Socio-Rhetorical Examples
Definition of opening-middle-closing texture.
37 (a) Judge not, and you will not be judged;
Condemn not, and you will not be condemned;
(b) Forgive, and you will be forgiven;
38 Give, and it will be given to you;
(c) A measure good,
pressed down,
shaken together,
running over,
will be put into the lap of you.
(d) For by the measure with which you measure
it will be measured back to you.
In Luke 6.37-38, the final saying (d) contains the pattern of active verb ('you measure') followed by passive verb ('it will be measured back'), which is a pattern that appears in the first four lines. The repetition of this pattern in the opening and closing creates a strong outer frame for the unit. A fascinating challenge then exists for determining the middle of the unit. Do sayings (b) and (c) both constitute the middle, or is only saying (c) the middle? The two sayings in (b) continue the pattern of active verb followed by passive verb, so they could be the final part of the opening of the unit. I would propose, however, that both sayings (b) and (c) are the middle of the unit. The sayings in (a) use the negative 'not' throughout; they open the unit. The sayings in (b) have made a transition from negative to positive, and the saying in (c) continues with positive formulations. The sayings in (b) and (c), then, constitute the middle of the unit. The middle contains two sayings in (b) followed by saying (c) which ends with a positive formulation of a passive verb ('will be put') like the two verbs in the second part of the two sayings in (b). This creates a very interesting middle portion that builds concept upon concept to the significant conclusion 'will be put into your lap'. Now one can see the full effect of the conclusion in (d). This final saying starts with 'for', which provides a rationale for everything that has been said previously in the unit. It uses positive rather than negative formulation, like the initial sayings in the middle. The topic of 'measure' which it uses throughout is the same topic with which the saying (c) in the middle began. Then saying (d) ends with a sequence of active and passive verb, which the opening two sayings introduced to the reader. The final saying, then, embeds a topic ('measure') and positive formulation--achievements of the middle part--in a pattern of active verb followed by passive verb, which was present in the first two sayings. Repetitive-progressive patterns, then, creates a strong, tensive opening, middle and closing for this unit.
From: V. K. Robbins, The Tapestry of Early Christian Discourse: Rhetoric, Society and Ideology, (London: Routledge,1996), p. 51.
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