Truth – Tyrannus

Truth

trooth (`emeth, emunah, primary idea of "firmness," "stability" (compare Exodus 17:12), hence "constancy," "faithfulness," etc.; the Septuagint's Apocrypha and the New Testament, aletheia (Romans 3:7), pistis (Romans 3:3); in adjectival and adverbial sense, "in truth," "of a truth," "faithful," etc.; alethos (Luke 21:3; John 6:14; John 7:40; 1 Thessalonians 2:13); alethinos (John 17:3); ontos (1 Corinthians 14:25); pistos (1 Timothy 3:1); in the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American), the American Standard Revised Version, as generally, "faithful"; Anglo-Saxon: treow, tryw with Teutonic stem, trau-, "to believe," "to keep faith"):

I. TERMS

II. GENERAL VIEW

1. Aspects of Truth

(1) Ontological

(2) Logical

(3) Moral

(4) Religious

2. Standards of Truth

3. Special Features in Biblical Writings

III. ANALYTICAL SUMMARY

1. Truth in God

2. Truth in Man

3. Truth in Religion

I. Terms.

The English word has developed and maintained the broadest, most general and varied usage, going beyond both Hebrew and Greek, which were already extended in connotation. It is possible to analyze and classify the special applications of the term almost indefinitely, using other terms to indicate specific meanings in special connections, e.g. loyalty (Judges 9:15); honesty (Exodus 18:21); fidelity (Deuteronomy 32:4); justice (Romans 2:2); uprightness (Isaiah 38:3); faith (Isaiah 26:2); righteousness (Psalms 85:10); reality (John 17:19); veracity (Genesis 42:16). It is unfortunate that translators have generally adhered to single terms to represent the original words. On the other hand, they have sometimes introduced words not represented in the original, and thus unduly limited the meaning. An example is Ephesians 4:15, where the original meaning "being true," i.e. in all respects, is narrowed to "speaking the truth."

II. General View.

No term is more familiar and none more difficult of definition.

With applications in every phase of life and thought the word has varying general senses which may be classified as:

1. Aspects of Truth:

(1) Ontological

Ontological truth, i.e. accurate and adequate idea of existence as ultimate reality. In this sense it is a term of metaphysics, and will be differently defined according to the type of philosophical theory accepted. This aspect of truth is never primary in Scripture unless in the question of Pilate (John 18:38). He had so far missed the profound ethical sense in which Jesus used the word that Jesus did not at all answer him, nor, indeed, does Pilate seem to have expected any reply to what was probably only the contemptuous thrust of a skeptical attitude. In Proverbs where, if at all, we might look for the abstract idea, we find rather the practical apprehension of the true meaning and method of life (23:23). Ontological reality and possible ideas of reality apprehending it are obviously presupposed in all Scripture. There is objective reality on which subjective ideas depend for their validity; and all knowing is knowledge of reality. There is also in the whole of Scripture a subjective idea, the product of revelation or inspiration in some form of working, that constitutes an ideal to be realized objectively. The Kingdom of God, for example, is the formative idea of Scripture teaching. In a definite sense the kingdom exists and still it is to be created. It must be kept in mind, however, that only vaguely and indirectly does truth have abstract, meta-physical meaning to the Biblical writers. For John it approaches this, but the primary interest is always concrete.

(2) Logical

Logical truth is expressive of the relation between the knower and that which is known, and depends upon the arrangement of ideas with reference to a central or composite idea. Truth in this sense involves the correspondence of concepts with facts. While this meaning of truth is involved in Scripture, it is not the primary meaning anywhere, save in a practical religious application, as in Ephesians 4:21; 1 John 2:4,1 John 2:21.

(3) Moral

Moral truth is correspondence of expression with inner conception. Taken in its full meaning of correspondence of idea with fact, of expression with thought and with intention, of concrete reality with ideal type, this is the characteristic sense of the word in the Scriptures. Here the aim of religion is to relate man to God in accordance with truth. In apprehension man is to know God and His order as they are in fact and in idea. In achievement, man is to make true in his own experience the idea of God that is given to him. Truth is thus partly to be apprehended and partly to be produced. The emphatically characteristic teaching of Christianity is that the will to produce truth, to do the will of God, is the requisite attitude for apprehending the truth. This teaching of Jesus in John 7:17 is in accord with the entire teaching of the Bible. Ephesians 1:18 suggests the importance of right attitude for learning, while 4:18 shows the effect of a wrong attitude in ignorance of vital truth.

