Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The Redeemer’s Role in God’s Plan — Ruth 3
The Hebrew word goel in the Old Testament refers to a kinsman-redeemer — one who acts on behalf of a relative in need. Through this institution, Israel preserved its inheritance and maintained justice within the community, ultimately pointing to the deeper meaning of God’s redemption and restoration.
The Redeemer’s Role in God’s Plan — Ruth 3
The biblical concept of the goel, or kinsman-redeemer, describes the role of a close relative who acts on behalf of a family member in need of help, protection, or rescue. This concept appears throughout the Old Testament, and ultimately the goel connects to the broader biblical theme of salvation. God is the Redeemer who provides salvation and restoration to His people.
Goel: The Kinsman-Redeemer
(Goel, kins-man-redeemer, nest kinsmen)
In Hebrew, goel derives from the verb ga’al, meaning “to buy back” or “to redeem by paying a ransom price.” It carries the meanings of “redemption” and “salvation,” as well as “avenger,” and “one who redeems an inheritance.”
The term refers not merely to a blood relative, but specifically to a relative who is able to become a redeemer (Ruth 2:1, 20). More precisely, it denotes a kinsman-redeemer: one who restores a brother’s rights, who acts on a brother’s behalf in restitution, who reclaims a brother’s lost property, who continues a brother’s family line, who pays a brother’s ransom when he has been enslaved for debt and frees him from bondage — in short, a redeemer and kinsman who redeems (Lev 25:25, 48).
In Scripture, the term is also translated as “redeemer,” “avenger,” and “one who redeems an inheritance.” Typically, the nearest male relative served as the goel. Ultimately, goel denotes a kinsman or near relative bound together in a community of shared destiny — united in life and death. Through this goel institution, each tribe of Israel was able to permanently preserve the inheritance allotted to them, maintain their bloodline, and ensure just restitution whenever a wrong was suffered within the Israelite community.
Scripture also refers to God Himself as the goel — the Redeemer — because God is the avenger of His people when they are wronged. Moreover, as seen in the Exodus, He is the One who liberates His people from slavery and bondage, freeing them from a land of despair just as He would free a slave (Isa 41:14; 47:4). In this way, the Old Testament repeatedly emphasizes the role of the goel, and the New Testament fully carries forward its spirit.
In other words, the function of the goel contains the profound meaning of redemption. In this sense, the goel serves as a living type that points to the identity and ministry of Jesus Christ, the one and only Redeemer of humanity. As the true Brother and goel of all people, Jesus liberates humanity from every chain of sin, rescues us from the snare of death, grants us eternal life, and is the Restorer who reclaims all that was lost through sin and transgression.
The Qualifications and Responsibilities of the Kinsman-Redeemer
The kinsman-redeemer, or goel, was required to be a blood relative (with the closest kin given first priority) and had to possess the means to carry out the redemption. The goel was a protector who safeguarded the honor of the family and preserved its vitality. Specifically, the duties of the goel included the following:
1. If a relative had been unjustly killed, the goel was obligated to seek out the killer and carry out blood vengeance on behalf of the deceased.
2. The goel paid the ransom price on behalf of a relative who had sold himself into slavery due to poverty, thereby securing that person’s freedom.
3. The goel was also responsible for redeeming, as quickly as possible, any land that had been sold off by a relative in times of hardship.
The chosen people of Israel understood that the true owner of the land they possessed was the LORD, and they regarded the land as a tangible pledge of the covenant. Accordingly, they viewed themselves as temporary stewards of the land, and in that spirit, they were not free to sell or transfer it at will. Even if a portion of the land had been mortgaged to repay a debt, ownership was to be recovered as soon as possible. That was precisely the responsibility of the goel. In this way, the land was always kept within the family.
4. The goel was to marry the widow of a brother who had died without leaving an heir, thereby continuing the lineage of the deceased.
The offspring born from such a union would inherit the name and property of the deceased brother. This is the law known as levirate marriage (Deut 25:5–10). If a man refused this obligation, he was branded as one who had been “unsandaled”—that is, a man of shame—and was subjected to public disgrace (Deut 25:7–10).
Source: Dictionary of Biblical Cultural Background
Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com
