By R. David Rightmire
Finding its context in
the social, legal, and religious customs of the ancient world, the metaphor of
redemption includes the ideas of loosing from a bond, setting free from
captivity or slavery, buying back something lost or sold, exchanging something
in one's possession for something possessed by another, and ransoming.
The Old Testament
In the Old Testament,
redemption involves deliverance from bondage based on the payment of a price by
a redeemer. The Hebrew root words used most often for the concept of redemption
are pada, gaal and kapar.
The verb pada is a legal
term concerning the substitution required for the person or animal delivered.
Pada is also used in relation to legislation with regard to the firstborn.
Every firstborn male, whether human or animal, belonged to Yahweh, and hence was
to be offered to Yahweh. The firstborn males of ritually clean animals were
sacrificed, while firstborn unclean animals were redeemed (Exod 13:13; 34:20;
Num 18:15-16). Human firstborn were also redeemed, either by the substitution
of an animal or by the payment of a fixed sum (Num 18:16). The Levites are also
said to be a ransom for the firstborn of Israel (Num 3:44-45). Money was
sometimes paid to deliver a person from death (Exod 21:30; Num 3:46-51; 18:16;
cf. Psalm 49:7-9).
The verb gaal is a legal
term for the deliverance of some person, property, or right to which one had a
previous claim through family relation or possession. Goel, the participle of
gaal is the term for the person who performed the duties of
"redeemer." This term is found eighteen times in the Old Testament
(13 times in Isaiah). It was the duty of a man's redeemer, usually his next of
kin, to buy back the freedom that he had lost (e.g., through debt). An example
of such "redemption" is found in Leviticus 25:47-49, where an
Israelite who has had to sell himself into slavery because of poverty may be
redeemed by a kinsman or by himself. Property sold under similar conditions
could likewise be redeemed, thus keeping it within the family (Lev 25:24-25;
Ruth 4:1-6; Jer 32:6-9).
The meaning of the third
verb, kapar, is to cover. To cover sin, atone, or make expiation are associated
meanings. The substantive koper (ransom) is of interest in that it signifies a
price paid for a life that has become forfeit (Exod 21:30; 30:11-16).
As one who delivers his
people, Yahweh is called Israel's "Redeemer, " especially in Isaiah
where "redemption" is a key metaphor (41:14; 43:1; 44:6; 47:4). The
paradigm of Yahweh's redemptive activity in the Old Testament is the historical
deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, but the metaphor of redemption was
also utilized by the prophets in relation to the Babylonian captivity.
Although most often found
in relation to the redemption of God's people, the concept of redemption was
also applied to individuals in distress (Gen 48:16; 2 Sam 4:9; Job 19:25; Psalm
26:11; 49:15; 69:18; 103:4). The redemptive activity of God is most often
described in terms of physical deliverance, but these redemptive Acts are not
devoid of spiritual significance. There is only one explicit Old Testament
reference to redemption from sin (Psalm 130:8), the emphasis falling in the
majority of references on God's deliverance from the results of sin.
The New Testament
By the first century a.d.
the concept of redemption had become eschatological. Redemption of Israel from
Egypt was but the foreshadowing in history of the great act of deliverance by
which history would be brought to an end. In rabbinic expectation the Messiah
would be the Redeemer of Israel, and the great Day of the Lord would be the day
of redemption. It is possibly due to the nationalistic expectation that became
attached to the concept of the coming Messiah-Redeemer that Jesus is never
called "redeemer" (lytrotes) in the New Testament.
Fundamental to the
message of the New Testament is the announcement that Jesus of Nazareth is the
fulfillment of Israel's messianic hope and that, in him, the long-awaited
redemption has arrived. Deliverance of humankind from its state of alienation
from God has been accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ
(Rom 4:25; 2 Cor 5:18-19). In the New Testament, redemption requires the
payment of a price, but the plight that requires such a ransom is moral not
material. Humankind is held in the captivity of sin from which only the atoning
death of Jesus Christ can liberate.
Although the concept of
redemption is central to the New Testament, the occurrence of redemption
terminology is relatively limited. When reflecting on the work of Jesus Christ,
New Testament writers more frequently utilize different images (e.g.,
atonement, sacrifice, justification). The concept of redemption is nevertheless
conveyed in the New Testament by the agorazo and lyo word groups. These terms
have in mind the context of a marketplace transaction with reference to the
purchase of goods or the releasing of slaves. In using these words, New
Testament writers sought to represent Jesus' saving activity in terms that
convey deliverance from bondage. Most of these words infer deliverance from
captivity by means of a ransom price paid. The noun "ransom"
(lytron), however, only appears in three locations in the New Testament (Matt
20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Tim 2:6). Redemption language is merged with
substitutionary language in these verses and applied to Jesus' death. Pauline
usage of the noun "redemption" (apolytrosis) is limited and generally
conveys the meaning of deliverance (Rom 3:24; 8:23; 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:14;
4:30), although substitutionary meaning is evident in Ephesians 1:7, where
Christ's blood is depicted as the means of redemption.
Jesus conceived his
mission to be that of the Son of Man, who came to offer himself in obedience to
God's redemptive plan. He applied to himself the things said in the Old
Testament of the Servant of the Lord concerning his rejection, humiliation,
death, and resurrection (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34). Likewise, New Testament
writers apply to him the Servant texts and terminology from the Old Testament
(e.g., Matt 8:17; 12:18; Acts 4:27, 30; 8:32-33; Rom 15:21; 1 Peter 2:22-25).
An important text with regard to Jesus' understanding of his redemptive work is
Mk 10:45, in which Jesus declares that his mission not only includes
self-sacrificial service, but also involves giving his life as a "ransom"
for many. Thus, Christ's death is portrayed as the payment price for the
deliverance of those held captive by Satan (the ransom metaphor must be
understood in the light of Jesus' offering of himself in obedience to the
Father, however, and not interpreted as a payment to Satan). As the means of
redemption, the death of Jesus provides a deliverance that involves not only
forgiveness of sin (Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), but also newness of life (Rom 6:4).
Even though Christ's redemptive work is perfect (Heb 9:25-28), the redemption
of the believer will not be complete until the return of Christ (Luke 21:28;
Rom 8:23; Eph 4:30).
The central theme of
redemption in Scripture is that God has taken the initiative to act
compassionately on behalf of those who are powerless to help themselves. The
New Testament makes clear that divine redemption includes God's identification
with humanity in its plight, and the securing of liberation of humankind
through the obedience, suffering, death, and resurrection of the incarnate Son.
Bibliography. C.
Brown, et al., NIDNTT, 3:177-223; F. Büchsel, TDNT, 4:328-56; I. H. Marshall,
Reconciliation and Hope, pp. 153-69; L. Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the
Cross; J. Murray, Redemption: Accomplished and Applied; H. E. W. Turner, The
Patristic Doctrine of Redemption; V. Taylor, The Atonement in New Testament
Preaching; W. Pannenberg, Basic Questions in Theology, 1:15-80; B. B. Warfield,
The Person and Work of Christ.
Source: Baker's
Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Edited by Walter A. Elwell.
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