(4) Religious

Religious truth is a term frequently met in modern literature, but it has no sound basis in reason and it has none at all in the Bible. All truth is ultimately religious and only in a superficial way can religious truth be spoken of as an independent conception. Least of all can religious truth and scientific truth be at variance.

2. Standards of Truth:

Philosophy has continuously tried to find tests for truth, and so has wrought out theories of knowledge--epistemologies, Not to go back into the Greek philosophy, we have in modern times such theories as (1) the Kantian, (2) the scholastic, (3) the Hegelian, (4) the pragmatic, (5) that of the "new realism"; and these include only such as may be defined with some clearness, for the tendencies of current thought have been toward confusion concerning all standards of truth and reality, and so toward widespread agnosticism and skepticism. This temper has, naturally, reacted on thinking in practical ethics and upon the sanctions of religion. There is thus in religion and morals a tendency to obscure the distinction between what is and what ought to be.

See AUTHORITY; ETHICS; PHILOSOPHY; RIGHT; SIN.

In the Bible, the known will of God is final for man as a standard of truth, not as arbitrary, but as expressive of God's nature. God's nature is all-comprehensive of fact and goodness, and so is, all and in all, the source, support and objective of all concrete being. The will of God thus reveals, persuades to and achieves the ideals and ends of complete existence. The term "truth" is sometimes, therefore, nearly equivalent to the revealed will of God.

3. Special Features in Biblical Writings:

(1) The Old Testament uses the term "truth" primarily of God and applies the principle to man. The practical objective is ever prominent.

(2) The Synoptic Gospels and Ac use the term chiefly in popular idiomatic phrases "of a truth," "in truth," "surely" (compare Luke 22:59; Acts 4:27). In Matthew 22:16 there is a more serious and comprehensive application, but it is in the flattering words of Pharisaic hypocrisy (compare Mark 12:14; Luke 20:21). To be sure, we are to understand that even in the phrases of common speech Jesus employed the term in all seriousness (Luke 4:25; Luke 9:27).

(3) In Paul the sense of divine faithfulness, as in the Old Testament, is occasionally met (Romans 3:3,Romans 3:7; Romans 15:8). Again the term emphasizes sincerity (1 Corinthians 5:8; 2 Corinthians 7:14). Generally it has direct or clearly implied reference to God's revelation in Jesus Christ with a view to redeeming men. In a general way the term is thus equivalent to the gospel, but there is never identification of the two terms (see Romans 2:8; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Timothy 3:15). In Galatians 2:5; Galatians 5:7, "the truth of the gospel" is its content in the purpose of God, in contrast with misconceptions of it: the true gospel as against false representations of the gospel.

(4) In the Johannine writings we find occasionally the emphatic phrase of genuineness (1 John 3:18; 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1) and emphatic reality (John 8:46; John 16:7). In Revelation we have "true" in the sense of trustworthy, because ultimately real or in accord with ultimate reality (3:7,14; 6:10; 15:3; 19:9,11, etc.). Generally, as in the Gospel, we approach more nearly than elsewhere in Scripture a metaphysical use, yet always with the practical religious end dominant. Truth is reality in relation to the vital interests of the soul. It is primarily something to be realized and done, rather than something to be learned or known. In the largest aspect it is God's nature finding expression in His creation, in revelation, in Jesus Christ in whom "grace and truth came" (John 1:17), and finally in man apprehending, accepting and practically realizing the essential values of life, which are the will of God (John 1:14; John 8:32; John 17:19; John 18:37 1 John 2:21; 1 John 3:19). Truth is personalized in Jesus Christ. He truly expresses God, presents the true ideal of man, in Himself summarizes the harmony of existence and becomes the agent for unifying the disordered world. Hence, He is the Truth (John 14:6), the true expression (Logos, John 1:1) of God. See the same idea without the terminology in Paul (Colossians 1:14 Colossians 2:9). Similarly, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth because His function is to guide into all truth (John 16:13; 1 John 2:27; 1 John 5:7).

(5) It is understood by many that in James, Peter, Hebrews, and possibly the Pastoral Epistles, the term connotes "the body of Christian teaching" (compare James 1:18; James 3:14; 1 Peter 1:22; 2 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 10:26; 1 Timothy 3:15). The use of the article here cannot be conclusive, and instead of "the body of Christian teaching," it seems more correct to understand the reality of life values as represented in the gospel plan of salvation and of living. In a general way this would include "the body of Christian teaching," but the reference would be less concrete. James is too early a writing to employ the term in this so specific a sense.

