Discovering the Rich Layers of Scripture

Six literary tools to deepen your Bible reading.

Have you ever returned to a Bible passage you’ve read many times and suddenly noticed something you’d never seen before?

That moment of discovery is not unusual—it’s the nature of God’s Word. The Bible is not a flat, one-dimensional text. It’s deep, multi-layered, and intricately designed—living and active (Hebrews 4:12). Like a beautiful piece of art or a tapestry, it reveals more richness the longer you look and the more closely you pay attention.

The deeper we go into Scripture, the more we realize that the biblical writers—guided by the Holy Spirit—used powerful literary tools and patterns to communicate God’s truth. These devices weren’t just for poetic effect. They were meant to guide our knowledge and shape how we understand God, ourselves, and the story we’re part of.

Chiasms

One of the most striking tools used in the Bible is the chiasm, or chiastic structure. You can think of a chiasm like a literary mirror—it arranges ideas in a pattern that folds in on itself, often placing the central and most important message right in the middle.

When you come upon a chiasm as you are reading the Bible, the road to discovery usually begins when a pair of elements catches your attention or “jumps out” at you. As you read, you are struck by an idea or phrase that is repeated. It just happens to show up a little ways down in the very same narrative. You’ve likely stumbled upon the pattern of a chiasm. The repetition is obvious.

A common structure for a chiasm is a parallel or contrasting pattern of ideas or phrases in the narrative that can be identified like this: A-B-C-CENTER-C-B-A.

For example, Matthew 6 (illustrated in the image below) uses this structure to contrast the choices we make by where our devotion lies. You’ll see the key to the passage is what the writer tucked into the very center of the verse? The central verse of the chiasm is the image of the person who loves one master and is devoted to that one. The writer, quoting Jesus, wants you to know that’s the heart of the message.

Once you recognize chiastic structures like this, you’ll begin to see the patterns everywhere as you read—in individual passages and sometimes even across whole books like Jonah, or book of Leviticus, or the Gospel of Mark.

How many chiasms are in the Bible?

Now here’s a question that I find utterly fascinating. It’s one that scholars are still exploring! The question is: how many chasms are in the Bible? While no one can give an exact count, estimates of the number of chiasms in the Bible vary depending on how strictly or loosely you define the structure. Here’s a realistic estimated breakdown:

• Conservative scholarly estimate: Over 200 well-defined chiasms
  These are formally recognized structures with clear symmetry and academic consensus, often found in books like Genesis, Psalms, Deuteronomy, and the Gospels.
• Moderate estimate (including looser patterns): Between 500–1,000
  Many chiastic structures are debated—some are subtle or thematic rather than strictly literary. These include patterns at the paragraph or chapter level and across broader sections of Scripture.
• Broad estimate (including micro-chiasms and thematic parallels): Thousands
  When you include partial chiasms, mini-chiasms (within a single verse or sentence), and thematic reversals across long stretches (e.g., the structure of entire books), the number easily reaches into the thousands.

Remez

Another beautiful device used by biblical authors, especially in the New Testament, is the remez—a Hebrew word that means “hint.” This technique involves a subtle reference to another Scripture, inviting the reader or listener to recall the entire passage. One of the most powerful examples of this is found on the lips of Jesus as He hangs on the cross. When He cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He’s quoting the first line of Psalm 22. To the casual reader, it may sound like a cry of despair—and in one sense, it is. But to the Jewish hearers of His day, it was a remez pointing to something much deeper—a message they had known since childhood.

Psalm 22 begins with anguish, but it doesn’t end there. As the psalm progresses, the suffering servant is eventually elevated and set right. The psalmist declares that all nations will remember and turn to the Lord, and that future generations will proclaim His righteousness. By quoting the opening line, Jesus was directing us to the entire message of the psalm: from pain to praise, from forsakenness to faithfulness. Understanding that remez turns the moment of Jesus’ suffering on the cross from a scene of abandonment into a powerful proclamation of triumph and hope.

Inclusio

The Bible also employs what’s called inclusio, a literary term that serves as a “bookend” technique where a passage begins and ends with the same idea or phrase. The Gospel of Matthew offers a beautiful example of this. In the very first chapter, Jesus is identified as “Immanuel—God with us.” Then, in the final words of the Gospel, Jesus promises, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” These phrases are more than just comforting; they frame the entire story of Jesus as a revelation of God’s constant presence with His people.

