Ransom

Ransom [Heb. koper {n}, padah {v}; Grk. lytron {n}]. A price paid to release a person or a possession from captivity, slavery, or a legal obligation; to release from captivity, slavery, or a legal obligation by paying a price considered equivalent.

The noun koper means "ransom" or a price for a ransom of life (Exod 21:30; 30:12; Num 35:31-32; Job 33:24; 36:18; Ps 49:8; Prov 6:35; Isa 43:3). The Pentateuch approves of ransom, such as the ransom paid whenever a census was taken (Exod 30:12) or the redemption of the firstborn (Num 3:45-47; 18:15-16). A ransom was not to be accepted for a crime one had committed (i.e., murder) (Num 35:31-32). When a judge takes ransom from someone who has committed a crime, that ransom constitutes a bribe which diverts justice (Prov 13:8; cf. 1 Sam 12:3; Job 36:18; Prov 6:35). But God ransoms His people (Isa 35:10; 51:11; Jer 31:11), even from death (Hos 13:14). God's act of ransom is the giving of His Christ, whose sacrificial death paid the price for our sins and released us from the punishment of death (Isa 35:10; 51:11; Matt 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Cor 6:19-20; Col 2:13-15; 1 Tim 2:5-6; 1 Pet 1:18-19; Tit 2:14; Heb 9:15).