Webpage adjusted for smaller screen width.
This IMPERFECT CHIASM is generally stated as the story of Noah and the flood. In pattern analysis, each of the elements, A-C-X-C′-B′-A′, are DRILL commands that reference individual pericopes. For example, the pericope about the Noahic Covenant is found in Genesis 9:8-17.
By looking at this structure, more detail is revealed than just a fearful flood. The lack of text in the B element points to the emphasis in the EXTRA B′ element. Some well-intended storytellers may minimize the importance of Noah′s covenant, but the structure points to its relevance.
1) The FIRST/LAST elements identify the Lord′s basic problem: corruption and wickedness. The people in the A element were corrupt which certainly was portrayed as more than stealing from one′s neighbor. In the A′ element it could easily be argued that Ham′s indifference towards his helpless father was not a judgment upon Noah, for he lived many years afterward. Rather it was a form of corruption, possibly better called wickedness and certainly not love.
2) The destruction of life with the exception of those on the ark was placed in the X CENTER POINT. Like a musical instrument that rises to deafening sounds, an extremely loud explosion, and then a gradual softening of the music, so is the complete obliteration of life in the Lord′s hands. Show More Rhetoric Show Less Rhetoric
CHIASM (IMPERFECT):
... the flood during Noah′s time ...
a change of topic
BEGINNING MARKER:
no text
B