Another example of an inclusio – the repetition of key words or phrases that bracket a point being made by the writer- can be found in the book of Romans. Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26 is widely considered an inclusio. This is an indication that Paul, the writer of Romans, wanted the readers and hearers to know that everything in the text should be understood by the light of this central theme.

Romans and the “Obedience of Faith” Inclusio

Romans 1:5 (ESV):
“…through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations…”

Romans 16:26 (ESV):
“…but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith…”

In between these literary frames of Romans 1 and 16, Paul explores humanity’s universal need for salvation (ch. 1–3). In chapters 3-5 he explains justification by faith apart from the Law of Moses (ch. 3–5). Then Paul describes the transformative life of those in Christ (ch. 6–8). Paul reminds the Romans of God’s purposes for Israel and the nations (ch. 9–11) and offers practical exhortations for Christian living (ch. 12–15). All of this fits under the banner of obedient faith—not mere belief (mental acknowledgement), but faith that results in transformed lives and lived in faithful action.

Parallelism

Parallelism is another common feature—especially in Hebrew poetry—where ideas are mirrored or contrasted in successive lines. Psalm 19:1 is a wonderful example of synonymous parallelism:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

The second line echoes and amplifies the first. Elsewhere, in Proverbs 28:1, you’ll find antithetic parallelism:

“The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”

These poetic structures aren’t just pretty—they’re powerful teaching tools that invite reflection and memorization, emphasizing the depth of the message.

Typology

This is one of my favorites. I recently spent over a year with a small group Bible study going through some of the most vivid examples of Biblical typology. Typology is one of Scripture’s most profound ways of showing us that the Bible is telling one big story. In typology, people, events, or institutions in the Old Testament foreshadow greater realities fulfilled in Christ. To me, this is one of the most profound examples that the Bible was not written by mere men but by men guided by the Holy Spirit to present a unified message of God’s plan. Conservative scholars estimate there are between 100 and 200 examples of typology in Scripture. Others say there could be more than 500.

The first time the idea is presented it is called the “type.” A type is usually an earthly example that people can see and understand. It is not the real thing but it foreshadows and points to the real thing that will come later. The real thing is called the “anti-type.”

Here’s an example that Scripture itself identifies for us. Adam is called a “type” of Christ in Romans 5. Romans says that just as sin entered the world through one man, so redemption comes through one man—Jesus, the new and better Adam.

Another powerful example of typology in Scripture is the Passover lamb; in Exodus, the blood of the lamb marked the doorposts to spare the Israelites from judgment. Paul picks up this imagery in 1 Corinthians 5:7 when he says, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

Examples of Typology – Common Types and Antitypes in Scripture

Wordplay

The biblical writers also used wordplays—puns, double meanings, and echoes whose beautiful meanings often get lost in translation from the original language into English. In John 3:8, for instance, Jesus says, “The wind blows wherever it pleases… So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” The Greek word in this passage is pneuma. It can mean both “wind” and “spirit.” Jesus is making a layered point—one that resonates with the original hearers of His message.

While this cultural nuance may be disappointing to you and I as we probably do not know Greek or Hebrew, modern technology has given us many tools that assist us in learning the meanings of these words in their original languages. We can experience the riches of the text if we are willing to dig deeply in our study.

So how can we begin to see these treasures more clearly?

Start by slowing down. Read entire books of the Bible to learn the whole story in context, instead of reading isolated verses. Pay attention to repeated words, structure, and phrasing. Ask yourself, “Have I seen this idea somewhere else in Scripture?” A good cross-reference Bible or online Bible study tool will help you trace those echoes and remez hints. And if you’re willing to explore Jewish or early Christian commentaries, you’ll often find patterns and connections that modern Western readers tend to overlook.

Above all, stay curious. Ask yourself, “Why did the author write it this way?” and “What is the Spirit trying to tell me through this structure, this symbol, this story?” “What does that word mean in the original language?” “In reading the New Testament, when the writer quotes a verse from the Old Testament (a remez), what was the full context of the story surrounding the verse?”

The Bible is not a puzzle to be solved. God’s message is clear and understandable without digging deeply. It’s a divine revelation to be savored. And the more you read it—not just quickly or occasionally, but with prayerful attention and joyful expectation—the more it opens up. Think of it as seasonings on your favorite meal. Without the seasonings, it is just as nourishing and good for your body. But with the seasonings, the flavor is richer and fuller and even more satisfying to taste.

Scripture is deep because God is deep. And He invites you, as His disciple, to come and see.