III. Analytical Summary.

1. Truth in God:

(1) Truth is presented in Scripture as a chief element in the nature of God (Psalms 31:5; Isaiah 65:16).

(2) But this quality is never given as an abstract teaching, but only as qualifying God in His relations and activities. So it is a guaranty of constancy (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalms 100:5; Psalms 146:6; James 1:17); especially a ground of confidence in His promises (Exodus 34:6; Psalms 91:4; Psalms 146:6); of right dealing with men without reference to any explicit pledges (Psalms 85:11; Psalms 89:14); a basis of security in the correctness of His teachings (Nehemiah 9:13; Psalms 119:142; Isaiah 25:1); of assurance within His covenant relations (Psalms 89:5; Isaiah 55:3).

(3) God's truth is especially noteworthy as a guaranty of merciful consideration of men. This is an important element in theology of the Old Testament, as it is a point guarded also in the New Testament (Psalms 25:10; Psalms 31:5; Psalms 61:7; Psalms 85:10; Psalms 98:3; John 3:16; Romans 3:23–26).

(4) Equally is the truth of God an assurance to men of righteous judgment in condemnation of sin and sinners (1 Samuel 15:29; Psalms 96:13; Romans 2:2,Romans 2:8). In general the truth of God stands for the consistency of His nature and guarantees His full response in all the relations of a universe of which He is the Maker, Preserver, and End.

2. Truth in Man:

As related to God in origin and obligation, man is bound morally to see and respond to all the demands of his relations to God and to the order in which he lives under God.

(1) Truthfulness in speech, and also in the complete response of his nature to the demand upon it, is urged as a quality to be found in man and is commended where found, as its lack is condemned. It is essential to true manhood. Here, as in the case of truth in God, truth is regarded as revealed in social relations and responsibilities. Truth is not merely in utterance, nor is it only response to a specific command or word, but lies in the response of the will and life to the essential obligations of one's being (Psalms 15:2; Psalms 119:30; Proverbs 12:19; Proverbs 23:23; Isaiah 59:4,Isaiah 59:14,Isaiah 59:15; Jeremiah 7:28; Jeremiah 9:3; Hosea 4:1; Romans 1:18,Romans 1:25; Ephesians 4:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:10,2 Thessalonians 2:12).

(2) Truth in man is in response to truth in God, and is to be acquired on the basis of a gift from God. This gift comes by way of teaching and also by way of the working of the Divine Spirit in the life of man. Highest truth in correspondence to ideal is possible only by the working of "the God of truth" in the spirit of the man. Man's freedom to realize his being is dependent upon his receptive attitude toward the Son of God. Hence salvation in its fullest idea is stated in terms of truth (John 11:3; Philippians 3:10 ff). See in general, Psalms 51:6; Isaiah 25:1; John 3:21; John 8:32; John 16:13; John 17:19; John 18:37; Ephesians 4:21,Ephesians 4:24; Ephesians 5:9; Hebrews 10:26; 1 John 2:27.

3. Truth in Religion:

The modern study of religion on an evolutionary hypothesis and the comparative study of religions have contributed to an extensive questioning whether there is any absolute truth in religion, or at least any standards by which truth in religion may be known. Isaiah 43:1–28 and 44 and Paul in Acts 17:1–34 and Galatians 3:1–29 accord with modern findings that there is an element of truth in religions generally, and that God's faithfulness pledges Him to bring the light of fuller truth to all men. This He does through the religion and the testimony of them to whom He has already come with this fuller light. This light is contained in the revealed word of the Old Testament prophets and of the New Testament witnesses to Jesus. In a definite way the Scriptures preserve these standards of religious truth. But always the attitude of the individual, as also of the group, determines the measure of apprehension of the truth and the certainty with which it is held. It is always important to keep in mind that truth in religion is not primarily an intellectualistic affair, to be cognized, but is essentially a voluntaristic experience and a duty to be done for the glory of God in the realization of the complete truth of God. Jesus Christ as the truth of God becomes the standard and test for truth in the religion of men. And this not in any objective and formal way of a series of propositions, to be accepted and contended for, but in the subjective way of experience, in a series of ideals to be realized and propagated. If anyone wishes to do God's will, he shall be able to decide the truth of religious teaching, and the Son who is true will give the freedom of truth (John 7:17; John 8:32).

