From a recent facebook post by Rick Capezza (reproduced with his permission):

I’m trying to figure out the structure of the miracles of the two daughters in Mark. I looked in a half dozen commentaries for structures, but found nothing. I have yet to try a hierarchical structure, but I took a quick shot at a chiasm using Eric [Pyle]‘s KAYAK tool. [1]

I don’t ever do this, and I don’t think the chiastic structure works all that well. But since y’all are structure pros, I thought I’d see what you all have come up with. My structure doesn’t highlight some of the key aspects of the text (physicians/Jesus, life/death, faith, table fellowship, touch) and no one else I’ve seen has developed any chiasm (or any structure) on the passage, so I am inclined to say that the structure isn’t there. But again I could just be sorely missing the divisions.The current center makes little sense to me, but I got pretty stuck in the middle 5 verses. I’d love some feedback and/or some alternative structures.

The Two Daughters
Mark 5:21-42

Some comments from me (FWIW):

It’s Jesus with His burning Lampstand eyes who is bang smack in the middle, watching over Israel. Rick commented that this explains the repeated use of the word “daughter.” Jesus is looking for the true bride amongst a harlotrous nation. In the blood, there are shades of Ezekiel 16.

The flow of the structure is bloody, too. The passage begins with Jairus’ daughter, but salvation has to come first to the Jew.

Concerning the Jew, the structure works from the silent, bloody Tabernacle of Moses (death) to the singing, Jew-Gentile Tabernacle of David (i.e. the woman only speaks after she is healed).

I reckon both halves follow the matrix, plus the entire passage does as well (the atonement of the Jew brings life to the Gentile world). A line-by-line analysis would also be interesting.

With the Lampstand at the centre, the Tabernacle structure has the disciples unknowingly playing the “Herodian” accusers, putting Jesus on the Altar. He takes their curses and only gives blessing (sort of like Balaam!).

The “ascension” [nearbringing] of the Firstfruits Lamb causes the flow of Israel’s blood to stop. As Elisha, he heals the miscarriages of the Herodian Jericho. But then, he must also set the bears on the children of the other woman, Jezebel.

But Rick’s chiasm shows the mirrored events in detail. It’s amazing how all this is going on at once. Beautiful.

_________________________________
[1] Yes, you guessed right: Xiasm software!

Rick Capezza has written the first amazon.com review of The Covenant Key…

I have to admit that when I first heard that a graphic designer had written a book on how to read the Bible, I giggled a bit. I thought of a computer nerd who sees the Bible as ideology, not as literature.

But I forgot that graphic designers are also artists. When I read Bible Matrix I, I quickly learned that Mike Bull is like a curator who can explain why a sculptor formed each curve of his statue. This is not to say that Bull is creating fanciful interpretations of a straightforward Bible. He simply understands the Great Poet and the Great Story.

He truly knows God’s artistry. He breathes death and resurrection and sees the pattern of Scripture moving from glory to glory – both here and now, and in eternity. Bull understands the sweet beauty of maturation. He sees the centrality of the covenant and moves fluidly through Scriptural covenant structures. When people arrange things, they arrange by organization. But God orders through relationships. Mike Bull understands both the man-ordered garden and the God-ordered forest, and seeks to express God’s order in a form that helps us see both the forest and the trees. Not everyone will get it the first time, but the poets will.

If you liked Bible Matrix I, you’ll love Bible Matrix II. The Covenant Key goes deeper and is written in an even more fluid style than the first volume on the DNA of the Scriptures. This book is sweet to the soul and pierces the heart. Put it in your collection right now. Eat it slowly and digest.

Emile-Antoine Bourdelle’s Adam (1888-89) at the Cullen Sculpture Garden, Houston. Photo by Rocky Kneten  www.rockykneten.com

bmxiireview