Note: The Jacob cycle is well written about but its discovery is usually ascribed to Fishbane, Journal of Jewish Studies 26 (1975) 15-38. Those who have studied the life of Jacob will want to rephrase these sections. Others have pointed to the birth of Joseph as the turning point of the whole cycle. This is supported by the Genesis 30:25 which says “And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country”

A. The descendants of Ishmael 25:12-18

B. Rebekah struggles in childbirth; Jacob and Esau born 25:19-26

C. Jacob obtains Esau’s birthright 25:27-34

D. Rebekah in a foreign palace; foreign pact 26:1-33

E. Blessing taken from Esau 27:1-46

F. Jacob flees from Esau and meets the angels of God 28:1-22

G. Jacob arrives at Haran (deception and wages) 29:1-30

H. Jacob’s wives are fertile 29:31-30:24

H’. Jacob’s flocks are fertile 30:25-43

G’. Jacob leaves Haran (deception and wages) 31:1-55

F’. Jacob returns to Esau and meets the angels of God 32:1-32

E’. Blessing-gift returned to Esau 33:1-20

D’. Dinah in a foreign palace; foreign pact thwarted 34:1-31

C’. Jacob receives God’s blessing 35:1-15

B’. Rachel struggles in childbirth; Benjamin born 35:16-22

A’. the descendants of Jacob 35:23-26

The chiasm below follows the word order in the Hebrew:

A And said God Let bring forth THE EARTH grass,

B the herb yielding SEED,

C and tree THE FRUIT

D yielding [making]

C′ FRUIT after his kind,

B′ whose SEED is in itself,

A′ upon THE EARTH: and it was so.

Comment: The chiasm can be seen in the AV word order, but does not show just how tight the middle part is, where the two occurrences of “fruit” are directly either side of “yielding”. The middle “yielding” translates the common Hebrew word for “make” and is different from the other “yielding”. This chiasm emphasises that trees can make. But, of course, they cannot create.

RS

A.(2) And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: (3) Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee;

B. for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries,

C. and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

B.(4) And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; (5)

C’. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

A’.(6) And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

A) Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made (v1)
B) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die… she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat (v4-6)
C) And gave unto her husband with her, and he did eat (v6)
D) They knew that they were naked (v7)
E) And the heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (v8)
F) And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden (v8)
E) I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid (v9)
D) Because I was naked (v9)
C) The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat (v12)
B) The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat (v13)
A) And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field (v14)

( based on  a book by Dorsey.)
A. The man is placed in the garden of Eden. (2v15)

B. God commands the man. (v16)

C. The creation of woman. (v22)

D. The serpent tempts Eve. (3v1)

E. The first sin. (v6)

D’. The serpent is punished. (v14)

C’. The woman is punished. (v16)

B’. The man is punished. (v17-19)

A’. The man is driven out. (v24)

A. (21) And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: (22) And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (23) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: (24) And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

B.(25) And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: (26) And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: (27) And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. (28) And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: (29) And he called his name Noah,

C. saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground (adamah) which the LORD hath cursed.

D. (30) And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: (31) And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. (32) And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

E.(1) And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, (2) That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

F.(3) And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

E’.(4) There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them,

D’. the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown (shem) .

C’. (5) And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6) And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (7) And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth (adamah); both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. (8) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

B’. 9These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations,

A’. and Noah walked with God.

Dafydd

A (22) And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: (23) Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. (24) And Abraham said, I will swear.

B (25) And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away. (26) And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.

C (27) And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

B’ (28) And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. (29) And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? (30) And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

A’ (31) Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them. (32) Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

based on proposal from Dafydd

A ​.(1) And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. (2) And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

B. (3) And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. (4) Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. (5) And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. (6) And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife;

C. and they went both of them together.

D. (7) i. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son.

ii. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

D'(8) i. And Abraham said, My son,

ii. God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:

C’. so they went both of them together.

B’ (9) And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. (10) And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

A’ i.(11) And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. (12) And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

ii.(13) And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns:

iii. and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

ii’. (14) And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

  i. a(15) And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, (16) And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

b.(17) That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (18) And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

a’.because thou hast obeyed my voice.

19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

A. (12) ¶ And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

B.(13) I do set my bow in the cloud,  and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

C.(14) And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

D(15) And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

C’.(16) And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it,

B’. that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

A’.(17) And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

A Whoso sheddeth

B blood

C man’s,

C¹ by man

B¹ shall his blood

A¹ be shed

Comment: The wording above reflects that in the Hebrew. Many chiasmus websites, both biblical and non-biblical, cite this example.