Chiastic Structure - Use in Hebrew Bible

Use in Hebrew Bible

A notable example in the Torah is the chiastic structure running from the middle of Exodus through the end of Leviticus. The structure begins with the covenant made between God and the Hebrew People at Mount Sinai, as described in the Torah, and ends with the admonition from God (YHWH) to the Hebrews of what will happen if they will not follow his laws, which is also a sort of covenant. The main ideas are in the middle of Leviticus, from chapter 11 through chapter 20. Those chapters deal with the holiness in the Tabernacle and the holiness of the Israelite people in general. The chiastic structure points the reader to the central idea, that of the expected holiness (set-apartness) of the Israelite people in everything they do. In David Dorsey's book and in his teaching, he poses that the chiastic structure provides a former of interpretive control by the authors of the various books in the Hebrew Scriptures.