Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 85:2 (Fall 2023)
Article: Reviews Of Books
Author: Anonymous

WTJ 85:2 (Fall 2023) p. 333

Reviews Of Books

James M. Hamilton Jr., Typology––Understanding the Bible’s Promise-Shaped Patterns: How Old Testament Expectations Are Fulfilled in Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2022. Pp. xxiii + 405. $39.99, cloth.

James Hamilton’s most recent textbook is a clear and detailed explanation and illustration of typological inner-biblical exegesis that will be valuable for students, pastors, and teachers alike.

The principle undergirding the whole work is Hamilton’s contention that “God’s promises shaped the way the biblical authors perceived, understood, and wrote” (p. 4). In other words, starting with Moses, the biblical authors learned to interpret God’s providence in light of his promises, and they saw that redemptive-history unfolds along the contours of “promise-shaped patterns” (p. 4). For Hamilton, the protoevangelium of Gen 3:15 is the foundational promise that crafted the lenses through which Moses, and subsequently other biblical authors, viewed and wrote about God’s work in history. Typology, then, is an endeavor to exposit some of the most significant promise-shaped patterns in Scripture, showing how they climax in the person and work of Christ. The book’s structure has two layers. Considered individually, the eleven chapters are arranged in a chiasm so that chapter 1 complements chapter 11, chapter 2 complements chapter 10, and so forth. At the same time, chapters 2–10 are grouped into three parts that examine how OT persons, events, and institutions function as types. These three parts are bookended by an introduction (ch. 1) and a conclusion (ch. 11).

In the outer frame of the chiasm, chapters 1 and 11, Hamilton articulates his interpretive methodology. These chapters provide the foundation for the rest of the book. Chapter 1 defines typology and discusses “micro-level indicators” of typological connections (p. 3). Hamilton defines typology as “God-ordained, author-intended historical correspondence and escalation in significance between people, events, and institutions across the Bible’s redemptive-historical story (i.e., in covenantal context)” (p. 26). He is keen to emphasize that types are present in Scripture because the original human authors intended to communicate them. Due to his emphasis on the human authors of Scripture, his typological method is grounded in grammatical-historical exegesis and focuses on explicit inner-biblical connections. “Micro-level indicators” are intertextual features, like the reuse of key terms or the quotation of lines from an earlier source, by which an author establishes a connection with an earlier text. Chapter 11 discusses “macro-level indicators” of typological connections (p. 331). “Macro-le...