Define

• Hebrew: גְּאֻלָּה (ge'ullah) – the act of buying back or delivering a person/property from bondage or forfeiture, especially as a consequence of disobedience that led to loss (e.g., slavery, exile, or land alienation); rooted in the kinsman-redeemer (גֹּאֵל / go'el) obligation.
• Greek: λύτρωσις (lytrōsis) or ἀπολύτρωσις (apolytrōsis) – release or ransom from captivity/exile, emphasizing deliverance from the consequences of sin/disobedience through a price paid (e.g., Lev 25:47–55 LXX; Rom 3:24; Eph 1:7).

Related words

• Redeem
• Ransom
• Save

Isa 43:1–3 “I have redeemed thee (גָּאַל), I have called thee by thy name… I gave Egypt for thy ransom (כֹּפֶר)… I will save thee (יָשַׁע)”
Ps 111:9 “He sent redemption (פְּדוּת) unto his people… Holy and reverend is his name”

Additional Info

• Core biblical pattern: Disobedience → loss of inheritance/freedom/exile → redemption by kinsman or God at a cost.
  • Land: Failure to observe Sabbath years → exile (Lev 26:34–35; 2 Chr 36:21); redemption via Jubilee or go'el (Lev 25:10, 25–28).
  • Persons: Poverty/slavery from debt or sin → sold into servitude → go'el buys back (Lev 25:47–55).
  • Nation: Idolatry → Babylonian captivity (Jer 25:11; Dan 9:2); redemption promised through return (Isa 44:22–23; 48:20; 52:3, 9).
• Theological escalation: Israel’s inability to self-redeem due to persistent disobedience → God Himself becomes the Go'el (Isa 41:14; 43:1, 14; 44:6, 22–24; 48:17; 49:7, 26; 54:5, 8).
• Cost motif: Redemption is never free—either paid by kinsman (Ruth 4:4–6), by God (Isa 52:3 – “without money”), or ultimately by the Servant’s life (Isa 53:4–6, 10–12).

Connections

• Year of Jubilee: Lev 25:8–55 – redemption of land, houses, and enslaved Israelites as restoration after loss from disobedience or poverty.
• Exodus from Egypt: Deut 7:8; 9:26; 15:15 – God as Go'el redeeming Israel from slavery, foreshadowing greater redemption from sin’s bondage.
• Exile and return: Jer 31:11; 50:34; Ezek 34:27–28 – God redeems Jacob from captivity stronger than themselves, reversing the curse of Deut 28:15–68.
• Suffering Servant: Isa 53:5–6, 11–12 – the Go'el bears the iniquity (consequence of disobedience) to justify many; fulfilled in Christ’s ransom (Mark 10:45; 1 Pet 1:18–19).
• Fulfillment: Rom 3:23–24; Eph 1:7; Col 1:13–14 – apolytrōsis through Christ’s blood, freeing from sin’s slavery and wrath (consequence of universal disobedience, Rom 5:12).