Monday, July 29, 2013

Chiasms in Proverbs 28:13-18


The righteous and the wicked appear in two overlapping chiasms in Proverbs 28:13-18. First, the two are contrasted in 28:13-14.

A: how the wicked dispose of their transgressions (28:13a)
  B: man repentant before Yahweh (28:13b)
  B': man with a right heart before Yahweh (28:14a)
A': what the wicked do with their hearts (28:14b)

This observation is then folded into the comparisons of Proverbs 28:13-18.

A: the righteous & the wicked receive just rewards from Yahweh (28:13-14)
  B: the righteous & the wicked as rulers (28:15-16)
A': the righteous & the wicked receive their due from fellow man (28:17-18)

The first of these chiasms is simply a neat and therefore memorable arrangement. If I am correct about the second, it suggests that 28:18 is not about eternal destiny, but how people are treated by their societies.


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