William Owen Carver

Tryphaena

tri-fe'-na (Truphaina; the King James Version, Tryphena): Tryphaena is coupled with "Tryphosa"--among those members of the Christian community at Rome to whom Paul sends greetings (Romans 16:12). He describes them as those "who labor in the Lord." "The names, which might be rendered `Dainty' and `Disdain' (see James 5:5; Isaiah 66:11), are characteristically pagan, and unlike the description" (Denney). They were probably sisters or near relatives, for "it was usual to designate members of the same family by derivatives of the same root" (Lightfoot, Phil, 175). Both names are found in inscriptions connected with the imperial household, "Tryphosa" occurring more frequently than "Tryphaena."

S. F. Hunter

Tryphon

tri'-fon (Truphon): The surname of Diodotus, a usurper of the Syrian throne. He was a native of Apamea, and had been in the service of Alexander Balas. On the death of Balas (145 BC), Tryphon, taking advantage of the complaints of discontent among the troops of Demetrius II (Nicator), set up the younger son of Balas, Antiochus VI, as claimant to the throne against Demetrius (1 Macc 11:39). The Jews under Jonathan came to the assistance of Demetrius in his difficulties against his revolting subjects. But Demetrius, when confirmed on his throne, soon made it apparent that he did not intend to fulfill his promises to his Jewish allies (1 Macc 11:53). Consequently, Jonathan and Simon joined Tryphon and Antiochus VI, securing many advantages for their country (1 Macc 11:54 ff). Jonathan inflicted a severe defeat on the forces of Demetrius. The successes of the Jewish leaders awakened the jealousy and suspicion of Tryphon, who determined to thwart the further plans of Jonathan and to remove him as an obstacle in the way of his securing the crown for himself. By an act of shrewd treachery, Tryphon captured Jonathan at Ptolemais and butchered all his followers (1 Macc 12:48). Simon, brother of Jonathan, now undertook the conduct of affairs and thwarted Tryphon in his attempts upon Jerusalem, whereupon the latter murdered Jonathan at Bascama (1 Macc 13:1 ff) in 143 BC. Tryphon next murdered the young Antiochus VI (1 Macc 13:31) and claimed the throne of Syria for himself (143 BC) (but see the chronology as given in Schurer, HJP, 4th edition, I, 172). Simon now went over to the side of Demetrius on condition that Judea should be free from tribute to Syria--a privilege that was rather in the power of Tryphon than of Demetrius to give, and so "in the 170th year (143 BC) was the yoke of the heathen taken away from Israel" (1 Macc 13:41). In 138 BC Demetrius was captured by Mithridates I (Arsaces), king of Parthia (1 Macc 14:2). His brother, Antiochus VII (Sidetes), continued the struggle against Tryphon, first with the aid of Simon, but later repudiating it. Tryphon was obliged to flee before Sidetes to Dor (1 Macc 15:11), where Antiochus refused the assistance of Simon (1 Macc 15:26). He next escaped to Ptolemais, then to Orthosia, and finally to his native Apamea, where he was driven to suicide (Josephus, Ant, XIII, vii, 2; Strabo, 668; Appian, Syriac, 68). (The best account is given in Schurer, 4th edition, I, 172 ff; compare also Speaker's Commentary in the place cited.)

See ANTIOCHUS; DEMETRIUS.

S. Angus

Tryphosa

tri-fo'-sa (Truphosa): Greetings are sent by Paul to "Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord" (Romans 16:12).

See TRYPHAENA.

Tsadhe

tsa-tha' ("ts"): The eighteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and as such employed in Psalms 119:1–176 to designate the 18th part, every verse of which begins with this letter. It is transliterated in this Encyclopedia as "ts". It came also to be used for the number 90. For name, etc., see ALPHABET; TSADHE.

Tubal

tu'-bal (tubhal, tubhal; Septuagint Thobel, Codex Alexandrinus in Ezekiel 39:1, Thober): As the text stands, Tubal and Meshech are always coupled, except in Isaiah 66:19 (Massoretic Text) and Psalms 120:5. In the former passage Tubal is yoked with Javan; in the latter Meshech occurs in 120:5 and Kedar in 120:6. In Genesis 10:2 parallel, they are sons of Japheth. In Ezekiel (27:13) the two are mentioned as exporters of slaves and copper, as a warlike people of antiquity (32:26), in the army of Gog (38:2 ff; 39:1). Josephus identifies them with the Iberians and Cappadocians respectively; but they are most probably the Tibarenoi, and Moschoi, first mentioned in Herodotus iii.94 as belonging to the 19th satrapy of Darius, and again (vii.78) as furnishing a contingent to the host of Xerxes. Equally obvious is their identity with the Tabali and Muski of the Assyrian monuments, where the latter is mentioned as early as Tiglath-pileser I, and the former under Shalmaneser II; both are described as powerful military states. They appear together in Sargon's inscriptions; and during this entire period their territory must have extended much farther South and West than in Greek-Roman times. They are held (Winckler and Jeremias) to have been remnants of the old Hittite population which were gradually driven (probably by the Cimmerian invasion) to the mountainous district Southeast of the Black Sea.

