Chiasmus in Antiquity: Structures, Analyses, Exegesis

John Welch has written quite a bit on chiasmus and was the first to discover chiastic patterns in the Book of Mormon. This volume is a collection of articles focusing on chiastic patterns in various ancient Near Eastern literary sources. It is a very interesting study and a good attestation of the widespread notion of chiasmus among the ancients. The first chapter is an introduction by John Welch and provides a basic overview and explanation of what chiasmus is. The following chapters are articles on chiasmus or chiastic structures and patters from the following cultures and writings; Sumero-Akkadian, Ugaritic, Biblical Hebrew Narrative, Biblical Hebrew Poetry, Aramaic Contracts and Letters, Talmudic-Aggadic Narrative, the Book of Mormon, the New Testament, and the Ancient Greek and Latin Literature. Besides Dr. Welch who wrote five articles in this book, other contributing writers are David Noel Freedman, Robert F. Smith, Yehuda T. Radday, Wilfred GE. Watson, Bezalel Porten and Jonah Fraenkel.