Preview

The Typological Symbol of the Lamb in the Bible

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1691 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Typological Symbol of the Lamb in the Bible
From the earliest times of human being, images and symbols were a part of social and religious life and integrated its culture. Symbolism has played an active role in all world‘s religions from the beginning and symbols were objects which believers focused on and where they set prayers. The word symbol comes from the Greek word symbollo. Symbol is defined as "something visible that by association represents something else that is invisible.“ The origin, meaning and traditions of Christian symbols originate in the old times when people cannot read and write and education was not accessible.
One of the most important symbols of Christ in the Bible is the Lamb. Lamb represents Jesus ("And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!" John 1:36) and the Church ("...he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." Isaiah 53:7).
What are the definition and the meaning of the Lamb? In the Bible, lambs are depicted as animals which are killed. They are defenceless and easy to be hurt. People, who were undergoing hard conditions and suffering from brutal treatment, were compared to lambs that are led to be slaughtered. A lamb is a descendant of a sheep. In Christian symbolism, a lamb represents Jesus Chris, a descendant of God His Father. The whiteness of the Lamb symbolises innocence and purity. Lambs won’t hurt anyone. They are moderate, inquisitive and submissive. They take a good care for their own as well as the rest of the group and are always seen together. Jesus came from his Father to teach us how to act and how to be. Using parables, he was explaining what God is like and what we should be like. Jesus was explaining His love against people, His desire to be our fellow and comparing us to lambs and sheep, He was demonstrating His will to group us all into His Church. He called himself a Lamb, which was slaughtered for our sins and purified us with His blood.
Old Testament

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Symbols are small elements that formulate the themes of the books. Authors used them to disguise the themes otherwise, the story may loose it's drill. Also symbols allow the reader to interpret the ideas based on their perspective. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury explains the idea of knowledge and ignorance through a set of symbolic…

    • 55 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the Israelites were liberated from slavery in Egypt, the celebration of the Passover was created as represented in the Gospel Mark 14:1-26. Jesus and his disciples were Jewish men. He chose the Passover time to reveal to his death because then they would understand the symbolism and how his sacrifice would free their sins like Moses freed the Israelites. The gospels mark 14:1-26 represents how Jesus is observing the important aspect of the Passover feast because in the feast, Jesus blesses some unleavened bread representing his body (the bread had no yeast like Jesus had no sin) and the wine representing his blood which he then asks the men to take it in memory of him. In modern day Christian mass, Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A symbol is a thing, person, or place that is presented as a representation of a larger mean. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, as the story unravels, the objects which the boys encounter are decoded to provide a deeper meaning. Golding uses symbolism to expose that an item is more powerful than it first seems.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blake Archetypes

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Yin-Yang (Three messages from Blake’s Archetypes) With the Yin-yang symbol for people it has the thought of a lamb and a tiger. The Lamb has a gentle, innocent kind of outlook to it and the tiger has a fierce, outgoing look to it. They are completely different animals in every way but they complete each other because life has a perfect balance to it with both animals. In Blake’s archetypes they talk about how the lamb is for christianity and shows the goodness in people's life. The tiger that Blake writes about is talking about the strength that people can have when they do not have good experiences.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or…

    • 690 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of symbol to express human understandings of God is useful because it can hold a deeper meaning than can be described using words. The Christian symbol of the crucifix for example, reminds people of Jesus’ death on the cross, but the deeper meaning that can be gotten from this is the idea of Jesus’ as a sacrifice he made for our sins.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Symbols are presented in most religions. “Water, for instance is used in all sorts of religious rituals: Hindus bathe in the Ganges River; Christians use water for baptisms; Jews use water for ritual purification; and Muslims, and followers of Shinto wash before prayer” (Molloy, 2010). p. 8 Symbols are concrete, ordinary, and universal that helps human beings to represent, and experience something of a greater complexity. For example, water represent spiritual cleaning, a mountain, strength, the sun, health; and a circle, eternity. Symbolism can be define as both…