Horace J. Wolf

Tubal-Cain

tu'-bal-kan (tubhal qayin): One of the sons of Lamech (Genesis 4:22). He is a brother of Jabal and Jubal, who appear to have been the founders of several industries and articles The text (loTesh kol choresh nechosheth u-bharzel) has been the cause of endless dispute. Holzinger and Gunkel hold that laTash was a marginal gloss to charash, and that, as in Genesis 4:20 and 21, there stood before kal originally hu hayah 'abhi. This would make Tubal-cain the founder of the metal industry, and place him in a class similar to that of his brothers. The Septuagint, however, has no equivalent of qayin. This omission leads Dillmann, Wellhausen, and others to the position that "Tubal" originally stood alone, and qayin, being a later addition, was translated "smith." Many commentators identify Tubal with the Assyrian Tubal, a people living Southwest of the Black Sea; in later times they were called "Tibareni" (Ezekiel 27:13). Tubal may be the eponymous ancestor of these people, whose principal industry seems to have been the manufacture of vessels of bronze and iron.

Horace J. Wolf

Tubias

tu'-bi-as (en tois Tobiou; the King James Version "in the places of Tobie," the Revised Version (British and American) "in the land of Tubias"): A place in Gilead where 1,000 men of the Jews were slaughtered by the Gentiles, their wives and children being carried away captive (1 Macc 5:13). It is identified with the land of TOB (which see).

Tubieni

tu-bi-e'-ni (pros tous legomenous Toubienous Ioudaious, "unto the Jews that are called Tubieni"): Men of TOB (which see) who had occupied the town of Charax (2 Macc 12:17).

Tumor

tu'-mer, tu'-mor (`ophel): the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes this word for "emerods" in 1 Samuel 5:12; 1 Samuel 6:4; Deuteronomy 28:27 margin.

See EMERODS.

Turban

tur'-ban (Leviticus 16:4 margin).

See DRESS, V.

Turpentine Tree

tur'-pen-tin.

See TEREBINTH.

Turtle-Dove

tur'-t'-l-duv.

See DOVE.

Tutor

tu'-ter: In modern English an "instructor," more particularly a private instructor, but the word properly means a "guardian." Hence its use in Galatians 4:2 the King James Version for epitropos, here "guardian" (so the Revised Version (British and American)), and 1 Corinthians 4:15; Galatians 3:24,Galatians 3:25 the Revised Version (British and American) for paidagogos.

See SCHOOLMASTER.

Twelve

twelv (shenem `asar; dodeka).

See APOSTLE; NUMBER.

Twelve Apostles, Gospels Of The

See APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS.

Twelve Patriarchs; Testaments Of The

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, sec. IV, 1.

Twelve Stars

See ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 12.

Twenty

twen'-ti.

See NUMBER.

Twilight

twi'-lit (nesheph): The twilight of Palestine is of short duration, owing to the low latitude, there being scarcely more than an hour between sunset and complete darkness. It is a distinct boundary between daytime and the darkness. The people of Palestine still give the time of an event as so many hours before or after sunrise or sunset: "David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day" (1 Samuel 30:17), and "They rose up in the twilight to go" (2 Kings 7:5). The word is evidenly used in the sense of darkness in "the stars of twilight" (Job 3:9) and "The adulterer waiteth for the twilight" (Job 24:15). the King James Version has "twilight" in Ezekiel 12:6 ff, but the Revised Version (British and American) has "dark."

Alfred H. Joy

Twin Brothers

(Acts 28:11).

See DIOSCURI.

Twine

twin (shazar, "to be twined"): The word is used in Exodus 26:1 ff; 36:8 ff, etc., of the "fine twined linen" used for the curtains and hangings of the tabernacle, and for parts of the priests' dress. It denotes linen the finely spun threads of which consisted of two or more smaller threads twined together.

See LINEN; TABERNACLE.

Two

too.

