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means “to complete or finish”—for example, completing the temple (1 Kings 9:25). In
Lev. 24:18,
describes compensation for injury: “And he that killeth a beast shall
make it good [life for life].”
Perhaps it should be noted that the Arabic terms
"$
and
9
are derived from
the Arabic cognate to
and imply “submission to Allah.”
TO REDEEM
A. Verbs.
(
%
, 1350), “to redeem, deliver, avenge, act as a kinsman.” This word group is
used 90 times, chiefly in the Pentateuch, Psalms, Isaiah, and Ruth. The root appears to be
almost exclusively Hebrew, the only cognate being an Amorite proper name.
The first occurrence of
is in Gen. 48:16: “The angel which redeemed me [Jacob]
from all evil …” (
KJV
), means as in the
NIV
, “delivered me from all harm.” Its basic use
had to do with the deliverance of persons or property that had been sold for debt, as in
Lev. 25:25: “If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession,
and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.”
If he prospers, the man himself may “redeem” it (Lev. 25:26). A poor man may sell
himself to a fellow Israelite (Lev. 25:39) or to an alien living in Israel (Lev. 25:47). The
responsibility “to redeem” belonged to the nearest relative—brother, uncle, uncle’s son,
or a blood relative from his family (Lev. 25:25, 48-49). The person (kinsman) who
“redeemed” the one in financial difficulties was known as a kinsman-redeemer, as the
NIV
translates the word in Ruth 2:20. In Deut. 19:6 the redeemer is called the “avenger of
blood” whose duty it was to execute the murderer of his relative. The verb occurs in this
sense 12 times and is translated “revenger” in
KJV
(Num. 35:19, 21, 24, 27) or “avenger”
(Num. 35:12; always so in
NASB
and
NIV
).
The Book of Ruth is a beautiful account of the kinsman-redeemer. His responsibility
is summed up in Ruth 4:5: “What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou
must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the
dead upon his inheritance.” Thus the kinsman-redeemer was responsible for preserving
the integrity, life, property, and family name of his close relative or for executing justice
upon his murderer.
The greater usage of this word group is of God who promised: “… I am the Lord … I
will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments” (Exod. 6:6; cf. Ps.
77:15). Israel confessed: “Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast
…” (Exod. 15:13). “And they remembered that God was their rock, and the
high God their redeemer” (Ps. 78:35).
The Book of Isaiah evidences the word “Redeemer” used of God 13 times, all in
chapters 41-63, and
is used 9 times of God, first in 43:1: “Fear not; for I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”
5
is used of
deliverance from Egypt (51:10; 63:9) and from captivity in Babylon (48:20; 52:3, 9;
62:12). Israel’s “Redeemer” is “the Holy One of Israel” (41:14), “the creator of Israel,
your King” (43:14-15), “the Lord of hosts” (44:6), and “the mighty One of Jacob”
(49:26). Those who share His salvation are “the redeemed” (35:9).