A few years ago I preached on Judges 3 and used this handout (.pdf). I thought some of you might find it interesting.
By the way, I didn’t go through this from the pulpit or anything like that. I don’t think that sort of analysis leads to the sort of exhortation that preaching is supposed to be. But I asserted that the Word of God was a central emphasis in the text and built on that idea. Instead of arguing for the premise to the sermon, I provided this for those who might have had questions.
Just a quick thought on chiasm. I have a (rather boring) book on my shelf called Listening to the Text (by Barry Harvey) which talks about the features of the pauline writings which demonstrate that either they were meant to be memorized, or that the style in which they were written was highly influenced by the idea of memorization and oral performance.
Anyhow, chiasm/ring structures are a very helpful mnemonic device for learning large passages. My thought on this is twofold. One is that we should never be surprised to find chiasm throughout scripture. It was simply one of the most basic compositional techniques. The other thought is that because it is so basic a structure, perhaps we should also be wary of attaching to much semantic importance to it.
If a modern author wrote that way, it would be noteworthy since it would be an unusual technique. But for ancient lit, it was just normal.
But I think your specific point here was pretty interesting.
Thank you for this file. Very interesting observation.
That has long been a favorite chapter when I have preached through Judges (twice now); I somehow missed the chiasm. Wow. Thanks, Mark!
BTW, I think there is a subtle rebuke to Israel in the text when Ehud stands to hear the “Word from God,” when their problem is precisely because they wouldn’t listen/obey.
I appreciate that approach to preaching. My pastor does that as well. Once in a while he’ll say in a sermon, “I’m assuming that this means that, but I’m not going to take the time right now to explain. If you want to know why I say that, ask me later.” He also sees preaching as being more about exhorting than explaining.
You’re welcome John. And I agree with you about the rebuke.
BTW, someone pointed out to me that all journey-return stories are inherently chiastic. That is obviously true but what makes this more intentional is the details about the idols that could have easily been left out at least one time and that are right where they should be to correspond to one another.