See NUMBER.

Tychicus

tik'-i-kus (Tuchikos, lit. "chance"): Mentioned 5 times in the New Testament (Acts 20:4; Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:12; Titus 3:12); an Asiatic Christian, a friend and companion of the apostle Paul.

(1) In the first of these passages his name occurs as one of a company of the friends of Paul. The apostle, at the close of his 3rd missionary journey, was returning from Greece through Macedonia into Asia, with a view to go to Jerusalem. This journey proved to be the last which he made, before his apprehension and imprisonment. It was felt, both by himself and by his friends, that this journey was a specially important one. He was on his way to Jerusalem, "bound in the spirit" (Acts 20:22). But another cause which gave it particular importance was that he and his friends were carrying the money which had been collected for several years previous in the churches of the Gentiles, for the help of the poor members of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 24:17). No fewer than eight of his intimate friends companied him into Asia, and one of these was Tychicus Luke uses the word "Asian" (English Versions of the Bible "of Asia," Acts 20:4) to describe Tychicus. He was with Paul at Troas, and evidently journeyed with him, as one of "Paul's company" (Acts 21:8 the King James Version), all the way to Jerusalem.

(2) The 2nd and 3rd passages in which the name of Tychicus occurs (see above) give the information that he was with Paul in Rome during his first imprisonment. In Colossians Paul writes, "All my affairs shall Tychicus make known unto you, the beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord: whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know our state, and that he may comfort your hearts" (4:7,8). In almost identical words he writes in Ephesians, "But that ye also may know my affairs, how I do, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know our state, and that he may comfort your hearts" (6:21,22).

Paul had entrusted Tychicus with a very important mission. He was to deliver the Epistle to the Ephesians, that is, "the circular letter" (see LAODICEANS, EPISTLE TO THE) to the churches in proconsular Asia, to which it was sent, giving a copy of it to the church in Laodicea. He was then to proceed to Colosse, with the Epistle to the church there. In Colosse Tychicus would plead the cause of Onesimus, who accompanied him from Rome. "Under his shelter Onesimus would be safer than if he encountered Philemon alone" (Lightfoot, Commentary on Colossians, 314). In Laodicea and Colosse Tychicus would not only deliver the Epistles from Paul, but he would also, as the apostle had written to the churches in those places, Communicate to them all information about his "state," that is, how things were going with him in regard to his appeal to the emperor, and his hope of being soon set at liberty. Tychicus would make known to them all things.

(3) The passages in the Epistles to Titus and to Timothy show that Tychicus was again with Paul, after the appeal to the emperor had resulted in the apostle regaining his freedom. The passage in Titus evidently refers to the interval between Paul's first and second Roman imprisonments, and while he was again engaged in missionary journeys. The apostle writes to Titus, who was in Crete in charge of the churches there, that he intended to send either Artemas or Tychicus to him, so as to take the oversight of the work of the gospel in that island, that Titus might be free to come to be with the apostle at Nicopolis.

(4) The last passage where Tychicus is mentioned occurs in 2 Timothy, which was written in Rome not long before Paul's execution. To the very end Paul was busy as ever in the work of the gospel; and though it would have been a comfort to him to have his friends beside him, yet the interests of the kingdom of Christ are uppermost in his thoughts, and he sends these friends to help the progress of the work. To the last, Tychicus was serviceable as ever: "Tychicus I sent to Ephesus" (4:12). As Timothy was in charge of the church in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3), the coming of Tychicus would set him free, so as to enable him to set off at once to rejoin Paul at Rome, as the apostle desired him (2 Timothy 4:9,2 Timothy 4:21).

It should also be noted that at Ephesus Tychicus would be able to visit his old friend Trophimus, who was, at that very time, only a few miles away, at Miletus, sick (2 Timothy 4:20).

It is possible that Tychicus is the brother referred to in 2 Corinthians 8:22,2 Corinthians 8:23 as one "whom we have many times proved earnest in many things .... (one of) the messengers of the churches .... the glory of Christ."

(5) The character and career of Tychicus are such as show him altogether affectionate, faithful and worthy of the confidence reposed in him by Paul, who, as already seen, sent him again and again on important work, which could be performed only by a man of ability and of high Christian worth and experience. Thus, all that is known regarding Tychicus fully bears out the description of his character given by the apostle himself, that he was a beloved brother, a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord.

