The Types of Christ · The Persons
Types of Christ: Joseph & Joshua
Two men in the Old Testament keep reminding readers of Jesus — one because his life rhymeswith Christ’s, and one because he has Christ’s name. This page keeps those two things apart, because they are not the same kind of evidence.
Joseph — What the Text Says
— the beats, not the retellingTHE ARTWORKUrbain Bourgeois paints the moment at the top of this page that everything else on it turns on: not the coat, not the pit, not the palace — the room where Joseph tells his brothers who he is. That scene is the reason the church has read this story the way it has for seventeen centuries, and it is also the scene Stephen singles out in Acts 7.
A father’s favourite, a coat, and two dreams the family could not stand. A pit, a caravan, twenty pieces of silver. A house in Egypt, a false accusation, a prison. Then dreams again, and a man who reads them is put over the whole land in a single afternoon. Then famine, and the brothers arrive at the door of a governor they do not recognise.
The story itself has its own page. What this page is after is narrower: what the New Testament makes of it, and what the church has made of it on its own initiative.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.The love and the hatred stated in two verses — the seed of everything that follows.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the robe of many colors he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it. And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed. So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.The coat stripped, the pit, and the price: twenty pieces of silver.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” Pharaoh also told Joseph, “I hereby place you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck. He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.”Out of the prison and onto the second chariot — the whole land under his hand in one scene.
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household soon heard of it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But they were unable to answer him, because they were terrified in his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.“I am Joseph” — the room emptied of everyone else before he says it.
As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.The sentence that holds the whole book together: they planned it, and God planned it.
One word carries Genesis 50:20 on its own. The verb rendered “planned” or “meant” occurs twice in the same verse — once with the brothers as the subject, once with God. Nothing in the sentence changes except who is doing the planning.
chashav (h2803) → — 124 occurrences canon-wide; two of them in Genesis 50:20.
Acts 7 — The New Testament's Own Reading
— the only inspired handling of Joseph there is, and it is not the parallel chartStephen is on trial for his life, and the speech he gives is a history lesson. Joseph is verses 9 to 16. Moses is verses 17 to 43. And the hinge is verse 35: “ThisMoses whom they refused… the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer.” Stephen is not drawing a portrait of Christ out of Joseph’s biography. He is showing a pattern: God sends a deliverer, his own people refuse him, and God sends him again. Joseph is beat one.
Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household. Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food. When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.Envy, the selling, God with him, the exaltation, the famine, the sending — and “at the second time.”
Two things in those six verses do real work later on this page. First, the motive is named, and it is not the brothers’ version of events: envy. Second, the recognition scene is given a phrase — “at the second time” — and the same speech applies that shape to Moses eighteen verses later. Then Stephen lands the whole pattern where he has been going all along, on the Just One (Acts 7:52), and they stone him for it.
This is a strong reading, and it is the inspired one. It simply is not the parallel chart, and the difference matters enough to spend the next section on.
Stephen, the First MartyrThe whole sermon, the trial, and the face like an angel's — the setting Acts 7 belongs to."And the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt." Here again, the type of Christ. Though they had no fault to find with him, and though he came on purpose to bring them their food, they thus ill-treated him. Still here again the promise, though it is a long while first, receives its fulfillment. "And the patriarchs," he says, "moved with envy." Where it does no harm, he humors them: for they prided themselves much on these also.
John Chrysostom· Homily on Acts 16, 407Church Father
Acts 7:9
"They sold Joseph into Egypt." Not knowing of any fault in their brother, they treated him so badly, and moreover at the time when he had come to them with food for them, and by their action they furthered the prophecy without realizing it, involuntarily …
Theophylact of Ohrid· Commentary on Acts, 1107Eastern Orthodox
Acts 7:9
Chrysostom says “the type of Christ” in his own voice — a preacher in 407, not the text of Acts. That is exactly the distinction this page is built to keep visible, and it is why he is quoted here rather than paraphrased.
The Attestation Ledger
— nine parallels, each scored for what actually backs itThe attestation ledger
Nine parallels between Joseph and Christ, each scored for what actually backs it. The score is not an opinion about whether the parallels are worth having — it is a record of who said what.
0
times the New Testament calls Joseph a type of Christ
4
parallels resting on something Stephen states as fact in Acts 7
5
parallels the church has drawn, with no New Testament text behind them
- Church tradition
Genesis 37:3 → Matthew 3:17
1.The father's beloved son
No New Testament text draws this line. It is read, and it is old, and it is a reading.
- Stated in Acts 7
Genesis 37:4-11 → John 1:11; Acts 7:52
2.Envied and rejected by his brothers
Stephen says it outright — “the patriarchs, moved with envy” (Acts 7:9) — and makes it beat one of a rejection pattern that ends at the Just One. The strongest row here.
