2 Corinthians 1:3-7*

A.(3) Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort ;

B.(4) Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,

B’. that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,

A’. by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God . 

A. (5) For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

B. (6) And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation,

C. which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:

B’. or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

A'(7) And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

In relation to this the following  is adapted from “The Presence of Chiasmus in the New Testament” N. W. Lund,  The Journal of Religion, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan., 1930), pp. 74-93

A1.(3)  Blessed be God

B1. and Father

C1. of our Lord Jesus Christ,

B1′. the Father of mercies,

A1’/A2.  and God

B2. of all comfort, (4) who comforteth us

C2. in all our afflictions,

D2. that we maybe able to comfort them that are

C2′. in any affliction

B2′. through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted

A2′. of God.

A3. (5) For as abound the sufferings

B3. of Christ

C3. unto us,

B3′. even so through Christ

A3′. aboundeth also our comfort

3 thoughts on “2 Corinthians 1:3-7*”

  1. The second structure is certainly interesting, but I can’t see links between the parts of the first suggestion. There could still be some sort of structure, I have found potential chiasms where one word is repeated 7 times with the contexts forming a chiasmic structure, so it may be worth looking into.

  2. Here are some alternative structures:
    e: (3)Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God

    d: of all comfort;

    c: (4) Who comforteth us

    b: in all our tribulation,

    A: that we may be able to comfort them

    b: which are in any trouble,

    c: by the comfort

    d: wherewith we ourselves are comforted of

    e: God.

    c:(5) For as the sufferings of Christ

    b: abound in us,

    A: so our consolation

    b: also aboundeth

    c:by Christ.

    c: (6) And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation,

    b: which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:

    c: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

    b: (7) And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings,

    c: so shall ye be also of the consolation.

    I would be very interested if anyone can think of a different structure for v6-7.

  3. My most recent thought is

    A.
    a. 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort ;
    b. 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
    b’. that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,
    a’. by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God .

    B.5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us,
    so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

    A’.
    a. 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation,
    b. which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:
    a’. or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
    b’. 7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.