הִנֵּה עָשִׂיתִי כִּדְבָרֶיךָ הִנֵּה ׀ נָתַתִּי לְךָ לֵב חָכָם וְנָבוֹן אֲשֶׁר כָּמוֹךָ לֹא־הָיָה לְפָנֶיךָ וְאַחֲרֶיךָ לֹא־יָקוּם כָּמֽוֹךָ׃"Behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you." [ESV]
In Hebrew, the last portion of the verse features a chiasm:
כָּמוֹךָ (like you)לֹא־הָיָה (one has not existed)לְפָנֶיךָ (before you)
וְאַחֲרֶיךָ (and after you)לֹא־יָקוּם (one will not arise)כָּמֽוֹךָ (like you)
This structure illustrates the two-fold view: one word order for looking to the past, and the opposite order for looking to the future.
Shortly after I noticed this, I happened to read 2 Chronicles 1 in the NIV, where Solomon's request is recounted again. God's response exhibits a chiastic structure here, too, albeit in a condensed form (in verse 12):
הַֽחָכְמָה וְהַמַּדָּע נָתוּן לָךְ וְעֹשֶׁר וּנְכָסִים וְכָבוֹד אֶתֶּן־לָךְ אֲשֶׁר ׀ לֹא־הָיָה כֵן לַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר לְפָנֶיךָ וְאַחֲרֶיךָ לֹא יִֽהְיֶה־כֵּֽן׃"therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches, and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have." [NIV]
Specifically:
לֹא־הָיָה כֵן (such as was not)לַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר לְפָנֶיךָ (to the kings who [were] before you)
וְאַחֲרֶיךָ (and after you)לֹא יִֽהְיֶה־כֵּֽן (will not be thus)
