גֹּאֵל (Go'el)

MEANINGKinsman-redeemer. The family member responsible for: (1) redeeming family land sold in poverty; (2) marrying a deceased relative's widow (levirate marriage); (3) buying back a family member sold into slavery. The go'el paid what the family member could not pay.

GRAMMARQal active participle of גָּאַל (ga'al --- to redeem, to act as kinsman). The participle describes the ongoing role: the go'el is the one who is always in the posture of redeeming. The verbal noun form geu'llah (redemption) appears in Ruth 4:6-8 for the legal transaction.

SIGNIFICANCEThe go'el is Thread 6's most relational OT type of Christ. Boaz paying the redemption price for Ruth and Naomi --- taking the widow as his own, restoring what was lost --- is the most personal OT picture of what Christ does as the ultimate go'el. Thread 6 (Hidden in Him, Revealed with Him) includes the believer's incorporation into the Redeemer who paid the price they could not pay and made them his own.

KEY VERSE / SCRIPTURESRuth 2:20; 3:9-13; 4:1-10 (Boaz as go'el); Leviticus 25:25-55 (the go'el law in its legal form); Job 19:25 ('I know that my go'el lives').

CROSS-REFERENCESRuth 4:1-10 · Leviticus 25:25-55 · Job 19:25 · λύτρον lytron (NT equivalent --- the ransom price)