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Literary structure (chiasm, chiasmus) of Epistle to the Romans

Correspondence table of Pericopes and Literary Structure


The text can be divided in 31 pericopes. This text includes, one 15 paired (31 pericopes) whole concentric structure, divided in three 5 paired concentric structures, divided in five 3 paired concentric structures.

Pericope135
1 Salutation (1:1-7) 1-1 3-1 5-1
2 Prayer of thanksgiving (1:8-15) 1-1 3-1 5-1
3 The power of the Gospel (1:16-17) 1-1 3-1 5-1
4 The guilt of humankind (1:18-32) 1-1 3-1 5-1
5 The righteous judgment of God (2:1-16) 1-1 3-1 5-1
6 The Jews and the law (2:17-29) 1-1 3-1 5-1
7 None is righteous (3:1-18) 1-1 3-1 5-1 5-2
8 Righteousness through faith (3:19-31) 1-1 3-1 5-2
9 The example of Abraham (4:1-12) 1-1 3-1 5-2
10 God's promise realized through faith (4:13-25) 1-1 3-1 5-2
11 Results of justification (5:1-11) 1-1 3-1 3-2 5-2
12 Adam and Christ (5:12-21) 1-1 3-2 5-2
13 Dying and rising with Christ (6:1-23) 1-1 3-2 5-2 5-3
14 An analogy from marriage (7:1-6) 1-1 3-2 5-3
15 The inner conflict (7:7-25) 1-1 3-2 5-3
16 Life in the spirit (8:1-17) 1-1 3-2 5-3
17 Future glory (8:18-30) 1-1 3-2 5-3
18 God's Love in Christ Jesus (8:31-39) 1-1 3-2 5-3
19 God's wrath and mercy (9:1-29) 1-1 3-2 5-3 5-4
20 Israel's unbelief (9:30-10:21) 1-1 3-2 5-4
21 Salvation is for all (11:1-10) 1-1 3-2 3-3 5-4
22 Israel's rejection is not final (11:11-24) 1-1 3-3 5-4
23 All Israel will be saved (11:25-36) 1-1 3-3 5-4
24 The new life in Christ (12:1-21) 1-1 3-3 5-4
25 Being subject to authorities (13:1-7) 1-1 3-3 5-4 5-5
26 Love for one another (13:8-14) 1-1 3-3 5-5
27 Do not judge another (14:1-23) 1-1 3-3 5-5
28 Please others, not yourselves (15:1-13) 1-1 3-3 5-5
29 Paul's reason for writing so boldly (15:14-21) 1-1 3-3 5-5
30 Paul's plan to visit Rome (15:22-33) 1-1 3-3 5-5
31 Personal greetings and final instructions (16:1-27) 1-1 3-3 5-5

Citations of the Bible are from New American Bible, New Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible.

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Literary Structure of the Bible by Hajime Murai is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Caution: The copyright of the cited Bible verses belongs to each translator and publisher.

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