Redeemer, redemption (Hastings' Dictionary)

With two excep- tions ( AV in Ps 136-'' [p"!p, lit. to break or tear away, • The writer considers that this waa the condition of tha Isthmus at the time of the Exodus. Such a view, borne out by ot>sen'ation, renders the account of this event intelligible, but does not necessitate the inference that the waters of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean were at that time connected. t For an account of the raised beaches of the Red Sea c )ast and ot Lower Egrpt, see Hull, ' On the Physical Geology ol Arabia Petnea,' PiF Menn. 69 ff. (1886). REDEEMER, EEDEMrTION REDEEMER, REDEMPTION 211 n common Aram, word for rescue, deliver, in Heb. also La 5'"], RV 'delivered'; and AV and RV in Neli u» [njij to buy, so RVml), 'redeem ' is tlie tr. in OT of the Heb. .ti? and 7N3, with their derivatives. mD (better, for distinction from Sk:, rendered 'to ransom') is used of the money payments re- quired under tlie Law for tlie redemplion of the tirstborn (so Nu 3«-" IS""-; cf. Ex 13"-", Lv 27"), or for the release of persons from slavery (so Ex 21», Lv 25"-"') ; and hKi ' to redeem ' (in a. le^'al sense), of the recovery of property which had passed into other hands (so Lv 25-", Itu 4'"''-), or of commuta- tion of a vow (Lv 27"- "• '»■ =") or a tithe (Lv 27^'). In the Prophets and the Psalms both Sxj and .Tip are used tij;uratively, with the general mean- ing 'deliver,' of the saving activity of God, as jhown in the history of Israel (so Is 29^ [:i-i:] 48®' 32, Ps 77" [all hsi\) and in the experience of indi- vidual Israelites (Ps 34-'^ [lis]). Cremer ( Worterb. p. 596) finds, in tlie use of these words rather than others which might have been chosen, a suggestion of the property relation conceived to exist between J" and Israel. Cf. Ps 74" ' Remember thy con- gregation, which thou hast purchased of old, which thou hast redeemed (Snj) to be the tribe of thine inheritance ' ; so Dt 9'^, 2 S 7=^, 1 Ch 17" (all ms), Is 52^ (^'ki). [A similar idea appears in the NT TtpiToulaeai (Ac 20=), jrf/jiTroiV'S (t-I'h l'^ 1 P 2), and ayopi^u (I Co 6^ and often); but these words correspond in the LXX to ^;™, n^;?, and n}B, never to 7(<; or ms]. In the great majority of cases, however, tlie idea of a money pajinent falls altogether into the liackground, and the words arc used in the purel}' general sense of 'save,' 'deliver.' To 'ransom' or 'redeem' means to deliver from any calamity or misfortune, however that deliverance may be urought about. More specifically, redemption is tliou^bt of as deliverance from adversity (2 S 49, 1 K 1^, Ps 25=2 [all ms]), oppression and violence (Ps 72' ['?n3]). captivity (Zee 10»-'» [ms], Ps 107, ' V'«i\), or death (Pg49"['™]. 103', Hos 1.3" [both Sn:], Job S-" [ms]). It is specially associated with the deliverance from Egypt (Dt 7' 13' 24'«, Mic 6 [all mD]), and with the (idealized) deliverance from Babylon (Is 35" 62'" 63' [all Sxil). In a single instance only is it used of redemption from sin (Ps 130' [ms]). The noun ' redeemer' is the tr. in OT of the part. SkI (rfO'cl, properly one who asserts a claim or has the right of ' re<lenir)lion,' esp. one who vindicates the right of a murdered man, i.e. the 'avenger of blood,' lience the next-of-kin, Nu 5', Ru 2-" al., 1 K IG"), and is applied in our VSS, in a figura- tive sense, to God only. It is a favourite term of Deutero-I.saiah, who often speaks of J" as the GC'ei of Israel (so 41" 43" 44«- ^ 47 48" 49'-!» 54». a 59M (jQio 63i»), and magnifies the freeness and the greatness of His deliverance. Cf. Is 52' Ye were sold for nought, and ye shall bo redeemed witliout money ' ; Is 54'' ' ' For a small moment have I forsaken thee ; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In overllowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee, saith J ' thy redeemer.' Outside of Isaiali, the term gO'el is not applied to (Jod excej)t in Ps 19" 78>, Job IS^, Pr 23", Jer 5(J". In the last three cases it is used in the special sense of advocate or vindicator. J" is here represented as doing for the opjiressed what the human rjO'clvioiM do, if he were living. So in the familiar