GÖEL. — A Hebrew-biblical term almost equivalent to “vindicator” and “redeemer.” The original concept arises from the familial and tribal setting, in which the G. has the legal duty to defend the freedom, life, and property of the members of his tribe; if an Israelite is forced to sell himself into slavery, a kinsman—either he himself, if he can procure the necessary money, or another relative—has the right of redemption (g’ullâh), by restoring the purchase price in proportion to the years during which the slave has served (Lev. 25:47 ff.; Ruth 2:20; 3:9; 4:1, 14).
The g. ha-dām is instead the “blood avenger,” namely, the one who is bound to avenge a voluntary homicide committed against a kinsman, but only in the case that the authority has judged it to be truly a case of voluntary homicide, so that “vengeance is not only restrained, but reduced to having more the appearance than the reality of a private execution” (A. Vaccari, *La S. Bibbia*, I, Rome 1942, on Num. 35:18 ff.; trans. and note p. 431). Three cities of refuge in Cisjordan offered the involuntary homicide the possibility of escaping the unreasonable vengeance of the blood avenger (Deut. 19:1 ff.; cf. Josh. 20:1 ff.).
G’āl, when referred to God (ca. 40 times), does not mean “to redeem” in the sense of buying back, but “to liberate.” God is g. insofar as He is savior and messiah. He redeems from the slavery of Egypt (Exod. 6:6), from that of Babylon, and from the hand of the strong (Jer. 31:11; Mic. 4:10). Those saved from the danger of straying in the desert and from diseases that assailed them are said to be “redeemed” by the Lord. While in Ezekiel God acts out of regard for His holy name, and not out of pity for sinful Israel, in Isaiah the g. is at the same time the Holy One of Israel (the two terms are found joined 7 times), and the Lord redeems out of love and pity for mankind (Isa. 63:9).
The concept of redemption is particularly linked to that of the “remnant” of Israel.
In Aramaic, the root g’āl is replaced by the root prq, used in the Old Testament in the sense of “to separate,” “to blot out sins,” which in the Targums also replaces the roots pdlh and yš’, demonstrating the broad significance this verb had assumed.
In rabbinic language, the verb g’āl retains the sense of liberation, and is applied more particularly to the liberation from Egyptian servitude and to the final liberation that will precede the definitive restoration, namely, the messianic one. Contemporary Jewish theologians, e.g., Klausner, Neumark, commonly use g’ullâh to designate the entire messianic process.