- Church tradition
Genesis 37:28 (twenty) → Matthew 26:15 (thirty)
3.Sold for silver
And the amounts differ. Matthew's own proof-text for the thirty is Zechariah 11:12-13, not Genesis 37.
- Church tradition
Genesis 39:11-20 → Matthew 26:59-61
4.Falsely accused, condemned though innocent
A real likeness in the two stories. No apostle points at it.
- Church tradition
Genesis 40:20-22 → Luke 23:39-43
5.Two prisoners: one restored, one executed
One of the parallels preachers reach for most, and one of the ones the New Testament never touches.
- Stated in Acts 7
Genesis 41:39-44 → Acts 2:33; Philippians 2:9
6.Raised from prison to the right hand of the throne
Stephen states the exaltation (Acts 7:10). Applying it to Christ is an inference drawn from it, not a claim he makes.
- Stated in Acts 7
Genesis 41:57; 45:7 → John 4:42
7.Saviour of the nations through famine
The famine and the sending are Stephen's own words (Acts 7:11-14). Calling Joseph a saviour of the nations is the tradition's phrase, not his.
- Church tradition
Genesis 50:20 → Acts 2:23
8.“Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good”
No apostle cites Genesis 50:20 of the cross. But Peter makes the identical move about it at Pentecost — the logic is apostolic even where the citation is not.
- Stated in Acts 7
Genesis 45:1-4 → Romans 11:25-26; Zechariah 12:10
9.Made known to his brothers at the second time
“At the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren” (Acts 7:13). Stephen's twice-pattern is the inspired structure; reading Israel's future into it is a further step, taken here as a step.
The same ledger, for Joshua
Numbers 13:16 → Hebrews 4:8
Joshua and Jesus have the same name, and Hebrews argues from it
This is not a resemblance somebody noticed. Hebrews 4:8 uses the name, says the rest Joshua gave was not the rest, and draws the conclusion in the next verse. One row, and it is the New Testament’s own.
Read the two panels together and the page’s point is visible in one glance. Joseph and Joshua are both called types of Christ, and they are not the same kind of evidence.
None of this makes the tradition worthless. It makes it a tradition— and the fathers who built it said so themselves. Caesarius of Arles introduces the whole reading with the words “mystical or allegorical interpretation.” He is not claiming Genesis says it. He is telling his congregation what kind of reading he is about to give them.
According to a mystical or allegorical interpretation Joseph prefigured a type of our Lord. Now if we consider the actions of Joseph, at least in part, we clearly recognize in him an obvious figure of the Lord. Joseph had a multicolored tunic; our Lord and …
Caesarius of Arles· Sermon 93.3, 542Church Father
Genesis 37:3
The artwork
Cornelius paints the hinge of ledger row 6: the prisoner is still dressed as a prisoner, and the court is already leaning towards him. The painter has done what the ledger asks a reader to do — he has kept the two states in one frame instead of collapsing them, so you can see the exaltation happening rather than assume it.
Peter von Cornelius, Joseph Interpreting Pharaoh's Dreams (1816) — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Row 3, in the fathers' own mouths: twenty is not thirtyGenesis 37:28 · Matthew 26:15 · Zechariah 11:12-13
The most-preached Joseph parallel has a problem in it, and the two earliest writers to notice it did not smooth it over. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces; Christ for thirty. Chromatius turns the mismatch into a point about worth; Jerome turns it into a point about metal. Neither pretends the numbers match, and neither claims Genesis was aiming at Matthew.
Let us observe a great mystery: for Joseph twenty pieces of gold were given, for the Lord thirty pieces of silver. The servant was sold at a higher price than the Master. To be sure people are wrong in fixing the price of the Lord, …
Chromatius of Aquileia· Sermon 24.4, 406Church Father
Genesis 37:28
(Verse 28) And the Ishmaelites sold Joseph for twenty silver coins. In Hebrew, silver coins are used instead of gold coins. For the Lord should not be sold for a lesser metal than Joseph.
Jerome· Hebrew Questions on Genesis, 420Church Father
Genesis 37:28
And there is a harder fact behind the mismatch. Matthew does cite an Old Testament text for the thirty pieces — but it is Zechariah 11:12-13, not Genesis 37. The evangelist had a proof-text in hand and it was not this one. Saying that plainly is stronger than pretending otherwise, and it costs the page nothing.
The price in Genesis is floor-verified: kesef (h3701) → — 403 occurrences canon-wide, once in Genesis 37:28.
Where Scripture is silent, and it is silencewhat the text never says
Genesis never tells the reader that Joseph knew he was a picture of anybody. It never says the twenty pieces were chosen to foreshadow thirty. It never calls him a type — the word typos is used in the New Testament of Adam (Romans 5:14), not of Joseph.
