A scholarly accepted chiasm incorporates Colossians 1:3 to 1:14 where the verses compose the following structure 3-4(A), 5-6(B), 7-8(C), 9-11(B’), 12-14(A’). Displaying the verses in their chiastic form.
(A) 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,
(B) 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
(C) 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
(B’) 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the …show more content…
Paul, the author, denotes this central emphasis and divulges the authors intention. Epaphras is the spiritual leader of the Colossian church, and the congregants should follow his heed his authority. Miesner indicate a chiasm “may help exegete to decide between divergent textual witness”. However, the chiastic emphasis affirms the exegesis of Epaphras as a leader of the Colossian church. Heil furthers the emphasis by arguing, “this second unit’s chiasm reminds the audience that they learned the gospel from Epaphras” Moreover, the emphasis presented by the chiasm truly punctuates the meaning intended. Thus, the significance of the chiasm does not alter the exegesis but solely performs to accent
(A) 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,
(B) 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
(C) 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
(B’) 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the …show more content…
Paul, the author, denotes this central emphasis and divulges the authors intention. Epaphras is the spiritual leader of the Colossian church, and the congregants should follow his heed his authority. Miesner indicate a chiasm “may help exegete to decide between divergent textual witness”. However, the chiastic emphasis affirms the exegesis of Epaphras as a leader of the Colossian church. Heil furthers the emphasis by arguing, “this second unit’s chiasm reminds the audience that they learned the gospel from Epaphras” Moreover, the emphasis presented by the chiasm truly punctuates the meaning intended. Thus, the significance of the chiasm does not alter the exegesis but solely performs to accent