To redeem
גָּאַלStrong’s H1350gaal (ga-al)
Appears in 84 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Gaal is the Hebrew word usually translated “avenger of”, “redeem” and “kinsman-redeemer”. It appears in 84 verses of the Old Testament.
“The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
Meaning
- To redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman(Qal) · (Niphal)
- Redemption
How it's translated
- avenger of 11
- he will redeem 7
- a kinsman-redeemer 6
- it will be redeemed 5
- and redeemer your 4
- redeemer your 4
- he will redeem him 3
- certainly 3
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Isaiah 24
- Leviticus 15
- Ruth 10
- Psalms 10
- Numbers 7
- Joshua 3
17 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Exodus 6:6Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
- Exodus 15:13Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
- Leviticus 25:25If 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.
- Leviticus 25:26And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;
- Leviticus 25:30And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.
- Leviticus 25:33And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
All 84 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
גָּאַל gaal · to redeem
: redeem 1) to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to act as kinsman, do the part of next of kin, act as kinsman-redeemer 1a1a) by marrying brother's widow to beget a child for him, to redeem from slavery, to redeem land, to exact vengeance 1a2) to redeem (by payment) 1a3) to redeem (with God as subject) 1a3a) individuals from death 1a3b) Israel from Egyptian bondage 1a3c) Israel from exile 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to redeem oneself 1b2) to be redeemed
גְּאוּלַי geulay · redemption
redemption
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “redeem” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
REDEE'M, verb transitive
[Latin redimo; red, re, and emo, to obtain or purchase.]
- To purchase back; to ransom; to liberate or rescue from captivity or bondage, or from any obligation or liability to suffer or to be forfeited, by paying an equivalent; as, to redeem prisoners or captured goods; to redeem a pledge.
- To repurchase what has been sold; to regain possession of a thing alienated, by repaying the value of it to the possessor.“If a man [shall] sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold” Leviticus 25:29
- To rescue; to recover; to deliver from.“Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles” Psalms 25:22
- To compensate; to make amends for.
All definitions
- To free by making atonement.
- To pay the penalty of.
- To save.
- To perform what has been promised; to make good by performance.
- In law, to recall an estate, or to obtain the right to re-enter upon a mortgaged estate by paying to the mortgagee his principal, interest, and expenses or costs.
- In theology, to rescue and deliver from the bondage of sin and the penalties of God's violated law, by obedience and suffering in the place of the sinner, or by doing and suffering that which is accepted in lieu of the sinner's obedience.“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” Galatians 3:13
- In commerce, to purchase or pay the value in specie, of any promissory note, bill or other evidence of debt, given by the state, by a company or corporation, or by an individual.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.