PsALM 73 As rInG COMPOsITIOn 19 often described in terms similar to those for standard chiasm 9. This explains why, when general literary scholars discuss ring composi- tions, the examples cited are often simply standard chiastic structures 10. Perhaps this explains the curious fact that, while biblical scholars have been showcasing chiasm in biblical texts for over three decades, the term “ring composition” rarely appears 11. This may well be rooted in the desire of many biblical scholars to clearly differentiate between an inclusio and a standard chiasm, thus avoiding the ambiguity that accompanies the term “ring composition”. still, is a ring composition essentially identical to standard chiasm? On this issue, Douglas seems to have provided some valuable insight. For although she never explicitly sets out to distinguish between standard chiasm and ring composition, in her discussion she seems to imply that a ring composition is not simply a standard chiasm but rather a special form of chiasm with its own unique features. First, while standard chiasm, like an inclusio, requires formal links that connect the beginning and end of a pericope, a ring composition, according to Douglas, must fulfil an additional requirement: that such connections show a circularity that firmly ties the beginning to the end and vice versa 12. Thus, speaking of the end of a ring, she writes that just arriving back at the beginning by the process of inverted ordering is not enough to produce a firm closure. Other than verbal repetitions, there must also be thematic correspondence between the beginning and the end, so that the beginning is specifically designed to correspond to the end, and the end is clearly recognised as 9 see MuILenBurG, “Form Criticism ”, 9; J.r. LunDBOM, Biblical Rhetoric and Rhetorical Criticism (hBM 45; sheffield 2013) 6. But to homeric scholar, s. sCheIn, “The Iliad: structure and Interpretation”, A New Companion to Homer (eds. I. MOrrIs – B. POWeLL) (Leiden 1997) 345-359, here 347, ring composition is basically an inclusio but with the possibility of expansion into a standard chiastic structure. 10 see, for example, J.D. nILes, “ring Composition and the structure of Beowulf”, PMLA 94 (1979) 924-935, and s.v. TrACY, “The structures of the Odyssey”, A New Companion to Homer (eds. I MOrrIs – B. POWeLL) (Leiden 1997) 360-379, here 363-364. 11 some of the works showcasing chiasm include: J.W. WeLCh (ed.), Chias- mus in Antiquity. structures, Analyses, exegesis (Provo, uT 1981), and r. MeYneT, Rhetorical Analysis. An Introduction to Biblical rhetoric (JsOTss 256; sheffield 1998). 12 Although Douglas has not verbally highlighted this circularity, the way she diagrams many of the rings she identifies makes this point obvious. see, for example, DOuGLAs, Thinking in Circles, 20, 39, 48, 87, 110.