John Rutherfurd

Type

tip:

1. Definition of Type

2. Distinctive Features

3. Classification of Types

4. How Much of the Old Testament Is Typical?

LITERATURE

The Bible furnishes abundant evidence of the presence of types and of typical instruction in the Sacred Word. The New Testament attests this fact. It takes up a large number of persons and things and events of former dispensations, and it treats them as adumbrations and prophecies of the future. A generation ago a widespread interest in the study of typology prevailed; latterly the interest has largely subsided, chiefly because of the vagaries and extravagances which attended its treatment on the part of not a few writers. Pressing the typical teaching of Scripture so far as to imperil the historical validity of God's word is both dangerous and certain to be followed by reaction and neglect of the subject.

1. Definition of Type:

The word "type" is derived from a Greek term tupos, which occurs 16 times in the New Testament. It is variously translated in the King James Version, e.g. twice "print" (John 20:25); twice "figure" (Acts 7:43; Romans 5:14); twice "pattern" (Titus 2:7; Hebrews 8:5); once "fashion" (Acts 7:44); once "manner" (Acts 23:25); once "form" (Romans 6:17); and 7 t example" (1 Corinthians 10:6,1 Corinthians 10:11; Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:9; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 Peter 5:3). It is clear from these texts that the New Testament writers use the word "type" with some degree of latitude; yet one general idea is common to all, namely, "likeness." A person, event or thing is so fashioned or appointed as to resemble another; the one is made to answer to the other in some essential feature; in some particulars the one matches the other. The two are called type and antitype; and the link which binds them together is the correspondence, the similarity, of the one with the other.

Three other words in the New Testament express the same general idea. One is "shadow" (skia, Hebrews 10:1), "For the law having a shadow of the good things to come"--as if the substance or reality that was still future cast its shadow backward into the old economy. "Shadow" implies dimness and transitoriness; but it also implies a measure of resemblance between the one and the other.

The 2nd term is "parable" (parabole, Hebrews 9:9); the tabernacle with its services was an acted parable for the time then present, adumbrating thus the blessed reality which was to come.

The 3rd term is "copy." or "pattern" (hupodeigma), a word that denotes a sketch or draft of something future. invisible (Hebrews 9:23); the tabernacle and its furniture and services were copies, outlines of heavenly things.

Types are pictures, object-lessons, by which God taught His people concerning His grace and saving power. The Mosaic system was a sort of kindergarten in which God's people were trained in divine things, by which also they were led to look for better things to come. An old writer thus expresses it: "God in the types of the last dispensation was teaching His children their letters. In this dispensation He is teaching them to put the letters together, and they find that the letters, arrange them as they will, spell Christ, and nothing but Christ."

In creation the Lord uses one thing for many purposes. One simple instrument meets many ends. For how many ends does water serve! And the atmosphere: it supplies the lungs, conveys sound, diffuses odors, drives ships, supports fire, gives rain, fulfills besides one knows not how many other purposes. And God's Word is like His work, is His work, and, like creation, is inexhaustible. Whatever God touches, be it a mighty sun or an insect's wing, a vast prophecy or a little type, He perfects for the place and the purpose He has in mind.

2. Distinctive Features:

What are the distinctive features of a type? A type, to be such in reality, must possess three well-defined qualities.

(1) It must be a true picture of the person or the thing it represents or prefigures. A type is a draft or sketch of some well-defined feature of redemption, and therefore it must in some distinct way resemble its antitype, e.g. Aaron as high priest is a rough figure of Christ the Great High Priest, and the Day of Atonement in Israel (Leviticus 16:1–34) must be a true picture of the atoning work of Christ.

(2) The type must be of divine appointment. In its institution it is designed to bear a likeness to the antitype. Both type and antitype are preordained as constituent parts of the scheme of redemption. As centuries sometimes lie between the type and its accomplishment in the antitype, of course infinite wisdom alone can ordain the one to be the picture of the other. Only God can make types.

(3) A type always prefigures something future. A Scriptural type and predictive prophecy are in substance the same, differing only in form. This fact distinguishes between a symbol and a type. A symbol may represent a thing of the present or of the past as well as of the future, e.g. the symbols in the Lord's Supper. A type always looks to the future; an element of prediction must necessarily be in it.

3. Classification of Types:

Another thing in the study of types should be borne in mind, namely, that a thing in itself evil cannot be the type of what is good and pure. It is somewhat difficult to give a satisfactory classification of Biblical types, but broadly they may be distributed under three heads:

(1) Personal types, by which are meant those personages of Scripture whose lives and experiences illustrate some principle or truth of redemption. Such are Adam, who is expressly described as the "figure of him that was to come" (Romans 5:14), Melchizedek, Abraham, Aaron, Joseph, Jonah, etc.