Silence is not a gap to be filled. It is information, and this page names it rather than paving over it. What Genesis does say, in Joseph’s own mouth, is Genesis 50:20 — and there the reader is on ground the apostles walked too, because Peter makes the same move about the cross at Pentecost (Acts 2:23).
This does not make sin the less sinful, nor sinners the less punishable, but it redounds greatly to the glory of God's wisdom. He assures them of the continuance of his kindness to them: Fear not;
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
Genesis 50:20
Row 9: the recognition scene, and where it pointsGenesis 45:1-4 · Acts 7:13 · Romans 11:25-26
Joseph clears the room before he speaks. Ambrose, preaching in 397, hears Christ in both halves of the scene — the emptied room and the two words. Henry hears the same thing and says why the room had to be emptied. Both are reading; both are worth reading.
And Joseph ordered all to withdraw so that he could be recognized by his brothers. For, even as Jesus said, he had not come except to the lost sheep that were the lost of the house of Israel. And lifting up his voice with weeping he said, "I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?" This means, Jesus stretched out his hands to an unbelieving and contradicting people, for he did not seek an envoy or messenger but, as their very Lord, desired to save his own people.
Ambrose of Milan· On Joseph 12.67, 397Church Father
Genesis 45:3
"Come to me," because I have come near to you, yes, even so far that I made myself a sharer in your nature by taking on flesh. At least do not flee a partaker of your fellowship, if you do not know the Author of your salvation. "And they came to him, and he said, 'I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
Ambrose of Milan· On Joseph 12.68-69, 397Church Father
Genesis 45:4
The private conversations of friends are the most free. When Joseph would put on love he puts off state, and it was not fit his servants should be witnesses of this. Thus Christ graciously manifests himself and his loving-kindness to his people, out of the sight and hearing of the world.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
Genesis 45:1
Stephen’s phrase for the same scene is “at the second time.” Where readers have taken that further — to a day when Israel recognises her own — the step is a step, and it is taken from a text Scripture does supply (Zechariah 12:10). Two pages carry that thread and this one hands it to them.
Joshua — The Same Name
— not a resemblance a preacher found; the same wordNumbers 13:16 records a renaming, almost in passing. Moses calls Hoshea son of Nun Yehoshua. In Greek that name is Iēsous— and the Septuagint, Josephus, Philo, Stephen and the writer to the Hebrews all spell it exactly the way they spell the name of Jesus, because it is the same name. The King James translators knew it, and at Hebrews 4:8 they printed “Jesus” and meant Joshua.
These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.The renaming itself, buried in a list of spies: Hoshea becomes Yehoshua.
And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David,Stephen says Iēsous and means Joshua — six verses before he says it and means Jesus.
One Greek word, four places, two English names
Strong’s g2424 stands in all four. The English changes because the translator decided which man was meant; the Greek never changed at all.
For if Jesus had given them rest - It is truly surprising that our translators should have rendered the Ιησους of the text Jesus, and not Joshua, who is most clearly intended. They must have known that the יהושע Yehoshua of the Hebrew, which we write Joshua, is everywhere rendered Ιησους, Jesus, by the Septuagint; and it is their reading which the apostle follows.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Methodist
Hebrews 4:8
For if Jesus had given them rest,.... That is, Joshua; for Hosheah, Joshua, and Jesus, are one and the same name; or Jesus himself, as two of Stephens's copies read; and so Joshua is called Jesus by the Septuagint interpreters on Exo 17:10 and other places where he is mentioned; and also, by Josephus (h), and Philo (i) the Jew.
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament, 1748Particular Baptist
Hebrews 4:8
Answer to the objection which might be made to his reasoning, namely, that those brought into Canaan by Joshua (so "Jesus" here means, as in Ac 7:45) did enter the rest of God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
Hebrews 4:8
Brought in with Jesus - That is, with Joshua, whom the Greek version, quoted by St. Stephen, always writes Ιησους, Jesus, but which should constantly be written Joshua in such cases as the present, in order to avoid ambiguity and confusion. Possession of the Gentiles - Των εθνων, of the heathens, whom Joshua conquered, and gave their land to the children of Israel.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Methodist
Acts 7:45
Clarke calls the King James rendering “truly surprising.” Gill states the identity flatly and lists his witnesses. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown route it through Acts 7:45 in half a sentence. Four commentators from four traditions, and none of them is arguing for a resemblance — they are all explaining a word.
The Rest Joshua Could Not Give
— Hebrews 4 — he brought them in, and it was not the restJoshua did the thing he was sent to do. The nation crossed, the land was taken, the inheritance was divided. And then Hebrews makes an argument out of the calendar: four hundred years after Joshua finished, David was still writing “today, if you will hear His voice” (Psalm 95). If the rest had been the land, the invitation would have closed. It did not close. So the land was not it.
