Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 175:699 (Jul 2018)
Article: The Chiastic Structure Of The Farewell Discourse In The Fourth Gospel, Part 2
Author: Wayne A. Brouwer

BSac 175:699 (July-September 2018) p. 304

The Chiastic Structure Of The Farewell Discourse In The Fourth Gospel, Part 2

Wayne A. Brouwer

Wayne A. Brouwer is Associate Professor of Religion, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.

Abstract

A chiastic reading of John 13–17, validated by Blomberg’s criteria for macrochiasm, shows the repeated “love command” to be a centering element of the Farewell Discourse, recognizes the vine and branches teaching as the turning point for the rest of the discourse, and balances the introductory narrative with the concluding prayer as explications of the “abide in me” theme.

From Poetic Reflexivity To Narrative Art

Biblical scholars universally recognize chiasm as a common structuring device in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. However, as the length of a chiastically developed passage increases and the number of literary building blocks multiply, the immediate clarity of the chiasm is often reduced. Rather than expressing a tight and direct balance of words and phrases across a pivotal center, longer passages (especially in narrative rather than poetry) sometimes hold a more thematic internal correspondence. At this point two streams of scholarly reflection diverge. Some, like Thomson, believe that chiasm functions only on a microchiastic level,1 while others, such as Blomberg, find ample evidence of the use of macrochiasm throughout biblical literature.2

BSac 175:699 (July-September 2018) p. 305

The previous article in this series outlined and tested Blomberg’s nine criteria for identifying macrochiasm.3 This article suggests that macrochiasm also shapes the Johannine Farewell Discourse. This chiasm centers on the “vine and branches” teaching in John 15:1–17, such that the entire discourse turns on Jesus’s command to “abide in me.”

Reflexive Parallelism In John 13–17

Thomson suggested that the first clue to chiasm in a passage is repetition, and the second clue is a central element of heightened significance that calls attention to the reflexive mirroring of words and themes across the midpoint of the text. The Johannine Farewell Discourse indeed features terms and ideas that balance in somewhat equivalent measure on either side of a pivotal center.

The first occurrence of specific repetition in the discourse comes in 14:27, w...