Pattern Analysis for Joshua 3:12; 4:1-9,19 - 5:1

Within Pattern Analysis, rhetoric is the persuasive portion of a literary unit based on its structure. Certain locations within each literary unit are potentially persuasive–they are presented below for the sake of analysis. Normally, many of the potential locations can be persuasive, but often not all. The student is encouraged to listen to what the Holy Spirit seems to be emphasizing.

Like the imperfect chiastic structures, imperfect parallel symmetries can also have a high impact upon a reader. When an element has been inserted, omitted, transposed to another location, or substantially varied, that then is an imperfect parallel symmetry. This makes the structure look less than totally symmetric. An additional emphasis should be found in an imperfect parallel symmetry at the place of asymmetry.

A strongly worded directive or command that conveys the importance of doing something. In English, Hebrew and Greek, the imperative is a verb. In Greek, the spelling of the word indicates it is imperative. In English, imperatives are usually the first word in a sentence or phrase. For example, the phrase in Deuteronomy 30:19C which states, "Choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants," is an imperative. Context is important in determining if an imperative statement is emphatic.

In a parallel symmetry, these are the two A elements, A-B-C-A'-B'-C'. Sometimes these are a place of emphasis.

A strongly worded directive or command that conveys the importance of doing something. In English, Hebrew and Greek, the imperative is a verb. In Greek, the spelling of the word indicates it is imperative. In English, imperatives are usually the first word in a sentence or phrase. For example, the phrase in Deuteronomy 30:19C which states, "Choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants," is an imperative. Context is important in determining if an imperative statement is emphatic.

Also known as conjugate pairs. It is any two elements that are paired with each other. In some cases, the pair may be emphatic even though they are not in a position of emphasis such as first/first or first/last. For example, in a chiastic A-B-C-X-C'-B'-A' structure, the two B elements might add considerable conviction to the reader or listener.

A strongly worded directive or command that conveys the importance of doing something. In English, Hebrew and Greek, the imperative is a verb. In Greek, the spelling of the word indicates it is imperative. In English, imperatives are usually the first word in a sentence or phrase. For example, the phrase in Deuteronomy 30:19C which states, "Choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants," is an imperative. Context is important in determining if an imperative statement is emphatic.

In a parallel symmetry, this is oftentimes a place of emphasis. For example, in an A-B-C-D-A'-B'-C'-D' structure, the two D elements are in the last/last position.

A strongly worded directive or command that conveys the importance of doing something. In English, Hebrew and Greek, the imperative is a verb. In Greek, the spelling of the word indicates it is imperative. In English, imperatives are usually the first word in a sentence or phrase. For example, the phrase in Deuteronomy 30:19C which states, "Choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants," is an imperative. Context is important in determining if an imperative statement is emphatic.

A strongly worded directive or command that conveys the importance of doing something. In English, Hebrew and Greek, the imperative is a verb. In Greek, the spelling of the word indicates it is imperative. In English, imperatives are usually the first word in a sentence or phrase. For example, the phrase in Deuteronomy 30:19C which states, "Choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants," is an imperative. Context is important in determining if an imperative statement is emphatic.

An element was intentionally removed from one of the two parts: e.g. A-B-C-D-D'-B'-A' where the C' is not provided. The absence only applies to imperfect chiastic and imperfect parallel symmetry structures. The absence emphasizes something is intentionally missing.

An emphasis or turning point that is at the logical center of a structure. It is either an X in the middle of a chiasm, parallel symmetry, immediate repetition, or list is a center point, or if two elements appear at the center of a chiasm rather than an X, those two elements are the center point. For example, X is the center point of A-B-C-X-A'-B'-C', and C-C' is the center point of A-B-C-C'-B'-A'.

A frame is the repetition of a theme near the beginning and end of a structure or substructure. The surrounding layer of a frame encapsulates an inner portion. Scholars often mention a similar concept called an inclusio or inclusion where the repetition may be confined to a literary unit or it may span multiple literary units. Both portions of the frame are required. The two frame elements often do not have the same words—instead, they have the same general theme and sometimes they are antithetical. Other related names for frames are bookends, brackets, and envelopes. Oftentimes the frame contains an emphatic statement.

A summarization that concludes a basic structure which is designated with the letters SUM. For example, A-B-C-A'-B'-C'-SUM. A closing summary is also known as a concluding epitome, final unit, and an epilogue. It serves two functions: to summarize and to motivate. It is always emphatic and should be easily detected.

In a chiasm, these are the two A elements: A-B-C-C'-B'-A'. Oftentimes an emphasis may be found in these locations.

An emphasis or turning point that is at the logical center of a structure. It is either an X in the middle of a chiasm, parallel symmetry, immediate repetition, or list is a center point, or if two elements appear at the center of a chiasm rather than an X, those two elements are the center point. For example, X is the center point of A-B-C-X-A'-B'-C', and C-C' is the center point of A-B-C-C'-B'-A'.

An opening or closing summarization that appears within a substructure. The schematic representation is the lowercase letters sum. This summarization may appear at the end of a substructure, a-b-x-a'-b'-sum, or at the beginning, sum-a-b-c-d. All the substructure summaries are emphatic.