Inductive criterion for determining chiasmus

The method of chiastic analysis is widely used in biblical studies; however, it has a significant drawback: chiastic structures are not always obvious and often lead to disagreements. Over the past 80 years, scholars have developed dozens of criteria systems for determining chiasms, but none of these systems has been unanimously accepted by the scholarly community. This article reviews seven well-known criteria for determining chiasmus and then proposes a new method of inductive proof of chiasmus. A significant part of this methodology is a summary table of arguments “for” and “against” chiasmus that have ever been proposed by scholars. The application of this methodology is demonstrated using the example of the chiastic structure in John 2:1-11 (the Wedding at Cana).