The word “redeemer” appeared in the Old Testament, but the idea carried over into the New Testament. Learn more about the background of this idea.
In the Old Testament, a redeemer (
goel in Hebrew) was a person who bought back property or a house that had been sold in order to keep it in the family inheritance. Also, one family member could buy back a family member who had become a slave (Leviticus 25:25-34, 47-55; Jeremiah 32:6-12). A redeemer might also be a man who married a widow, if the woman’s dead husband had no children to carry on the family name and take over the dead man’s property (Deuteronomy 25:5-6; Ruth 4:3-6). A relative chosen to take revenge for a murdered family member may have been regarded as a redeemer, defending the family honor (Numbers 35:16-28; Deuteronomy 19:6-12; 2 Samuel 14:7, 11). The Israelites believed that a murdered person’s blood cried out to be revenged, until the blood of the murderer was spilled.
God is referred to as a redeemer in the Old Testament, especially as the one who saves or delivers people from slavery, exile, or disaster (Exodus 6:6-8; Leviticus 26:45; Isaiah 41:14; 43:1; 60:16; Jeremiah 50:33-34; Lamentations 3:55-58). God also defends those who cannot defend themselves—widows, the fatherless, and the poor (Exodus 22:22-24; 1 Samuel 2:7-8; Isaiah 1:17, 23, 27; Amos 5:10-12, 15).
In the New Testament, Jesus is never called “Redeemer,” but the idea of redemption is used to describe his work of saving people. Redemption means “to buy back” or “to exchange one thing for another.” This is closely related to the idea of paying a price or a ransom (Exodus 21:30; Psalm 49:7-9; Psalm 130:8). These ideas are behind the comparison of Jesus to the sacrifice Israel’s high priest made to ask God’s forgiveness for the people of Israel (Leviticus 4:1-21; 16:1-34; see also Hebrews 7:27; 9:27-28). And Jesus is called the lamb of God who was sacrificed to forgive sins and to rescue sinners from death (John 1:29; Romans 3:25-26; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus paid his life as a ransom, so God would forgive human beings.
Why would Jesus Christ need to die in order to pay for God’s forgiveness and redeem (save) the earth and its people? The answer is found in the belief that human beings cannot escape sin’s hold on them (Job 4:17; 9:2; Psalm 14:2-3; Romans 3:10-12, 23). This fact of human existence goes all the way back to the sins of the first human beings (Genesis 3). Human sin also has an effect on the rest of God’s creation (Amos 4:4-9; Romans 8:19-22), so part of God’s saving and redeeming work is to renew creation (2 Peter 3:12-13; Revelation 21.1—22.5).