פְּדוּת

From the study of Psalm 130:7

Range of meaning

Ransom, redemption, release. It comes from the verb pādâ, 'to ransom, buy free, release by payment or by force'. In law, a firstborn son or a firstborn animal was 'ransomed' by paying a substitute price (Exod 13:13–15; Num 18:15–16). Applied to God, the word describes the Exodus: 'YHWH ransomed you from the house of slavery' (Deut 7:8; 13:5; 15:15; 24:18). There God pays no one. The word stresses the release from bondage that it achieves.

Against the English

'Redemption' is a fair rendering. NIV's 'full redemption' and NLT's 'His redemption overflows' convey the abundance but lose the order of the Hebrew, which puts 'abundant' first. Pādâ differs from the other major Hebrew 'redeem' word, gāʾal. Gāʾal is the act of a kinsman-redeemer who buys back family land or family members. Pādâ is the language of ransom and release, and it is less tied to kinship.

How it drifted

Church readers often hear 'redemption' through later teaching about atonement: an individual soul's sins paid for. The Hebrew picture is God releasing his people Israel, as a whole, from what holds them. In v. 8 that is 'all its iniquities': the guilt and also the ruin that guilt brings. The idea of payment is present in the word's background. Who would be paid is not raised.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun appears only about four times: Exod 8:19 [8:23 Eng.], where its sense of 'separation / distinction' is debated; Ps 111:9, 'He sent redemption to his people'; Isa 50:2, 'Is my hand too short to ransom?'; and here. The verb pādâ with Israel as object is common in Deuteronomy and the Psalms (e.g. Ps 25:22, 'Ransom Israel, O God, out of all its troubles', a very close formula). Ps 130:8 is unusual, perhaps unique, in making iniquities rather than enemies or death the thing Israel is ransomed from. LXX: lytrōsis ('ransoming, release'). Vulgate: redemptio.

From the study of Psalm 111:9

Range of meaning

A noun from padah, "to ransom, to release." In everyday law padah means freeing a person or animal by paying a substitute price. Firstborn sons and donkeys were "redeemed" (Exod 13:13–15; Num 18:15–16), and a slave-wife could be "redeemed" (Exod 21:8). When God is the one who does it, the payment idea usually fades and the word means rescue from bondage or danger: "the LORD redeemed you from the house of slavery" (Deut 7:8; 13:5). The noun pədût itself is rare. It appears only here, in Psalm 130:7 ("with him is abundant redemption"), in Isaiah 50:2 ("is my hand too short to redeem?"), and in Exodus 8:23 (Heb. 8:19), where God sets a "pədût" between Israel and Egypt during the plagues.

Against the English

"Redemption" is accurate. Most English versions keep it. NLT's "paid a full ransom" leans hard on the price idea, which this word does not stress when God is the subject.

How it drifted

Christian use has made "redemption" mean mostly the spiritual rescue from sin through Christ's death, understood as a price paid. That use grows out of the Hebrew idea, but the first meaning here is God's historical act of getting his people out of slavery.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX translates it lytrōsis ("release, ransoming"). Psalm 130:7–8 widens the idea to rescue "from all its iniquities." Luke 1:68 echoes the Greek of this verse: "he has … accomplished redemption (lytrōsis) for his people." HALOT and TDOT (padah) note that in God's acts the root focuses on the result, freedom, more than on a transaction.

From the study of Isaiah 50:2

Range of meaning

A rare noun from the verb pādâ, 'to ransom, buy free, release'. pādâ covers releasing a person or a firstborn animal by payment (Exod 13:13–15; Lev 27:27), freeing a slave, and more broadly God freeing his people from Egypt (Deut 7:8; 9:26) or from distress. The noun pədût appears only a few times: Exod 8:19 (Heb.; 8:23 Eng., God's 'separation/redemption' between Israel and Egypt), Ps 111:9, Ps 130:7, and here.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV turn it into a verb ('that it cannot redeem'); NASB has 'ransom'; BSB 'redeem you'. 'Redeem' is accurate but, to modern ears, mostly a religious word. 'Ransom' keeps the picture of release from bondage.

How it drifted

In Christian usage 'redeem' and 'redemption' came to mean mainly the forgiveness of sins through Christ. The everyday meaning (buying someone out of debt-slavery or captivity) faded from ordinary speech.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 130:7–8 uses pədût and then says God 'will redeem Israel from all its iniquities', which joins release and guilt as this passage does. Exod 8:19 places the word in the Egypt plague story, the same story the second half of this verse echoes.