type, DOC
see, GOEL, PASSOVER, EXODUS
vet, The term redemption means “released, returned by payment of a ransom”. God, having passed judgment on the firstborn of the Egyptians, claimed the firstborn of the Israelites for his service (Ex. 13:2). After the episode of the golden calf, God chose the Levites instead of the firstborn (Num. 3:5-8, 12, 44-51; cf. Ex. 32:26-29). The extra firstborn who could not be replaced by the Levites were ransomed for a price; thus they were set free (Deut. 3:46-51). In the same way, alienated land or someone who had been sold for debt could be redeemed (Lev. 25:23, 24, 47, 54; see GOEL). The Israelites were redeemed from Egypt by the mighty power of God (Ex. 15:3; see PASSOVER, EXODUS). From there, the theme passes to the redemption of the soul or life, lost because of sin. Man cannot give God a ransom for his brother: because the redemption of the soul is of great price, and will never be achieved: that is, all hope of giving the ransom must be abandoned. The price is impossibly high for man (cf. Ps. 49:7-8). In the NT there are two terms that translate “redemption”: (a) “lutrosis”, and its derivatives, “apolutrosis” and the verb “Iutroõ”, “loosening, liberation, untying”, the liberation being indicated by the payment of a ransom, redemption, redeem. (b) “Exagorazõ”, “buy in a market”. Christ has redeemed believers from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13; 4:5). Christians are exhorted to redeem time, that is, to buy or secure every opportunity they can (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). A related term, “agorazõ”, is translated “to buy” in all the passages of the Reina-Valera version, except in 2 Pet. 2:1, “ransom”; Rev. 5:9, “redeemed” (and Rev. 14:3, 4 in the 1960 revision, “redeemed”). Actually, it should be translated with the verb “to buy”. The difference in concept is best appreciated in passages such as 2 Pet. 2:1, where one cannot say “redeemed”, because those mentioned are those who deny the rights of Christ, bringing sudden destruction upon themselves, even though they had been “bought”. Christ bought everything, but only believers are “redeemed.” Christians sometimes speak of “universal redemption” without really meaning this concept, not properly distinguishing between “buy” and “redeem.” In Eph. 1:14 both concepts are found: “the redemption of the acquired possession”. “Redemption” is sometimes used in the sense of the right or title to redeem (Ps. 130:7; Rom. 3:24); God has acquired this right with all justice in Christ, and by virtue of it he presents himself to man as the One who justifies. Thus, God secured redemption before man entered his sphere. Believers now enjoy it by faith, in the sense of the forgiveness of sins, in Christ, where the believer’s position is (Eph. 1:7). Thus, the believer is put into Christ, in whom he has redemption by his blood. As a result, redemption extends to the body (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 4:30) and to creation itself (cf. Eph. 8:19-21ff.). In its application, the term redemption denotes the power in which it is made effective, as well as the basis or condition on which it is based.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Although closely related to salvation, the word redemption is more specific, because it denotes the means by which salvation is achieved, namely, by the payment of a ransom. As in the case of salvation (see), it could mean a temporary, physical deliverance. In the OT, the main words are pāḏāh Y gāʾalwhich are usually translated lutroszai in the LXX, and occasionally rueszai. In the NT, lutroszai is the most used verb form, and nouns are lutrosis Y apolutrosis. Occasionally used agoradsein either exagoradsein, denoting the act of buying in the market, especially in the slave market. To express “rescue” are used lutron Y antilutron.
In ancient Israel, property and life could be redeemed by making the appropriate payment. Since the firstborn were saved from the last plague with which God visited Egypt, he had a special right over them, so that from then on the firstborn had to be redeemed by payment of money (Ex. 13:13–15) . In accordance with the legislation of the Pentateuch, if a man lost his inheritance because of a debt or was sold into slavery, he and his property could be redeemed if a close relative came forward to pay the redemption price (Lev. 25:25 –27, 47–54; cf. Ruth 4:1–12). On certain occasions, the kinsman redeemer was also the blood avenger (see Goel).
The deliverance of God’s people from Egypt is described as redemption (Ex. 6:6; 15:13), and God is called the Redeemer of Israel (Ps. 78:35). Here the emphasis might well be on the sheer display of power needed to accomplish this goal, strength that itself would serve as a ransom price. Again, God’s people are in captivity (Babylon); and again redemptive language is used in connection with deliverance from him (Jer. 31:11; 50:33, 34). The probable meaning of Isa. 43:3 is that Babylon’s victor and consequently Judah’s liberator, Cyrus, receives the promise of dominion in Africa, compensation for setting captive Judah free and restoring him to his inheritance in the West. Canaan.
