The Literary Development of John 13--17: A Chiastic Reading     by Wayne Brouwer Hardback, 188, pgs. Society of Biblical Literature, 2000 Order from  Amazon.com

"The chiastic reading of John 13--17 presented in this study results in an interpretation of the farewell discourse that addresses a number of important issues in Fourth Gospel studies.  It offers, for instance, an intelligible role for the repeated "love command", showing it to be part of the chiastic framing and centering of the discourse as a whole.  Furthermore, it highlights the significance of the vine and branches teaching in John 15:1-17, allowing it to stand prominently as the turning point around which the discourse is built, and using its metaphor as the guiding principle by which the rest of the teachings of the discourse hold together.  Finally, it balances the introductory narrative, shaped by its expression of union with Jesus at entrance into the hour of glory, with the concluding prayer, where, once again union with Jesus is shown to take place in the experience of the hour of glory" (pgs. 167-168).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.  INTRODUCTION
          Backing into a Good Notion, 1

PART I: THE CURRENT STATE OF CHIASTIC STUDIES

2.  CHIASM IN THE LITERATURE OF ANTIQUITY
          A Quiet Presence, 23

3.  THE ESSENTIALS OF CHIASM
          Non-Linear Communication, 29

PART II: FROM MICRO-CHIASM TO MACRO-CHIASM IN BIBLICAL TEXTS

4.  MICRO-CHIASM IN BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
          The Art of Poetic Reflexivity, 49

5.  BEYOND MICRO-CHIASM TO MACRO-CHIASM
          From Poetic Reflexivity to Narrative Art, 63

PART III: A CHIASTIC READING OF THE JOHANNINE FAREWELL DISCOURSE

6.  READING THE DISCOURSE
          Looking for Reflexive Parallelism, 89

7.  TESTING THE READING
          Criteria for Macro-Chiasm, 95

8.  OTHER CHIASTIC APPROACHES
          Finding the Best Chiastic Development, 155

9.  CONCLUSIONS
          John 13--17 as Macro-Chiasm, 167

BIBLIOGRAPHY, 171