Word Studies¶

deror (דְּרוֹר) — H1865¶

Original: דְּרוֹר Transliteration: dᵉrôwr (der-ore) Definition: From an unused root meaning "to move rapidly"; freedom; hence, spontaneity of outflow, and so clear. Liberty, release.

Translations¶

"liberty" — 5x (Lev 25:10; Isa 61:1; Jer 34:8, 15, 17)
"pure" — 1x (Exo 30:23 — "pure myrrh," different semantic domain)
"a liberty" / "of liberty" / "the" — 3 additional translation instances

Key Verses¶

Leviticus 25:10 — "and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" — THE foundational Jubilee proclamation
Isaiah 61:1 — "to proclaim liberty to the captives" — Messianic application of Jubilee language
Jeremiah 34:8 — "the king Zedekiah had made a covenant... to proclaim liberty unto them" — Failed human Jubilee
Jeremiah 34:15 — "ye were now turned... in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour" — Brief obedience
Jeremiah 34:17 — "Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty... behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine" — God's ironic reversal: 2x deror in one verse
Ezekiel 46:17 — "the year of liberty" — Alternative name for the Jubilee year
Exodus 30:23 — "pure myrrh" — Non-liberty sense (flowing freely)

LXX Connection (Critical)¶

H1865 deror → G859 ἄφεσις (aphesis) — "freedom, pardon, forgiveness, remission" - The LXX translators understood Jubilee "liberty" as "release/forgiveness" - G859 aphesis in the NT: "forgiveness of sins" (Matt 26:28; Mark 1:4; Luke 1:77; 3:3; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:22; 10:18) - In Luke 4:18, Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1 and the Greek uses ἄφεσιν (aphesis) TWICE — "release to the captives" and "in release [to the oppressed]" - The Jubilee liberty of Lev 25:10 is linguistically IDENTICAL to the "forgiveness of sins" proclaimed by Christ

yobel (יוֹבֵל) — H3104¶

Original: יוֹבֵל Transliteration: yôwbêl (yo-bale) Definition: The blast of a horn (from its continuous sound); specifically, the signal of the silver trumpets; hence, the instrument itself and the festival thus introduced. Jubilee, ram's horn, trumpet.

Translations¶

"jubile/jubilee" — 17x (Lev 25; 27; Num 36)
"rams' horns" — 4x (Josh 6:4-6)
"the trumpet" — 1x (Josh 6:5)

Key Verses¶

Exodus 19:13 — "when the trumpet [yobel] soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount" — Sinai theophany
Leviticus 25:10-54 — 15 occurrences — The Jubilee legislation; the year named after the horn blast
Joshua 6:4-13 — 7 occurrences — Rams' horns at Jericho; yobel-horns blow and walls fall on the SEVENTH day (Jubilee number)

LXX Connection¶

H3104 yobel → G859 ἄφεσις (aphesis) — count: 18 (TOP mapping) - Also → G4536 σάλπιγξ (salpinx = "trumpet") — count: 4 - Also → G3084 λυτρόω (lytroo = "redeem") — count: 3 - The LXX sees the Jubilee institution itself (yobel) as aphesis — release/forgiveness

Semantic Range¶

The word encompasses: (1) the instrument (ram's horn), (2) the blast (trumpet sound), and (3) the institution (Jubilee year). The instrument names the event.

shophar (שׁוֹפָר) — H7782¶

Original: שׁוֹפָר Transliteration: shôwphâr (sho-far) Definition: A cornet (as giving a clear sound) or curved horn. Cornet, trumpet.

Translations¶

"trumpet" — dominant translation (various forms: "the trumpet," "of the trumpet," "a trumpet")
"cornet" — occasional

Key Verses (Jubilee/DOA context)¶

Leviticus 25:9 (4x) — "Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound... in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land"
Exodus 19:16,19 — The shophar at Sinai "exceeding loud"
Joshua 6:4-20 — Shophar at Jericho (alongside yobel horns)
Isaiah 27:13 — "the great trumpet shall be blown" — eschatological gathering
Joel 2:1 — "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion" — alarm/warning

Distinction from H3104 (yobel)¶

In Lev 25:9, BOTH words appear: "thou shalt cause the shophar (trumpet) of the yobel (jubilee) to sound." The shophar is the instrument; the yobel names both the type of blast and the event it inaugurates.

apolytrosis (ἀπολύτρωσις) — G629¶

Original: ἀπολύτρωσις Transliteration: apolýtrōsis Definition: Ransom in full. From ἀπό (away from) + λύτρον (ransom price). The act of complete redemption.

