The account of creation in the book Of Genesis contains a magnificent scene of God himself planting a garden in Eden in the East. On the sixth day of creation, God created man and placed him in the garden to cultivate and oversee it. But in Eden, where the garden served as a stunning paradise for humanity, a significant conflict took place. A breach ensued as Satan, through the serpent, twisted God’s instructions to man, who then yielded to temptation, permitting the entry of sin. At the tree of the knowledge of good and evil man wantonly sinned, thus, he was cut off from the tree of life. Death entered the human race and in paradise began man’s fall. ¹

The story of redemption, though rooted in eternity, first unfolded in the Garden of Eden. Humanity’s sins brought about inevitable judgement, yet even within this judgement, God’s mercy was evident. He promised a Redeemer, foretelling that this Redeemer would be born of a woman without natural generation. The Redeemer was destined to conquer Satan and restore man’s dominion. The anticipated seed of the woman offered hope for Adam and all his descendants to find liberation from Satan, the newfound master of the world. Thus, the unfolding of redemption history marked its beginning.²

Hebrew Roots of Redemption

The biblical narrative of redemption begins with God’s promise of a redeemer through the offspring of a woman, a promise ultimately fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Among the Old Testament narratives, the Exodus from Egypt emerges as one of the most powerful and profound acts of redemption. When Yahweh commissions Moses, He promises a miraculous liberation of Israel from slavery. This redemption is depicted as a powerful military rescue of unjustly enslaved people. Israel’s victory song later celebrates their identity as a nation redeemed and saved from severe oppression by Yahweh’s mighty hand.

Three key Hebrew root words are central to the Old Testament: gāʾal, gōʾēl, and gĕʾūllâ, which translate to “redeem,” “redeemer,” and “redemption” respectively. These terms fundamentally mean to buy back, claim, or save and are used in three contexts: the kinsman-redeemer, redemption through payment, and Yahweh as the ultimate redeemer.

Kinsman-Redeemer

The Hebrew verb gāʾal means to redeem or buy back, rooted in the idea of a kinsman’s redemption of his kin from difficulty. This verb embodies the role of a kinsman who pays a price to reclaim or save a person or property. The essence of gāʾal is fulfilling the duty of a near relative, emphasizing the privilege and responsibility of protecting the clan’s interests. This includes taking a kinsman’s widow as seen in the Book of Ruth and redeeming from bondage as illustrated in Leviticus.³

Reclaiming land was also an act of redemption. The noun gĕʾullâ signifies the right and duty of repurchase, specifically in the context of reclaiming land. It involves the redemption or buying back of property or an Israelite from slavery, particularly for blood relatives or kinsmen. This redemption underscores that all land and the people of Israel ultimately belong to God, not humans.⁴

The root participial form gōʾēl is used substantively as “redeemer” and refers to the next of kin who is the “avenger of blood” for a murdered man. The full phrase “avenger of blood” is almost always used. The idea is that the next of kin must effect the payment of life for life. As a house is repurchased or a slave redeemed by payment, so the lost life of the relative must be paid for by the equivalent life of the murderer. The kinsman is the avenger of blood. This system of execution must be distinguished from blood feuds for the gōʾēl was a guiltless executioner and not to be murdered in turn.⁵ 

Levitical Laws on Redemption: Houses, Fields & Animals 

Another use of “redeem” involves the original owner paying the assessed value to reclaim consecrated items. These instances are primarily documented in the Book of Leviticus.

But if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a fifth to the valuation. “When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the LORD, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a fifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.  Leviticus 27:13–15 ESV

And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his. But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore.  Leviticus 27:19–21 ESV

And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation. “But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.  Leviticus 27:27–28.

Yahweh as Redeemer

There is also a prevalent usage in the Psalms and prophets where God is depicted as Israel’s Redeemer who will defend and vindicate His people. This usage suggests a sense of the Father’s close kinship or ownership. While a specific redemption price is rarely mentioned, the concept of judgement on Israel’s oppressors as a form of ransom is included, as seen in Isaiah 43:1-3. In essence, God redeems His children from a bondage worse than slavery.⁶

All other circumstances that reveal Yahweh as redeemer include individuals being redeemed from death as seen in Lamentations 3:58 and Hosea 13:14. Yahweh is also depicted as the redeemer in passages like Isaiah 41:14, 43:14, and 44:6, and His people are described as redeemed in Isaiah 35:9 and 51:10.⁷