(2) Historical types, in which are included the great historical events that under Providence became striking foreshadowings of good things to come, e.g. the Deliverance from the Bondage of Egypt; the Wilderness Journey; the Conquest of Canaan; the Call of Abraham; Deliverances by the Judges, etc.

(3) Ritual types, such as the Altar, the Offerings, the Priesthood, the Tabernacle and its furniture. There are typical persons, places, times, things, actions, in the Old Testament, and a reverent study of them leads into a thorough acquaintance with the fullness and the blessedness of the word of God.

4. How Much of the Old Testament Is Typical?:

How much of the Old Testament is to be regarded as typical is a question not easily answered. Two extremes, however, should be avoided. First, The extravagance of some of the early Fathers, as Origen, Ambrose, Jerome (revived in our time by Andrew Jukes and his imitators). They sought for types, and of course found them, in every incident and event, however trivial, recorded in Scripture. Even the most simple and commonplace circumstance was thought to conceal within itself the most recondite truth. Mystery and mysticism were seen everywhere, in the cords and pins of the tabernacle, in the yield of herds, in the death of one, in the marriage of another, even in the number of fish caught by the disciples on the night the risen Saviour appeared to them--how much some have tried to make of that number, 153! The very serious objection to this method is, that it wrests Scripture out of the sphere of the natural and the historical and locates it in that of the arbitrary and the fanciful; it tends to destroy the validity and trustworthiness of the record.

Second, the undue contraction of the typical element. "Professor Moses Stuart expresses this view as follows: "Just so much of the Old Testament is to be accounted typical as the New Testament affirms to be so, and no more." This opinion assumes that the New Testament writers have exhausted the types of the Old Testament, while the fact is that those found in the later Scripture are but samples taken from the storehouse where many more are found. If they are not, then nothing is more arbitrary than the New Testament use of types, for there is nothing to distinguish them from a multitude of others of the same class. Further, the view assumes that divine authority alone can determine the reality and import of types--a view that applies with equal force against prophecy. This rule may be safely followed: wherever the three characteristics of types are found which have been already mentioned, there is the type.

Weighty are the words of one equally eminent for his piety as for his learning: "That the Old Testament is rich in types, or rather forms in its totality one type, of the New Testament, follows necessarily from the entirely unique position which belongs to Christ as the center of the history of the world and of revelation. As we constantly see the principle embodied in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, that the higher species are already typified in a lower stage of development, so do we find, in the domain of saving revelation, the highest not only prepared for, but also shadowed forth, by that which precedes in the lower spheres" (Van Oosterzee).

LITERATURE

P. Fairbairn, Typology of Scripture, 2 volumes; Angus, The Bible HandBook; Andrew Jukes, Law of Offerings in Leviticus; Mather, Gospel of Old Testament, Explanation of Types; McEwen, Grace and Truth: Types and Figures of the Old Testament; Soltau, Tabernacle, Priesthood and Offerings.

William G. Moorehead

Tyrannus

ti-ran'-us (Turannos): When the Jews of Ephesus opposed Paul's teaching in the synagogue, he withdrew, and, separating his followers, reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus. "This continued for the space of two years" (Acts 19:9,Acts 19:10). D Syriac (Western text) adds after Tyrannus (Acts 19:9), "from the 5th hour unto the 10th." Schole is the lecture-hall or teaching-room of a philosopher or orator, and such were to be found m every Greek city. Tyrannus may have been

(1) a Greek rhetorician or

(2) a Jewish rabbi.

(1) This is the common opinion, and many identify him with a certain Tyrannus, a sophist, mentioned by Suidas. Paul would thus appear to be one of the traveling rhetors of the time, who had hired such a hall to proclaim his own peculiar philosophy (Ramsay, Paul the Traveler, 246, 271).

(2) Meyer thinks that as the apostle had not passed wholly to the Gentiles, and Jews still flocked to hear him, and also that as Tyrannus is not spoken of as a proselyte (sebomenos ton Theon), this schole is the beth Midrash of a Jewish rabbi. "Paul with his Christians withdrew from the public synagogue to the private synagogue of Tyrannus, where he and his doctrine were more secure from public annoyance" (Meyer in the place cited.).

(3) Another view (Overbeck) is that the expression was the standing name of the place after the original owner.

S. F. Hunter