passage Job 19' 'I know that my redeemer liveth, the true rendering sliould be, ' I know tliat my vindicator liveth ' (so R\'m), i.e. the one who will see that 1 have justice after I am gone. See, further, art. GOEL, and A. B. David- ion's note on Job lO"". In NT the words for ' redeem ' are iyofiil^o) and Xvrpouiuu, with their derivatives. The former means lit. ' to buy,' ' to purchase,' by which terms it is uniformly rendered in RV (1 Co 6^ 7^, 2 P 2', Rev 5" 14'- ' [all]) and AV in all passages except Rev 5" 14'- ♦. This is akin to tlie figurative use of n:p 'buy' or 'purchase,' in tlie OT, of the deliver- ance of Israel from bondage, Ex 15", Is 11", Ps 74' (cf. 78'''), though mp is not represented in the LXX of those p.assages by ci7opds"w. In the compound form f^ayopifia, ' to buy from or out of,' it acquires the technical meaning ' redeem,' and is so used twice by St. Paul (Gal 3" 4°) of Christ'.s deliverance of those who were under the curse of the law. 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, Curseil is every one that hangeth on a tree.' Here Christ's shameful death on the cross is regarded as the ransom price paid for the deliverance of those who were held prisoners under the law and subject to its curse. Cf. Rev 5', where the redeemed are said to be purchased unto God (not from God) with the blood of the Lamb. The more common NT word is, however, XvrpoO- fiai (from X&rpov, ' a ransom'), with its derivatives, Xvrpitnijs, "KuTpiccns, d7ro\iVpw(rtj. These follow the usage of the OT Snj and ni", being sometimes used in the technical sense of ' ransom ' {e.ff. 1 P jis. 19)^ i)uf more frequently in the purely general sense of 'deliver.' Thus X&rpciKni is used in Luke of the Messianic deliverance from misfortune and sorrow. So Lk 1 2^, cf. 24"'. More particularly of the salvation to be wrought at the Paronsia, Lk 21'-' {a.To\vTpuais, cf. Ro 8^ the redemption of the body ; Eph 1" the redemption of God's own possession. In Eph 4* the phrase ' day of re- demption ' is used as a synonym for Parousia). In otiier passages which follow the thought of Ps 130\ the reference is clearly to redemption from sin. So in Eph 1', Col 1", reilemption is associated with forgiveness. In Ro 3-'"" it is con- nected with justification. In Tit 2" Christ is said to have given Himself for us 'that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto him- self a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.' In this narrower sense redemption is frequently connected with the death of Christ. Thus He 9" speaks of ' a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant.' Cf. Eph I' ' redemption through his blood ' ; Ro 3'-'' ^ ' redemption . . . through faith in his blood,' and esp. 1 P !"• " ' Knowing that ye were redeemed, not with cor- ruptible things, as with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers ; but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ.' Here the technical meaning of \vrpovixai reajipears. The blood of Christ is represented as tlie ransom price (Xirpov, cf. Mk 10''') by which Christians are redeemed from their former sinful life. Observe that in 1 P l'«- '", as in Tit 2" and He 9", the thought is not primarily of deliverance from punishment, but of deliverance from sin. See, further, uiuier RANSOM. The term ' redeemer ' (Xv7-pam)s) is found in XT only in Ac 7^, where it is used of Moses (ho RVm , AV and RV tr. 'deliverer'). In the LXX Xi/r/juiT-iji stands for SnJ in Ps 18(19)" 77(78)» [all]. For a fuller discussion of the biblical idea of redemption, see Salvation, Saviour. LrrnRATtm.— Cromer, Bib.Throl. WBrttrb.. 1. Xurfim ; Rltachl, RrcMf. und Vers. U. p. 2210. ; BcysehlnK, ynitest. Thtol. i. p. 38(5 <Kni{. tr. I. p. 395 1.); Stfvt-ns, PatUint Theot. (ISOJ) p. tJ-7 ff. ; Orr, Christian Vvw of (jod atul the M'orld tlSlt:^, p. SinlT. ; llort, 1 Paler OSOS), p. 78 IT.; Brisirs, Metnah oj Apinllta, p. 47 ft., and Stxtdu of lloln Heripturr, isno, p. 647(t. ; Abbott, Ephetiant and ColosniaTU, pp. II, IS ; Westcott, £f eirew*. pp. 206, 208 ; Sanflay-Hcadlam, /Jomanj, p. 86; Urlvei on Dt 78 19« ftnd Par. Ptalt. 463 (. W. Adams Brown. 212 KKED KEED