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Genesis 31:1-9 – Chiasm
Often, I have been “bothered” or maybe a better word is “confused”, at how often the Bible is so unnecessarily repetitive within the same scene. I think I am discovering why. Check this out: Genesis 31:1-9
A – 1) Now Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and has built this wealth from what belonged to our father.”
B – 2) And Jacob saw from Laban’s face that his attitude toward him was not the same as before.
C – 3) The Lord said to him, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”
C’ – 4) Jacob had Rachel and Leah called to the field where his flocks were.
B’ – 5) He said to them, “I can see from your father’s face that his attitude toward me is not the same as before,
A’ – but the God of my father has been with me. 6) You know that with all my strength I have served your father 7) and that he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not let him harm me. 8) If he said, ‘The spotted sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born spotted. If he said, ‘The streaked sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born streaked. 9) God has taken away your father’s herds and given them to me.
I know not all like chiasms, or value them, or even think they are valid; but the repetition of B,B’ with the center (C) being going back to the promised land as opposed from where he was (C’), makes sense if seen within a chiastic structure. Therefore, when I see unnecessary repetition, I see what is necessary.
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