In Romans 7:1-6, Paul gives a famous illustration of a wife who re-marries after the death of her first husband. A number of traditional commentators saw this illustration as an allegory in which the first husband is the “old nature”,… Read More ›
New Testament
Living Stones – a Chiastic Analysis of 1 Peter 2:1-12
A chiastic structure to 1 Peter 2:1-12 is becoming more widely recognised and this article is an attempt to contribute to that work. An important theme of 1 Peter 2:1-12 is the pattern of Christ’s Person and work being reproduced… Read More ›
“Tongues as Languages Understood By the Speaker” – a Structural Analysis of 1 Cor. 14:1-19
This article is a structural analysis of 1 Corinthians 14:1-19 which pays particular attention to the chiastic structure in verses 6-19. The structure will be analysed from the perspective that the spiritual gift of languages or tongues refers to human… Read More ›
Structural Analysis of Galatians Chapter 6
The following article originally appeared in a 2012 edition of the magazine Bible Study . . and how!! In this article, I try to show how the various linear and chiastic structures that Paul employs in Galatians Ch. 6 serve… Read More ›
“From You Sounded Forth the Word of the Lord” – Is 1 Thessalonians 1:8 About Evangelism?
1 Thessalonians 1:8 is described by the majority of Evangelical commentators and exegetes as referring to an evangelistic mission or other evangelism carried out by the recently-converted Thessalonians – evangelistic activity which covered the two Roman provinces of Macedonia (in… Read More ›
Some Chiastic Structures in Luke Ch. 4: Part 1
In this article, I suggest a chiastic structure for the section in Luke Ch. 4 which describes Jesus’ reading from Isaiah Ch. 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth. In future articles, I hope to look at the entire episode of… Read More ›
“All Scripture is God-breathed”: a Structural Analysis of 2 Tim. 3:16 and Surrounding Verses
This essay can be accessed by clicking on the link below. In the essay I have tried to show that the expression in 2 Tim. 3:15 “through faith in Christ Jesus”, which wonderfully applies to our salvation, actually has also… Read More ›
Was Junia a Female Apostle (Romans 16:7)? – a Chiastic Study of Romans 16:3-15
I have recently been looking at some of the literature which discusses whether Junia (or Junias) – who, along with Andronicus, is greeted by Paul in Romans 16:7 – was a female apostle. A book on this topic strongly supporting… Read More ›
Chiastic Structure of Romans Chapter 6 – Part 2
In this article, I continue looking at structures in Romans ch. 6 by considering some possible structural aspects of the “bridge” section, Romans 6:12-14. Please click on the link below to acces the article which, as usual, is a Word… Read More ›
If A Man will Not Work, Let Him Not Eat!
These well-known and striking words, found in 2 Thess. 3:10, have been widely used (and perhaps even more widely mis-used!) in practical theology. It is not the primary purpose of this article however, to attempt to apply this injunction to Christians… Read More ›