Fresh Ways to Enjoy Your BibleMuestra

Beautiful Bookends

I have a number of bookends on my library shelves in my offices at school and at home. Most are nothing fancy—shiny black metal frames that hardly draw attention to themselves because they are thin and blend into the surroundings. I do have a few fancy marble bookends of Assyrian lamassu figures that are highly decorative and draw attention even over the books in between them. Biblical authors can also frame the contents of their book by inserting matching literary enclosures at the beginning and ending of their work—beautiful literary bookends.

Look for content at the beginning of a Bible book that is repeated at the end of the same book. This technique is a literary rhetorical device in which the author introduces an element at the beginning of a book and then returns to it at the end, thus bookending the intervening material.

In the opening chapter of Mark’s gospel, when John the Baptist baptized Jesus, He saw “the heavens being torn open” (Mark 1:10). Then, at the end of Mark’s gospel during the crucifixion scene, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38). These two “torn” events bookend the public ministry of Jesus and give a divine sense of approval to the whole life and ministry of Christ. In addition, another bookend is used: a verbal declaration that Jesus is the Son of God (Mark 1:11; 15:39).

After recognizing these bookends' existence, the reader can now reflect on how they function in the book of Mark. Mark intentionally selected both bookends because they aid in helping the reader identify key themes of the book. The heavens being torn open at Jesus’ baptism, followed by a divine pronouncement that Jesus is the Son, is matched at the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth by the tearing of the temple curtain, which is followed by a declaration that Jesus is “the Son of God” by a Gentile. The centurion’s declaration should be the same response of all readers of Mark’s gospel after reading the book.

Another New Testament example is the book of Romans. In the opening and closing paragraphs, Paul uses the phrase “obedience of faith” as bookends to his epistle (1:5 and 16:26). This helps readers to understand that Paul is not just stressing faith alone but also the outworking of that faith in faithful obedience. This is seen in how he crafts the content of the book by first focusing on faith and belief (Rom. 1—11) and then behavior (Rom. 12—16). Also, Romans 1:2–3 stresses a messianic focus on David’s lineage, and in Romans 15:12, Paul comes full circle and quotes the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, addressing that same concept.

Identifying these bookends is a simple and effective strategy for us to incorporate into our Bible reading. This not only increases your satisfaction level once you see their presence, but they also set a thematic frame so you can observe a truth that the biblical author is stressing.

Digging In:

1. Look at Joshua 1:7–8 and 23:6 and reflect on how these verses not only bracket the book but identify one of the central themes of the book. Do the same for 1:12–18 and 22:1–5 to see mirrored content at the beginning and end.
2. One of the clearest examples of bookends is in the gospel of Matthew. Investigate how 1:23 connects with 28:20 and provides one of Matthew’s central tenets for the book. See how it is also reflected in speeches by outsiders who declare Jesus to be King (2:2; 27:37), foregrounding another key theme of the book.