Unveiling Chiasmus in the Hebrew Bible: A Computational and Literary Analysis

An ancient rhetorical structure found in Hebrew poetry known as Chiasmus has long attracted scholarly attention for its literary and theological richness. Its identification, however, traditionally relies on subjective manual methods. Manual detection of chiastic patterns is inconsistent, time-consuming, and may overlook complex or subtle structures. This paper aims to employ computational methods to detect chiasm in vital poetic sections of the Hebrew Bible, and through literary-exegetical lenses, interpret the findings. A customized algorithm is applied to detect mirror-structure patterns in the Hebrew text, by using corpus of poetic books such as Psalms, proverbs. The computational results were then subjected to close theological and literary analysis. Chiastic patterns which were severally previously overlooked were identified, including chapter-level and mid-verses structures, and these reveal emphasis on themes like divine sovereignty, covenant, and wisdom. Traditional exegesis can be complemented with computational tools, enriching theological interpretation and offering more consistent detection of literary structures. Hence, this study recommends that algorithm to other biblical corpora should be expanded by future research and integrate semantic and syntactic layers for deeper insight.