The individual, too, is sometimes the object of God’s redemption, as in Job 19:25, where the sufferer expresses his trust in a living Redeemer who will vindicate him in due time, even though everything in the present situation seems to be to the contrary. Prov. 23:10, 11 presents the same general sense of thought.
It is rather surprising that the OT verbally associates so little the idea of redemption with sin. Ps. 130:8 contains the promise that Jehovah will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Isa. 59:20, which Paul cites in Ro. 11:26, says much about the same thing, but in more general terms (cf. Isa. 44:22). In Ps. 49:7 the impossibility of a person giving a ransom for his own life is emphasized. It is possible that the paucity of references to redemption from sin in the OT is due to the ever-present proclamation of redemption through a sacrificial system, making formal statements to that effect rather superfluous. Furthermore, redemption from the evils of life, such as from Babylonian captivity, inevitably carried with it the idea that God redeems from sin, because it was sin that caused the captivity (see Isa. 40:2).
The existence of numerous passages in the OT where redemption is presented with words that do not explicitly include the ransom element has led some scholars to conclude that redemption came to mean deliverance without any insistence on a ransom as a condition or basis. . The manifestation of God’s power in the deliverance of the people from him seems to be all the emphasis (cf. Deut. 9:26). But, on the other hand, there is no indication whatsoever in the sense of excluding a rescue. The idea of rescue could well be a factor taken for granted, and one that is kept in the background by the prominence that is wanted to give to the element of power needed for liberation.
This observation provides the necessary bridge to the NT’s use of redemption. Certain passages in the Gospels reflect this somewhat vague use of the word as suggesting divine intervention on behalf of God’s people, without specific reference to a ransom to be paid (Luke 2:38; 24:21).
Mark 10:45, although it does not contain the word redeem, is a very important passage on this subject, because it opens before us the purpose of Christ in the fulfillment of his mission. His life of ministry would end in an act of self-sacrifice that would serve as a ransom for many in need. The greatest exposition of the doctrine in the NT is in the writings of Paul. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13; 4:5, exagoradsein in both cases). In his most concentrated section on the work of Christ, the apostle connects the word redemption with justification and propitiation. (Rom. 3:24; cf. 1 Cor. 1:30). A prominent feature in Paul’s usage is the double reference to the word, with a present application to forgiveness of sins on the basis of the ransom price of Christ’s shed blood (Eph. 1:7; cf. 1 Pet. 1:18, 19), and a future application to the deliverance of the body from its present weakness and its tendency to corruption (Rom. 8:23). This last fact is associated with the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30), not in the sense that redemption will then come into operation for the first time, but that the redemption obtained by Christ and applied to the forgiveness of the soul extends to include the body as well, so that salvation comes to the consummation that was initially determined.
Redemption, although it includes the concept of liberation, is a more precise word. Otherwise, it would be expected that the Bible writers would have made much more extensive use of words that indicate liberation by themselves, such as luein either rueszai, leaving aside words that meant redemption. Nevertheless, that’s not how it happens. It is significant that Paul can be content with the use of rueszai when he raises the relation of the work of Christ in our favor with respect to the hostile angelic powers (Col. 1:13); however, when he turns to the contemplation of the forgiveness of our sins, he must change the terminology to one that indicates redemption (Col. 1:14).
There is no word in the Christian vocabulary that is considered more precious than the word Redeemer, because, even more than the word Savior, it reminds the children of God that their salvation has been purchased at great personal cost, because the Lord gave Himself to Himself for our sins to free us from them.
See also Satisfaction.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Burnier in BC; J. Orr in HDCG; F. J. Taylor in RTWB; B. B. Warfield in HDAC; Biblical Doctrines, pp. 327–398.
Everett F. Harrison
LXX Septuagint
CB Companion to the BibleJJ Von Allmen, ed.
HDCG Hastings’ Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels
RTWB Richardson’s Theological Word Book
HDAC Hastings’ Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Harrison, EF, Bromiley, GW, & Henry, CFH (2006). Dictionary of Theology (512). Grand Rapids, MI: Challenge Books.
Source: Dictionary of Theology