Victor Hamilton was professor of Old Testament studies at Asbury College (now Asbury University) for 36 years, from 1971 until 2007. Upon retiring, Asbury appointed him as a scholar-in-residence at the University. He completed the fifth and final year of that appointment in 2012. He has a BA from Houghton College in New York State (1963); a BD and ThM from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky (1966;1967); and an MA and PhD in Mediterranean Studies from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts (1969; 1971) under the mentorship of the late, great Orientalist, Cyrus Gordon. It was because of Gordon’s influence that he wrote his doctoral dissertation on “Syriac Incantation Bowls from Pre-Islamic Iraq.” His special areas of interest in the classroom were Pentateuch, Jeremiah, Preaching from the Old Testament and Old Testament Theology.
Vic’s first book was Handbook on the Pentateuch which Baker Academic published in 1982. A second and revised edition of that book appeared in 2005. It has been translated into Russian, Korean, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese. His other books include The Book of Genesis, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, two volumes (Eerdmans, 1990; 1995) in process of being translated into Chinese; Handbook on the Historical Books (Baker Academic, 2002) translated into Korean and in process of being translated into Chinese; Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary (Baker Academic, 2011). He served on the translation team for two modern Bible versions, the New King James version (NKJV) which Thomas Nelson produced in 1982, and the New Living Translation (NLT) which Tyndale House published in 1996 and 2004 (second edition). In conjunction with the NKJV project he wrote the notes for Exodus and Leviticus in The Wesley Bible. A Personal Study Bible for Holy Living (Thomas Nelson, 1990). In conjunction with the NLT project, he wrote the notes for 1 and 2 Samuel in the NLT Study Bible (Tyndale House, 2008). Additionally, he has contributed chapters and entries to numerous other publications such as The Quest Study Bible, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, An Evangelical Commentary on the Bible and the Asbury Bible Commentary. He has written, and continues to write, a number of adult Sunday School lessons for Illustrated Bible Life of the Church of the Nazarene.
Vic has had the privilege to lecture and preach at a number of other college campuses, as well as speak in churches, retreats, pastors’ seminars, family conferences, camp meetings, and overseas in Korea, Japan Jamaica and, most recently, China (Beijing). Among his highest joys has been the opportunity to preach over a hundred times in the chapel service in Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University, and at least once a year for 40 consecutive years stretching from 1972 to 2012. For the last 30 years he has preached (through an interpreter) one Sunday a month at the Lexington Chinese Christian Church, long before they were at their current church building on Nicholasville Rd.
Vic and his wife Shirley have been married for 51 years, and have four married children and thirteen grandchildren (four grandsons, nine granddaughters). Both Vic and Shirley were born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, and have dual citizenship, Canadian and American (as of several years ago). Vic is ordained in the Wesleyan Church (Central Canada District). He and his wife, Shirley, have their membership in the Milliken Wesleyan Church in Markham, Ont. just outside of greater Toronto. They have been attending the Wilmore Free Methodist Church for approximately 12 years.