That is the New Testament drawing the typology itself, in its own words, with the name doing the work. Nothing on this page needs to be argued for Joshua the way it had to be scored for Joseph.
This verse indirectly establishes the obligation of the Sabbath still; for the type continues until the antitype supersedes it: so legal sacrifices continued till the great antitypical Sacrifice superseded it, As then the antitypical heavenly Sabbath-rest will not be till Christ, our Gospel Joshua, comes, to usher us into it, the typical earthly Sabbath must continue till then.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
Hebrews 4:9
“Our Gospel Joshua” is the phrase worth carrying away. The same note also argues a case about Sabbath obligation, which is a real question with real holders on both sides — and it is not this page’s question. Read the phrase here; the Sabbath argument belongs where it can be given both hearings.
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.The name, the argument, and the conclusion: there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
Now after the death of His servant Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, you and all these people, and cross over the Jordan into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel. I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses. Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates—all the land of the Hittites—and west as far as the Great Sea. No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give these people the inheritance of the land that I swore to their fathers I would give them.The commission itself — Moses is dead, and the man with the name is told to go over.
Two Scenes Around the Name
— the Captain with the drawn sword, and the third JoshuaThe Captain of the LORD’s host
Before Jericho, Joshua meets a man with a drawn sword and asks whose side he is on. The answer is neither. Then Joshua falls on his face and worships — and is not rebuked, which no angel in Scripture ever allows — and is told to take off his sandals, in the words Moses heard at the bush.
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as Commander of the LORD’s army.” Then Joshua fell facedown in reverence and asked Him, “What does my Lord have to say to His servant?” The Commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.The drawn sword, the worship that is not refused, and the holy ground.
What is it that Jesus [Joshua] teaches us through this? That, doubtless, which the apostle says: "Do not believe every spirit, but test if it is from God." Therefore, Jesus [Joshua] recognized not only something from God but that which is God; for certainly he would not have worshiped unless he had recognized God. For who else is chief of the army of the powers of God except our Lord Jesus Christ?
Origen of Alexandria· Homilies on Joshua 6.2, 253Church Father
Joshua 5:14
To Abraham in his tent he appeared as a traveller; to Joshua in the field as a man of war. Christ will be to his people what their faith expects and desires. Christ had his sword drawn, which served, (1.) To justify the war Joshua was engaging in, and to show him that it was of God, who gave him commission to kill and slay.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
Joshua 5:13
Now, grasp the mystical meaning of Holy Writ. As long as we are walking through the wilderness, it is necessary that we wear sandals to cover and protect our feet, but when we shall have entered the Land of Promise, we shall hear with Jesus [Joshua], the son of Nave [Nun]: "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place upon which you are standing is holy."
Jerome· Homily on the Exodus 91, 420Church Father
Joshua 5:15
The third Joshua
Zechariah sees a high priest named Joshua standing in filthy garments, with the adversary at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD rebukes the accuser, the garments come off, clean ones go on, and the priest is told a servant called the Branch is coming. Lactantius, writing around 325, reads the scene as messianic — and his reason is the name, because in the Greek text he is reading, the high priest’s name is Iēsous. It is the same move Hebrews makes, made a century and a half later by a Latin apologist.
Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?” Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”The accuser at the right hand, the filthy garments, and the change of clothing.
Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch. See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.“Behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch” — said to the priest named Joshua.
But who this was about to be, to whom God promised an everlasting priesthood, Zechariah most plainly teaches, even mentioning His name: "And the Lord God showed me Jesus the great Priest standing before the face of the angel of the Lord, and the adversary was standing at His right hand to resist Him. And the Lord said unto the adversary, The Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; and lo, a brand plucked out of the fire.
Lactantius· The Divine Institutes, Book 4, Chapter 14, 325Church Father
Zechariah 3:1-4
Three men, one name. A commander who brings a people into a land that turns out not to be the rest; a priest who is stripped of filthy garments he did not choose and given clean ones he did not earn; and the One both of them are named after.
Read the Great Books
— the writers quoted above, in their own handsCommentary on the Bible
Adam Clarke · 1832
The Hebrews 4:8 note quoted above is Clarke at his most useful: a translator's complaint, stated plainly, that turns out to be the key to the passage.
READ IT FREE AT CCEL →Homilies on Joshua
Origen of Alexandria · c. 250
The oldest sustained Christian reading of the book of Joshua there is, and the source of nearly every later 'Jesus [Joshua]' gloss.
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Matthew Henry · 1710
For the recognition scene and the man with the drawn sword. Henry is devotional and knows it, which makes him a good witness to what the tradition actually claims.
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Lactantius · c. 325
Book 4 chapter 14 is the third leg of the name study — Zechariah's high priest read as messianic, from a Greek text where his name is Iēsous.
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