Ransom

This is a word study on “ransom.”  To see a more in depth treatment, please look for the link to “Ransom” on the sidebar, if you’re using a PC, or at the bottom of the page if you’re using a tablet:

Ransom

In our culture the word “ransom” means pretty much one thing: a payment for the release of a hostage or hostages.  In the verses in the Old Testament where the KJV translates a Hebrew word, “ransom,” it can mean a number of things from a payment in place of the death penalty (Ex. 21:30) to a simple census fee (Ex. 30:12).  In Prov. 13:8 it is used as a measure of a man’s wealth.

Most of the time, however, it generally means a payment to redeem someone to keep them from punishment.  One interesting portion of Scripture is Isa 43:3 where it is used to describe God giving Egypt, Seba, and Cush to Cyrus, the king of Persia, as a consideration for delivering Israel.  Seems to be a national substitutionary sacrifice, these three nations as a ransom for Israel’s freedom.  Not sure on this.  I’m going to look into it further.  Lots of history to look over.

In the New Testament, two Greek words are translated as ransom:”Lytron,” which we find in both Matt 20:28 and Mark 10:45.  This word means, “to liberate many from the misery and penalty of their sins.” Here we find the idea of Christ’s death as a ransom.  That ransom is a sort of bail paid to God (Prov. 49:7) in order to gain our release from the penalty we face.

The second Greek word, “antilytron,” means something which is given in exchange for another as a price of his redemption.  “Anti” as a prefix in Greek can mean, “replacement” or “substitution” as in “antichrist” who makes himself a substitutionary Christ.  In the same way, the ransom paid for us in 1 Tim 2:6 is a substitution.  Christ for you and for me.  This idea is called the vicarious atonement.  Jesus’ death was my debt, but He paid it in my place.