Ransom

Biblical Texts

In the New Korean Revised Version, the term rendered "ransom" (sokjeon) appears mainly in the regulations of the Law.

• The census ransom (Exodus 30:11-16): When the children of Israel were numbered, each person counted gave "a ransom for his soul" of half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary. By doing so, the text says, there would be "no plague among them, when thou numberest them." The rich did not give more and the poor did not give less (Exodus 30:15), and the money collected was used for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
• The ransom of the firstborn (Numbers 3:44-51; 18:15-16): The Levites took the place of the firstborn sons of Israel, who belonged to God. For the 273 firstborn in excess of the number of Levites, a ransom of five shekels apiece was paid and given to Aaron and his sons.
• Ransom that may not be accepted (Numbers 35:31-32): The life of a willful murderer cannot be redeemed by a ransom. Likewise, one who has fled to a city of refuge may not pay a ransom to return home before the death of the high priest.
• Figurative use: Psalm 49:7-8 says that the redemption of a human life is so costly that none "can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." The word also appears in Proverbs 13:8 and 21:18.

Term and Background

The Korean sokjeon is a Sino-Korean word meaning "money paid to buy something back." It translates the Hebrew kopher, which is generally understood to derive from the same root as the verb "to make atonement" (kipper). The shekel was a unit of weight for silver, and Exodus 30:13 defines the shekel of the sanctuary as twenty gerahs.

The half shekel of Exodus is generally held to have developed into the annual temple tax of the Second Temple period. The demand for the two-drachma tax made of Peter in Matthew 17:24-27 is commonly explained as an episode related to this custom.

Connection with the New Testament

The New Testament applies the Old Testament idea of paying a price in place of a life to the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus describes the purpose of his coming as "to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28). The word "ransom" in these passages translates the Greek lytron. 1 Timothy 2:6 says that Christ "gave himself a ransom for all." 1 Peter 1:18-19 states that believers were "not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold," but "with the precious blood of Christ."

In Korean Bibles, the Old Testament sokjeon and the New Testament daesongmul ("ransom") are rendered with different words, so the connection between the two concepts is not readily apparent.

Interpretations and Issues

• To whom is the price paid? Some early Church Fathers (such as Origen) held that the price was paid to Satan. In the Middle Ages, Anselm explained it as satisfaction rendered to the honor of God. The Reformation tradition developed an understanding of atonement in which Christ bore, as a substitute, the penalty due to the justice of God. By contrast, some interpretations treat "ransom" as a metaphor for liberation and rescue, without asking separately who receives the price.
• The meaning of the equal amount: The rule that everyone paid the same half shekel (Exodus 30:15) is often expounded in preaching as meaning that every life has equal value before God.
• Distinguishing the text from later interpretation: Interpreters commonly link the "plague" of Exodus 30 with David's census in 2 Samuel 24 and the pestilence that followed. This, however, is an inference drawn by interpreters; the text itself does not directly connect the two.