. When that is properly aligned, we then have a circumcised heart.


Personal Reflection: What does circumcision of the heart mean to you?

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1 Jerome T. Walsh, " Style and Structure in Biblical Hebrew Narrative" , (Collegeville, MN, Liturgical Press, 2001), 60.

Would you consider rating each of these Discovering Chiasms Challenges? Based on the feedback that you provide and that of others, I would like to indicate to others if a quiz is one star (* which means very easy) or up to five stars (***** which means very difficult. Your input in the comment section will be much appreciated.