    • 1821 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    -Jesus taught people by parables. Jesus told his people about farmers who sow his seed. Scattering the seeds, some fell on the path and some fell in a rocky place with no soil. It bloomed fast. The sun dried them out. The plants died because of a lack of soil. Some plants grow creating weeds. The plants then died because the weeds stopped the growth of the plants. Other seeds had fallen on good soil areas. This helped the plants grow well for the farmers allowing them to harvest from these plants. Jesus was the farmer and the seed represents good news, seeds being scattered in different places represents different individuals.…

    • 111 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Stenberger, A., & Kellum, L. (2012). Chapter 1. In The Lion and the Lamb: New Testament essentials from the…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In The Bible

    • 1718 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Symbolism is used all throughout the Bible. Everything in the Bible has a significant meaning and a purpose. Symbolism helps create understanding and depth. It can help make the theme of a story become clearer. Themes alone can sound preachy, and stories alone can sound shallow. Symbolism weaves the two together to create a perfect balance. Symbols are usually used to describe something complex, Jesus used symbols so we could understand his preaching’s. God’s journey with the Israelites is one of the greatest epics ever written. In all good tales symbolism is often used. Both in the old and new testaments three things are often used as symbols; the vine, the olive tree, and the fig tree. These three things come together…

    • 1718 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Feast of Tabernacles

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Feast of Tabernacles also follows the Day of Atonement – the day when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies with the sin offering. Jesus was referred to as a lamb by John the Baptist, “the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)([4]). His blood sacrifice would be poured on the alter and the temple veil would tear and annual offerings would no longer be needed.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Lamb

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages

    William Blake is inspired to write this poem in which the central purpose or theme is to identify who the Lamb is and its origins, by formulating a series of questions, and to describe its characteristics and personality by portraying its awesome attributes. The World English Dictionary defines Lamb as: “1. A young, immature sheep, especially under a year old and without permanent teeth; 2. Somebody who is meek, gentle, and mild, especially a baby or a small child; 3. Someone who is easily deceived or cheated; 4. Like a Lamb to the slaughter calmly and without resistance going to face something unpleasant or dangerous.” It is clearly noted by the author’s figurative language that the poem is symbolic and allegoric—having the Lamb’s description a second meaning beneath the surface one, conveying connotations beyond what is expressed, and an ulterior meaning as major interest. “Little Lamb who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee?” The poem appears to be written in a form of Sonnet in a Petrarchan style with two stanzas. The first of eight lines…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Lamb

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In Blake’s poem “The Lamb” it has two main themes childhood and spiritual development. Throughout the poem Blake writes about a creator and innocence. The poem begins with a child asking a simple question of “Little Lamb who made thee”? (pg.134) As children we have all asked this question wanting to know where did we come from or how did we get here? Even after many years scientist and bible scholars still argue over this issue. The child in the poem wonders how the lamb got its wool coat and how it survives outdoors in the elements. He knows it is not by chance or luck. The child thinks that it must be someone greater who created him and the lamb.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the Grimm's version of the story, Snow-white is depicted as being "as white as snow, as red as blood and her hair was as black as ebony" (Grimm 249). Each of these hues has importance scripturally. The colors red and white connect to Jesus. "However your transgressions resemble red, they should be as white as snow; however if they are red like dark red, they might get to resemble fleece" (Isaiah 1:18 NIV) which unmistakably ties the color white with virtue and the color red with contamination and wickedness. In Christianity, Jesus is known as the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29 NIV) in that he yielded himself, similar to a lamb, to wash every distinctive individual clean of their transgressions, which makes them immaculate. The expression "the…

    • 201 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Norooz Research Paper

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages

    For example (Candle) is a symbol for light, (Qoran) is a symbol to pay attention to God, (Money) is a symbol for blessed, (Spand) is a symbol to avoid harm, (Rice) a symbol for welfare, (Water) a symbol for cleanliness, (Little red fish) bring people good luck, (Mirror) a symbol for cleanliness and gold metal a symbol for hope to have a good position in new…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays