Sunday, July 2, 2023

Genesis 12:3

This is becoming a somewhat regular occurrence, but a couple months ago, I found yet an-other chiastic structure that illustrates opposites.  In Genesis 12:3, God says to Abram, "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (NIV).  The direct object follows the verb in the clause "I will bless those who bless you," but it precedes the verb in the clause "whoever curses you I will curse."  The inversion in the structure matches the opposites of blessing and cursing.

This is also present in the Hebrew ("וַאֲבָֽרֲכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר"), but it's not in the Vulgate.