Translations¶

"redemption" — 8x
"deliverance" — 1x (Heb 11:35)

Key Verses¶

Luke 21:28 — "your redemption draweth nigh" — eschatological Jubilee approaching
Romans 3:24 — "justified freely... through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" — present redemption
Romans 8:23 — "waiting for... the redemption of our body" — future bodily Jubilee
1 Corinthians 1:30 — Christ "is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption"
Ephesians 1:7 — "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins"
Ephesians 1:14 — "[the Holy Spirit] is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession" — Jubilee not yet complete; Spirit is deposit
Ephesians 4:30 — "sealed unto the day of redemption" — a coming DAY of final redemption
Colossians 1:14 — "we have redemption through his blood"
Hebrews 9:15 — "death, for the redemption of the transgressions... the promise of eternal inheritance" — redemption + inheritance in one verse
Hebrews 11:35 — "not accepting deliverance" — the only non-soteriological use

Three Temporal Dimensions¶

Past: "we HAVE redemption through his blood" (Eph 1:7; Col 1:14) — accomplished at the cross
Present: Christ "is made unto us... redemption" (1 Cor 1:30) — ongoing
Future: "the redemption of our body" (Rom 8:23); "the day of redemption" (Eph 4:30); "the redemption of the purchased possession" (Eph 1:14) — the final Jubilee

eleutheria (ἐλευθερία) — G1657¶

Original: ἐλευθερία Transliteration: eleuthería Definition: Freedom (legitimate or licentious, chiefly moral or ceremonial).

Translations¶

"liberty" — 9x (100% of instances)

Key Verses¶

Romans 8:21 — "the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" — creation's cosmic Jubilee
1 Corinthians 10:29 — "why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?"
2 Corinthians 3:17 — "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty"
Galatians 2:4 — "our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus"
Galatians 5:1 — "the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free"
Galatians 5:13 — "ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh"
James 1:25 — "the perfect law of liberty"
James 2:12 — "the law of liberty"
1 Peter 2:16 — "as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness"
2 Peter 2:19 — "they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption"

Connection to Jubilee¶

G1657 eleutheria is the NT Greek equivalent of the CONCEPT of Jubilee liberty, though not the direct LXX translation of deror (which is aphesis). The two are semantically related: aphesis = the ACT of release; eleutheria = the STATE of freedom.

apokatastasis (ἀποκατάστασις) — G605¶

Original: ἀποκατάστασις Transliteration: apokatástasis Definition: Reconstitution; restoration to the original or proper state.

Translations¶

"of restitution" — 1x (Acts 3:21)

Key Verse¶

Acts 3:21 — "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

Significance¶

Hapax legomenon — appears ONLY here in the NT
From ἀπό + κατά + ἵστημι = "to restore back to the original standing/state"
"Times of restitution of ALL THINGS" — universal scope, Jubilee writ large
Connected to prophetic promise: "which God hath spoken by the mouth of ALL his holy prophets since the world began"
Heaven retains Christ UNTIL these times — the apokatastasis is the eschatological endpoint
The cognate verb ἀποκαθίστημι appears in Acts 1:6 — "wilt thou at this time RESTORE again the kingdom to Israel?" — the disciples ask about the Jubilee of the kingdom

kleronomia (κληρονομία) — G2817¶

Original: κληρονομία Transliteration: klēronomía Definition: Heirship; concretely, a patrimony or genitive possession.

Translations¶

"inheritance" — 10x
"an inheritance" — 3x
"any inheritance" — 1x

Key Verses (Jubilee-relevant)¶

Acts 7:5 — "[God] gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on" — Abraham, no earthly inheritance yet
Acts 20:32 — "the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified"
Galatians 3:18 — "if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise"
Ephesians 1:14 — "the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession" — Spirit as down payment on Jubilee inheritance
Ephesians 1:18 — "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints"
Colossians 3:24 — "ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance"
Hebrews 9:15 — "they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" — connects redemption to permanent inheritance (Jubilee made eternal)
Hebrews 11:8 — "which he should after receive for an inheritance"

Jubilee Pattern¶

In Lev 25, the Jubilee restores ancestral LAND INHERITANCE (achuzzah, H272). In the NT, kleronomia is the spiritual counterpart: the eternal inheritance that God's people receive through redemption. The Jubilee return to ancestral land becomes return to the eternal inheritance through Christ.

ga'al (גָּאַל) — H1350¶

Original: גָּאַל Transliteration: gâʼal (gaw-al) Definition: To redeem according to the Oriental law of kinship; to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etc.). Avenger, deliver, kinsman, purchase, ransom, redeem.

