Redemption (including the right and the object); by implication, relationship
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גְּאֻלָּה (geullah) is the noun derived from גָּאַל (gaal, H1350) — to act as kinsman-redeemer. ' The background is the Israelite property and family law of Leviticus 25: if a person fell into poverty and had to sell their land or themselves into debt-servitude, the nearest kinsman (the goel) had both the right and the obligation to buy the property back or redeem the person.
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Full entry for גְּאֻלָּה (H1353) · Open the biblical lexicon
גְּאֻלָּה (geullah) is the noun derived from גָּאַל (gaal, H1350) — to act as kinsman-redeemer. ' The background is the Israelite property and family law of Leviticus 25: if a person fell into poverty and had to sell their land or themselves into debt-servitude, the nearest kinsman (the goel) had both the right and the obligation to buy the property back or.
The BSB source-word alignment has 14 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the redemption (2), . . . (1), for his redemption (1), his redemption (1), his right of redemption (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 25:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (9), Jeremiah (2), Ruth (2), Ezekiel (1).
גְּאֻלָּה (geullah) is the noun derived from גָּאַל (gaal, H1350) — to act as kinsman-redeemer. Where gaal is the verb (the action of redeeming), geullah is either the act itself or the right to redeem: 'the right of redemption,' 'the redemption transaction,' or 'what was redeemed.'
The background is the Israelite property and family law of Leviticus 25: if a person fell into poverty and had to sell their land or themselves into debt-servitude, the nearest kinsman (the goel) had both the right and the obligation to buy the property back or redeem the person. This is not charity — it is a legal right and duty rooted in kinship. The geullah is the transaction by which the kinsman exercises that right.
The Book of Ruth is the fullest narrative exploration of geullah in the OT. Boaz, as a near-kinsman to Naomi's family, exercises the geullah right over the land of Elimelech — and as part of the same redemption package, he also takes Ruth as his wife. The entire book turns on whether someone will step forward to exercise geullah, and Boaz does so at personal cost and as an act of hesed (covenant loyalty).
Theologically, geullah is how the OT portrays YHWH's relationship to Israel: he is the goel, and his redemptive acts — the Exodus most prominently — are geullah. God acts as the divine kinsman who exercises the right of redemption for his people.
The local Hebrew index currently counts about 14 H1353 uses, making it rarer than its verb gaal, but the few uses are theologically significant: the foundational law (Lev 25), the Ruth narrative pivot (Ruth 4), and Jeremiah's sign-act (Jer 32). The word is the legal/transactional form of kinship love: when a relative is in trouble, geullah is what happens when someone steps up to exercise their right and responsibility.
The theological beauty of the geullah system is that it fuses love (hesed) with legal right: the redeemer is not a stranger performing charity but a family member fulfilling an obligation of kinship. God's redemption of Israel and Christ's redemption of his people both carry this double weight: it is both loving and legally legitimate.
Geullah moves from the legal mechanism of Leviticus 25 (property redemption within the family) through the narrative of Ruth (the hesed-motivated kinsman who redeems at personal cost) to Jeremiah's prophetic geullah act (hope in the midst of siege) to the divine goel who redeems his people. In the NT, Christ is presented as the one who fulfills the goel-role: he takes on our humanity (the kinship requirement) and pays the price of our redemption (the geullah transaction).
Heb 2:14-17 is the fullest NT statement: he shared in flesh and blood 'that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death' — the divine kinsman exercises geullah at the cost of his own life.
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How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Redemption rooted in kinship obligation: the right and power to recover what belongs to the family through close relationship.
Redemption rooted in kinship obligation: the right and power to recover what belongs to the family through close relationship.
redemption (including the right and the object); by implication, relationship BDB: kin Usage: kindred, redeem, redemption, right.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Geullah opens the kinship dimension of redemption — the good news is not that a stranger rescued you but that your nearest kin stepped in at personal cost to exercise the redemption right on your behalf. Preaching geullah means preaching the incarnation as the prerequisite for atonement: Christ had to become our kin (Heb 2:14-17) before he could be our redeemer. The Ruth narrative is a rich, accessible entry point.
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