A chiasm is a literary structure where vocabulary of the first section of a passage is repeated in reverse order in the second. The center of the chiasm is typically the climax of the passage. In of John 12:34-46 the center and climax is Jesus saying that the disbelief of the Jews was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted” (John 12:40).