Type (Biblical Typology)

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term yepyo (豫表) means "a sign shown in advance." It refers to the concept that persons, events, and institutions in the Old Testament, while being actual history, also serve as shadows that prefigure what would be fulfilled in the New Testament. The element that foreshadows is called the type (or figure), and that to which it points and in which it is fulfilled is called the antitype (or reality). The interpretive method of reading Scripture in this way is called typology.

The term translates the Greek word typos, meaning "pattern" or "figure." In Korean Bibles and theological works, the words for "figure," "shadow," and "emblem" are also used in the same sense. In the Catholic Church, the term yehyeong ("prefiguration") is commonly used.

Biblical and Historical Background

The New Testament reads the Old Testament typologically in many places.

• Romans 5:14 says that Adam "is the figure of him that was to come."
• Hebrews 10:1 calls the law "a shadow of good things to come," and Hebrews 8:5 describes the tabernacle as the "example and shadow of heavenly things."
• John 3:14 compares the lifting up of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:8-9 to the lifting up of the Son of Man.
• 1 Corinthians 10:11 calls the events of the wilderness period "ensamples," and 1 Peter 3:21 describes the waters of the Flood as a "figure" of baptism.

The early church fathers likewise read the Old Testament with Christ at the center and made extensive use of typology. Alongside this practice ran an ongoing discussion about the need to distinguish allegorical interpretation, which tends to downplay the historicity of the text in search of hidden meanings, from typological interpretation, which emphasizes correspondences between historical events. Since the Reformation, Protestants have generally given priority to the literal and historical sense of the text and have held that typological interpretation, built on that foundation, should be used with restraint.

Practice in Korean Churches

Typology is a very familiar theme in preaching and Bible study in Korean churches. Frequently discussed examples include the following:

• Expositions of the tabernacle that relate its furnishings and sacrifices to the work of Christ
• The Passover lamb, Isaac in the burnt offering on Mount Moriah, Melchizedek, Joseph, and Jonah

Denominations differ little in acknowledging typology itself; differences appear mainly over how far typology should extend. A cautious position limits types to those the New Testament explicitly identifies, while another position broadly connects to Christ even Old Testament details that the New Testament does not specify. In addition, because covenant theology and dispensationalism understand the relationship between Old Testament Israel and the church differently, the same passage is sometimes understood to have different antitypes.

In the field of cult counseling, practitioners point out that some groups arbitrarily interpret biblical persons and events as corresponding to their own organization or leader, and they stress that typological interpretation requires New Testament warrant and attention to the context of the passage.