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Bible Encyclopedias
Type
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Type the best definition of this word, in its theological sense, is that which supplies: a type is a shadow of good things to come, or as the apostle elsewhere expresses it () 'a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.' Adopting this definition as the correct one, we proceed briefly to point out the different types by which God was pleased in various ages to adumbrate the person and work of the Redeemer.
Before the law, Adam, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedec, Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph were eminently typical of Christ. Again, under the law, Moses, Joshua, Samson, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Zerubbabel, and Joshua the high priest, were, in many points, singularly types of Christ.
The first-born, the Nazarites, prophets, priests, and kings, were typical orders of persons.
Under the head of things typical may be noticed: Jacob's ladder, the burning bush, the pillar of cloud and fire, the manna, the rock, and the brazen serpent.
Actions typical were: the deliverance out of Egypt, passage of the Red Sea, sojourn in the wilderness, passage over the Jordan, entrance into Canaan, and restoration from Babylon.
Rites typical were: circumcision, various sacrifices, and sundry purifications.
Places typical were: the land of Canaan, the cities of refuge, the tabernacle, and the temple.
The above types were designed to shadow forth Christ and the blessings of his salvation; but there were others also which pointed at our miseries without him. There were ceremonial uncleannesses; the leprosy, for instance, was a type of our natural pollution; and Hagar and Ishmael a type of the covenant of works.
As there must be a similarity or analogy between the type and the antitype, so there is also a disparity or dissimilitude between them.
It is not in the nature of type and antitype that they should agree in all things; else, instead of similitude, there would be identity. Hence the apostle, while making Adam a type of Christ, yet shows how infinitely the latter excelled the former (). So the priests of old were types of Christ, though he infinitely excelled them both as to his own person and as to the character of his priesthood (see Hebrews 7-10).
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Type'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/t/type.html.
