What Scripture says
Jesus and the New Testament writers themselves point to Old Testament events and figures as foreshadowing him:
- Jonah: “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40, ESV).
- The bronze serpent: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14, referring to Numbers 21:8–9).
- The Passover lamb: “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
- Manna: “I am the bread of life… Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died” (John 6:48–49).
- Adam: Adam “was a type of the one who was to come” (Romans 5:14).
- The temple and sacrifices: Hebrews calls them “a shadow of the good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1).
- Melchizedek: a priest-king who foreshadows Christ’s priesthood (Hebrews 7, Psalm 110:4).
What the evidence says
Context
What typology is
A type (Greek typos, a pattern or impression) is a real person, event or institution in the Old Testament that foreshadows something greater in Christ. Unlike allegory, which finds hidden meanings in details, typology works with real history: Israel really ate manna, and Jesus really fed the hungry and called himself the bread of life.
Types the New Testament names
| Old Testament | Fulfilment | New Testament text |
|---|---|---|
| Passover lamb | Christ’s death | 1 Corinthians 5:7, John 19:36 |
| Jonah’s three days | Christ’s burial and resurrection | Matthew 12:40 |
| The bronze serpent | The cross | John 3:14–15 |
| Manna | Christ as the bread of life | John 6:31–35 |
| Adam | Christ as the new Adam | Romans 5:12–21, 1 Corinthians 15:45 |
| The temple | Christ’s body | John 2:19–21 |
| The Day of Atonement | Christ’s sacrifice | Hebrews 9:11–14 |
| The flood | Baptism | 1 Peter 3:20–21 |
Interpretation
Stretched types
Over church history, some interpreters found types everywhere, sometimes in tiny details:
- Rahab’s scarlet cord (Joshua 2:18) as Christ’s blood, which goes back to 1 Clement (c. 96) but isn’t in the New Testament.
- The 318 servants of Abraham as the cross and Jesus’ name (Epistle of Barnabas; see 3B.27).
- Every piece of the tabernacle’s furniture as a detailed picture of Christ.
These may be devotionally rich, but they are harder to defend, because the connection relies on the interpreter’s imagination, not the text. A good principle is to lead with the types the New Testament itself names, and to treat others more cautiously.
The critics’ view
Critical scholars argue that typology is a Christian reading imposed on the Old Testament, which in its own context was about Israel, not Jesus. Jewish readers, for example, don’t see the bronze serpent as pointing to a crucified Messiah.
Christians respond that the New Testament writers didn’t claim the original authors consciously predicted Jesus in each case, but that God shaped Israel’s history so its patterns find their fullest meaning in him. Jesus himself is presented as teaching this reading (Luke 24:27, 44).
Where they meet
Jesus and the apostles themselves point to types: Jonah (Matthew 12:40), the bronze serpent (John 3:14) and the Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). Some proposed types are stretched, so it is best to lead with the ones the New Testament names.
What’s still open
How far typology should be extended beyond the New Testament’s own examples.
Bottom line
Jesus and the apostles point to these themselves: Jonah (Matthew 12:40), the bronze serpent (John 3:14), the Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). Some proposed “types” are stretched, so lead with the ones the New Testament names. This is rated Debated.