Translations (major)¶

"redeemed" / "redeemer" / "redeem" — dominant
"avenger" / "revenger" — blood avenger role
"kinsman" — the go'el role

Key Verses (Jubilee context)¶

Leviticus 25:25-33 — 11 occurrences in Jubilee legislation; the kinsman-redeemer buys back family land
Leviticus 25:48-49 — "one of his brethren may redeem him... any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him"
Ruth 4:1-14 — Boaz as the kinsman-redeemer (go'el) who redeems Naomi's land AND takes Ruth as wife
Isaiah 41:14; 43:1,14; 44:6,22-24; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7,26; 54:5,8; 59:20; 63:16 — God as Israel's go'el/Redeemer
Job 19:25 — "I know that my redeemer liveth"
Psalm 103:4 — "who redeemeth thy life from destruction"

Jubilee Significance¶

The ga'al/go'el is the mechanism for early redemption BEFORE the Jubilee. In Lev 25:25-28, if a kinsman-redeemer buys back the land, the person doesn't have to wait until Jubilee. But if NO redeemer comes, the Jubilee itself guarantees restoration. Christ is the ultimate Go'el who redeems BEFORE the final Jubilee.

padah (פָּדָה) — H6299¶

Original: פָּדָה Transliteration: pâdâh (paw-daw) Definition: To sever, i.e. ransom; generally to release, preserve. Deliver, ransom, redeem, rescue.

Translations (major)¶

"redeemed" / "redeem" — dominant
"deliver" / "delivered" — secondary
"ransom" / "ransomed" — occasional

Key Verses¶

Exodus 13:13,15 — "every firstborn... thou shalt redeem" — firstborn redemption
Deuteronomy 7:8; 9:26 — "the LORD... redeemed you out of the house of bondmen" — Exodus as padah
Psalm 49:7-8 — "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: For the redemption of their soul is precious"
Psalm 130:8 — "He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities"
Isaiah 35:10; 51:11 — "the ransomed of the LORD shall return"
Hosea 13:14 — "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death"

Distinction from ga'al (H1350)¶

padah = commercial/transactional redemption — payment of a price to release someone
ga'al = kinship redemption — family obligation to buy back property/free relatives
Both converge in Christ: He pays the price (padah) AS the kinsman-redeemer (ga'al)

BRIDGING DISCOVERY: aphesis (ἄφεσις) — G859¶

Original: ἄφεσις Transliteration: áphesis Definition: Freedom; figuratively, pardon. Deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission.

Why This Word Matters¶

G859 aphesis is the LXX translation of BOTH: - H1865 deror (liberty) — count: 6, PMI: 8.96 - H3104 yobel (jubilee) — count: 18, PMI: 8.77 - Also H8059 shemittah (sabbatical release) — count: 4

This means the LXX translators understood the ENTIRE Jubilee institution as fundamentally about RELEASE/FORGIVENESS.

NT Occurrences¶

Isaiah 61:1 LXX — "to proclaim aphesis to the captives"
Luke 4:18 — uses aphesis TWICE (captives + oppressed)
Luke 4:19 — (implied: "the acceptable year" = year of aphesis)
Matthew 26:28 — "blood of the new testament... shed for many for the remission of sins"
Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3 — "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins"
Luke 24:47 — "repentance and remission of sins should be preached"
Acts 2:38 — "be baptized... for the remission of sins"
Acts 10:43; 13:38 — "through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins"
Acts 26:18 — "that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified" — APHESIS + INHERITANCE in one verse
Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14 — "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins"
Hebrews 9:22 — "without shedding of blood is no remission"
Hebrews 10:18 — "where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin"

The Jubilee→Forgiveness Linguistic Bridge¶

The chain: Jubilee liberty (deror/yobel) → LXX aphesis → NT "forgiveness of sins" This demonstrates that the NT concept of forgiveness of sins is LINGUISTICALLY rooted in the Jubilee institution. When Jesus declares "the acceptable year of the Lord" in Luke 4:19, and when the apostles preach "remission of sins," they are using the vocabulary of Jubilee release.