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Despite the fact that the Bible is a collection of 66 books penned by some 40 authors over a great span of time and space and in three different languages,[1] it reads as if it’s only one book by one author. Indeed, each individual book builds upon the last progressively revealing God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. This “unity of theme” is one of the greatest hallmarks that the Bible is what it claims to be—God’s Word and personal revelation to us. Another hallmark of its Divine inspiration is its high literary form. Though one might expect much of the Bible’s literary style to be quite primitive since many of its contributors were mere shepherds, farmers, and fishermen, God’s Word is instead a literary masterpiece even employing several literary devices.
Some of these include alternation, immediate repetition, parallel symmetry, and reverse symmetry. Probably, the most fascinating of these devices is reverse symmetry—also known as a chiasm. A chiasm is “an intentional literary device in which a sequence of ideas is repeated in reverse order, mirroring the original sequence in order to focus attention and highlight the center of the chiasm. Items in a chiasm are parallel, working toward the central point.”[2] Such repetition also serves as an important memory aid. Chiastic structures are prevalent throughout the Bible and while some are limited to just a few verses others span several chapters. In the book of Daniel, for example, there is a giant chiasm spanning chapters 2-7:
A. Daniel 2 – World empires are symbolized by four metals of a statue.
B. Daniel 3 – Three young men are delivered from the fiery furnace.
C. Daniel 4 – Nebuchadnezzar is humbled.
C’. Daniel 5 – Belshazzar is humbled.
B’. Daniel 6 – Daniel is delivered from the lion’s den.
A’. Daniel 7 – World empires are symbolized by four wild beasts.[3]
This chiastic structure clearly reveals the central point of these chapters which is God’s humbling of the prideful. But this particular chiasm also answers another question regarding the interpretation of chapters 2 and 7. As Dr. Mark Hitchcock notes: “The chiastic structure reveals that Daniel 2 and 7 cover the same ground, employing different images for the same empires…Daniel 2 presents the four world empires from man’s perspective as a great metallic man, while Daniel 7 views the same empires from God’s perspective as wild, ravenous beasts.”[4] This is an important key for Bible scholars and students who wish to properly identify these four world powers.
Far from being a primitive collection of writings, the Bible shows a level of literary form that suggests it’s more than just merely the work of fishermen, farmers, and shepherds.
Ryan Hembree is a daily co-host, speaker, and writer of Bible Discovery. He also hosts a YouTube channel that shows the unity of the Bible and how science and Scripture fit together. Ryan also has an honorary Masters of Ministry in Creation Science from Phoenix University of Theology.
