Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 67:3 (Sep 2024)
Article: Author-Intended Typology In The Chiastic Structure Of The Song Of The Sea (Exodus 15:1–21)
Author: James M. Hamilton, Jr.

JETS 67:3 (September 2024) p. 463

Author-Intended Typology In The Chiastic Structure Of The Song Of The Sea (Exodus 15:1–21)

James M. Hamilton Jr.*

* James M. Hamilton Jr. is professor of biblical theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: This essay seeks to show that to be valid interpretations, typological expectations must be based on what the human authors of Scripture intended to communicate. As a test case, we consider the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15, which this essay also contends is a chiasm. Moses has employed the chiastic literary structure to communicate the historical correspondence and escalation foundational to typology. By positioning the celebration of the defeat of Egypt at the exodus across from the conquest of Canaan in the chiasm, the author prophesies that the conquest will be an installment in the exodus pattern. The way that God worked for Israel at the exodus is the way he will work for them at the conquest. In other words, Moses sings the exodus as a type of the conquest, indicating that the conquest will be a new exodus.

Key words: typology, authorial intent, chiastic literary structure, Exodus 15, Song of the Sea

Successful communication happens when the audience correctly understands what the speaker intends to communicate. Successful interpretation happens when readers rightly discern what authors intend to communicate.1 In this presentation I will argue that the claim that something in the Old Testament communicates typological import is best validated through demonstration that the human author of that portion of the Old Testament intended to communicate typological import. To put it another way, we can answer the question “How do we verify that something in the Old Testament is a type?” with another question: “Can we show that the original Old Testament author intended it as a type?”

The need to establish authorial intent arises because many suspect that proposed types and suggested chiastic structures exist mainly in the eye of the beholder. As Mary Douglas describes the situation in her book Thinking in Circles,

A typical gibe is to accuse the would-be myth analyst of giving free rein to her imagination. Friends have said, “Ring composition is a loose and fuzzy concept, Mary will always be able to find a ring form if she looks hard enough, in a laundry

JETS 67:3 (September 2024) p. 464

list, sports news, or whatever. Rings are everywhere.” This lethal criticism I must rebut.