Colossians and Chiasmus

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days. Colossians 2:16

Many who keep the weekly seventh-day Sabbath but do not believe in keeping the feast days explain that Colossians 2:16 is written as a chiasm, where the first part of the phrase is mirrored by the second part. Therefore, the holy days mentioned is mirrored by sabbath days, giving the conclusion that holy days and sabbath days both refer to feast days or annual Sabbaths.

This is the explanation that bothered me so much when I was a twelve years old. It seemed like a workaround of the literal meaning of the words. And if no man were to judge anyone for these, even under this interpretation, why should anyone be criticized for doing so? At that time I did not know of any Christians who observed the holy days, but still I wondered. The interpretation that omits the weekly Sabbath in this verse implies that, since we are to "let no man judge," feast days and new moons are no longer important, but the weekly Sabbath is important. I have written more about "let no man" in my post, "Asceticism in Colossae."

From what I understand, it is these verses that caused the enormous turnaround of the Church of God when they repudiated the Sabbath. They realized that, through their "new" interpretation of verses 14, 16, and 17, neither the Sabbath nor the feast days were important, because they had been nailed to the cross. The Sabbath and the feast days are clearly linked in this verse. If one is important, the other is, or NOT.

Many verses in the Bible are written as a chiasm, often described as ABBA in style. Here are a few examples, where A mirrors A, and B mirrors B:

A - The sabbath

    B - was made for man

    B - and not man for

A - the sabbath:

Mark 2:27

A - “And whoever exalts himself

    B - shall be humbled;

    B - and whoever humbles himself

A - shall be exalted."

Matthew 23:12

A - God created man

    B - in His own image,

    B - in the image of God

A - He created him

Genesis 1:27

Many more examples are available; one good site for research is Bible Chiasmus. All examples I have found, and I admit I have not searched exhaustively, have at least ABBA, sometimes ABCBA, ABCCBA, ABCDCBA, etc., more than a simple ABA, which is what Colossians 2:16 would be.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an 
A - holyday
     B - or of the new moon
A - or of the sabbath days.  
Colossians 2:16

Does an ABA pattern make a chiasm? I don't know, but we have more than one way to find out if this verse is meant by inspiration as a chiasm. 

I looked at the collection of the words "holy day, new moon, and sabbath days" in throughout the Bible. Should other verses in Scripture that refer to that collection of holy days be interpreted as "feast days, new moons, and feast days" -- a chiastic interpretation?

Here are several of many examples where Sabbaths, new moons, and feast days are mentioned as a triad. More can be found at Bible Gateway (searched for sabbath, new moon).

2 Chronicles 2:4 - ”on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God.”

1 Chronicles 23:31 - ”in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts.”

Nehemiah 10:23 - "for the regular burnt offering of the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the set feasts."

In each verse, the triad clearly refers to three separate kinds of holy days: weekly Sabbaths, new moons, and annual feast days. The pattern would not be changed for Colossians 2:16.

Conclusion: Colossians 2:16 is not a chiasm, as is clearly seen by Scriptural verse comparisons.