Dictionary Definition
antitype
Noun
1 a person or thing represented or foreshadowed
by a type or symbol; especially a figure in the Old Testament
having a counterpart in the New Testament
2 an opposite or contrasting type [ant: type]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
Noun
antitype- Something that is symbolized or represented by a type.
Extensive Definition
- For other types of typology see typology.
The development of this as a systematic view of
the Hebrew Bible
was influenced by the thought of the Hellenistic Jewish world
centered on Alexandria,
where Philo
and others viewed the Bible in Platonic terms as
essentially an allegory. The system was
Christianised by Origen, and spread
by figures including Saint Hilary
and Saint
Ambrose. Saint
Augustine recalled often hearing Ambrose say that "the letter
kills but the spirit gives life" and he in turn was a hugely
influential proponent of the system, though also insisting on the
literal historical truth of the Bible. Isidore
of Seville and Rabanus
Maurus were influential as summarizers and compilers of works
setting out standardized interpretations of correspondences and
their meanings.
Typology was very frequently expressed in art;
many typolological pairings are found in sculpture on cathedrals
and churches, and in other media. Popular illustrated works
expounding typological couplings were among the commonest books of
the late Middle Ages, as illuminated
manuscripts, blockbooks, and incunabula (early printed
books). The two most successful compilations were the
Speculum Humanae Salvationis and the Biblia
pauperum.
One example of typology is the story of Jonah and the fish
from the Old Testament. Medieval allegorical interpretation of this
story holds that it prefigures Christ's burial, the stomach of the
fish being Christ's tomb: as Jonah was freed from the whale after
three days, so did Christ rise from His tomb after three days, see
also Bible verse |Matthew|12:38–42, , Bible verse |Luke|11:29–32.
Indeed, Jonah called the belly of the fish "She'ol," the land of
the dead, translated "the grave" in the NIV. Thus, whenever one
finds an allusion to Jonah in Medieval art
or Medieval
literature, it is usually an allegory for the burial and
resurrection of Christ. Another common typological allegory entails
the four major Old testament prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
Daniel
prefiguring the four Evangelists Matthew,
Mark,
Luke,
and John,
or the twelve tribes of Israel foreshadowing the twelve apostles. There was no end to
the number of analogies that commentators could find between
stories of the Old Testament and the New.
Other examples of types in the Bible:
- While in the wilderness, Moses put a brazen serpent (a symbol of evil) on a pole which would heal anyone bitten by a snake who looked at it (Numbers 21:8). Jesus proclaimed that the serpent, was a type of Himself, since "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14) and "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2Co 5:21)
- In a battle with the Amalekites, Exodus 17:11 states that "[a]s long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning." Commentators interpret Moses' raised hands as a type of Jesus' raised hands upon the Cross, for when Jesus' hands were raised as He died, a figurative battle with sin was waged, the end result being victory - that "all will be made alive." (1 Cor. 15:22)
See also
- Anagoge
- Allegory in the Middle Ages
- Showbread - early examples and background of the Temple Showbread as a type.
- Correspondence - typology of Emanuel Swedenborg.
References
External links
antitype in Danish: Typologi (Bibelen)
antitype in German: Typologie (Bibel)
antitype in Interlingua (International Auxiliary
Language Association): Typologia
antitype in Swedish: Typologi (teologi)
antitype in Chinese: 预表