Redemption in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the English words redeem, redeemer and redemption are translated from the Greek noun apolytrōsis, and the verb lytroō. Surprisingly, the word group is somewhat infrequent in the New Testament, with a total of only 21 occurrences, and with apolytrosis accounting for almost half of them. Where the terms do occur, however, the usage is significant.⁸

The noun apolytrōsis is often translated as redemption, release, or deliverance. It signifies the act of freeing or the state of being freed from bondage, such as that of a prisoner or slave, through the payment of a ransom. Apolytrōsis represents both the act of redemption and the state of having been redeemed. This word is relatively rare outside of the New Testament, and its main New Testament occurrences are in Paul’s letters.⁹

Redemption in the Old Testament often refers to God redeeming, that is, an act of (re)claiming for himself or liberating someone or his people Israel, and apolytrōsis is used to express a similar meaning. Jesus tells his disciples that when they see the things he has described in the Olivet discourse, their redemption draws near. Believers are described as captives who have been released or delivered from (bondage to) sin by Christ’s death. 

The term stands with a cluster of words used by Paul to describe what God has accomplished through Christ’s sacrifice. In this context, apolytrōsis could mean redemption or the state of being redeemed. Believers have been released by the blood of Christ from their transgressions under the first covenant (Heb 9:15). They will experience deliverance from their earthly corruptible bodies one day (Rom 8:23), for there is a future day of redemption (Eph 4:30).

Apolytrōsis has additional senses that are related to being freed from difficult or evil circumstances. The author of Hebrews says that some people endured torture rather than be released, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection (Heb 11:35). 

The verb lytroō is translated as to rescue, ransom, set free, liberate from an oppressive condition. Essentially it means set free by paying a ransom. This verb occurs in the New Testament only three times. Two of the three NT uses focus specifically on Jesus’ death as the ransom for redeeming others. The passive form of the verb is used in 1 Pet 1:18, where Peter states that his recipients were not ransomed or redeemed from a futile way of life by gold and silver, but by the precious blood of Christ.¹⁰

Paul makes a similar statement when he says that Jesus gave his life in order to redeem us (in the sense of rescue) from all lawlessness (Titus 2:14). In Luke 24:21, the disciples on the road to Emmaus say that they had believed that Jesus was the one who was going to redeem Israel. This would mean that they believed that Jesus as the Messiah was going to liberate Israel from the oppression of the Roman Empire. These examples demonstrate that lytroō connotes the same idea as many other words for redeeming. 

Ultimately, the New Testament concepts of redeem, redeemer, and redemption, primarily derived from the Greek terms “apolytrōsis” and “lytroō,” carry profound significance despite their infrequent usage. “Apolytrōsis” emphasizes the act of freeing from bondage through the payment of a ransom, symbolizing both the act of redemption and the state of being redeemed, especially in Paul’s letters. This concept aligns with Old Testament notions of God reclaiming or liberating His people, culminating in the New Testament’s depiction of believers being delivered from sin through Christ’s sacrifice. Similarly, “lytroō” underscores the idea of rescue and liberation, particularly through Jesus’ death as a ransom. Together, these terms encapsulate the transformative power of Christ’s redemption, freeing believers from sin and promising future deliverance. 

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1. The Dawn of World Redemption. Sauer, Erich ↩︎
2. Exodus 6:6, Exodus 15:13 ↩︎
3. Ruth 2:20, Leviticus 25:47-49 ↩︎
4. Litwak, K.D. (2014) “Redemption,” Lexham Theological Wordbook. Edited by D. Mangum et al. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press (Lexham Bible Reference Series). ↩︎
5. Harris, R.L. (1999) “300 גָּאַל,” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. electronic ed. Edited by R.L. Harris, G.L. Archer Jr., and B.K. Waltke. Chicago: Moody Press. ↩︎
6. Harris, R.L. (1999) “300 גָּאַל,” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. electronic ed. Edited by R.L. Harris, G.L. Archer Jr., and B.K. Waltke. Chicago: Moody Press. ↩︎
7. *[Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1977) Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press.] ↩︎
8. Silva, M. (ed.) (2014) New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ↩︎
9. Litwak, K.D. (2014) “Redemption,” Lexham Theological Wordbook. Edited by D. Mangum et al. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press (Lexham Bible Reference Series). ↩︎
10. Litwak, K.D. (2014) “Redemption,” Lexham Theological Wordbook. Edited by D. Mangum et al. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press (Lexham Bible Reference Series). ↩︎