To sever , i.e. ransom ; generally to release , preserve
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פָּדָה (padah) is a Hebrew verb for ransoming, redeeming, or securing release. Exodus 13:13 and 34:20 use it in firstborn redemption, Leviticus 27:27 addresses redemption of an unclean animal under valuation rules, and Numbers 18:15-16 specifies a redemption price for firstborn sons.
Reader summary
Full entry for פָּדָה (H6299) · Open the biblical lexicon
פָּדָה (padah) is a Hebrew verb for ransoming, redeeming, or securing release. Exodus 13:13 and 34:20 use it in firstborn redemption, Leviticus 27:27 addresses redemption of an unclean animal under valuation rules, and Numbers 18:15-16 specifies a redemption price for firstborn sons.
The BSB source-word alignment has 59 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (4), You must redeem (4), You redeemed (4), and redeemed you (3), redeem me (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 13:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (14), Exodus (8), Deuteronomy (6), Numbers (6).
פָּדָה (padah) is a Hebrew verb for ransoming, redeeming, or securing release. Exodus 13:13 and 34:20 use it in firstborn redemption, Leviticus 27:27 addresses redemption of an unclean animal under valuation rules, and Numbers 18:15-16 specifies a redemption price for firstborn sons. These legal texts give payment and substitution concrete roles, but not every occurrence names a price, creditor, or commercial exchange.
Deuteronomy remembers God's redemption of Israel from slavery. Deuteronomy 7:8 grounds it in the Lord's love and oath, while 15:15 and 24:18 make remembered redemption a reason for generosity and justice. Micah 6:4 likewise recalls deliverance from the house of slavery. The Exodus use is liberation by divine action and covenant faithfulness; Scripture does not describe God paying Pharaoh or Satan as the owner of Israel.
Psalms and prophets extend the language to danger, guilt, exile, death, and hope. Psalm 49:7 says one human cannot ransom another's life, yet verse 15 trusts God to redeem from Sheol. Psalm 130:8 expects God to redeem Israel from iniquities, Jeremiah 31:11 speaks of redemption from a stronger hand, and Isaiah 35:10 pictures the ransomed returning with joy. Hosea 13:14 uses ransom-from-Sheol language in a difficult judgment context, so later resurrection connections should respect both its immediate setting and its canonical reuse.
Padah joins legally specified redemption with God's historical and personal deliverance. Its contexts may emphasize price, substitute, release, rescue, covenant memory, guilt, exile, or death, and they should not be forced into one transaction model.
A firstborn donkey is redeemed with a lamb, while firstborn sons must also be redeemed.
The firstborn redemption amount is specified within priestly legislation.
God redeems Israel from slavery because of covenant love and the oath to the ancestors.
Remembered redemption from Egypt grounds justice for vulnerable workers and gleaners.
The Lord's ransomed return to Zion with joy in a restoration vision.
The Lord ransoms Jacob from a hand stronger than his own.
The psalm denies that one human can ransom another's life or provide the required payment to God.
The same psalm turns from human inability to confidence that God will redeem from Sheol's power.
Hope in the Lord culminates in confidence that he will redeem Israel from all iniquities.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Release from bondage through payment or divine intervention; redemption emphasizing severance from captivity or death.
Release from bondage through payment or divine intervention; redemption emphasizing severance from captivity or death.
to sever, i.e. ransom; generally to release, preserve BDB: ransom Usage: × at all, deliver, × by any means, ransom, (that are to be, let be) redeem(-ed), rescue, × surely.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 59 lexical occurrence verses.
פָּדָה is a primitive root - no further derivation.
The promise that Zion will be redeemed with justice anticipates the fuller biblical theme of redemption accomplished through God’s decisive saving act. Hosea 13:9-16
Connects exodus deliverance with future salvation. Isaiah 1:21-31
Introduces redemption motif later fulfilled in Christ. Isaiah 51:9-16
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Padah gives redemption both cost and freedom without requiring every passage to describe the same transaction. Firstborn laws make valuation and substitution visible. Deuteronomy grounds Israel's release in God's love and promise, then turns redeemed memory outward into justice for workers, strangers, widows, and orphans. Psalm 49 exposes the inability of wealth or kinship to purchase life from death, while trusting God to redeem.
Teaching should therefore emphasize divine initiative, real liberation, grateful covenant responsibility, and hope beyond human resources. It should not speculate about a payment to Satan, make one metaphor the whole doctrine of atonement, or tell oppressed people that spiritual redemption removes the need for practical release, restitution, protection, and justice.
Deut.7.8
H6299 can involve an explicit price or substitute, but many divine-redemption passages focus on release and rescue without naming a payee. Related redemption vocabulary must be compared passage by passage rather than assigned a rigid price-versus-kinship formula.
Jesus and the apostles use ransom, purchase, liberation, forgiveness, adoption, victory, sacrifice, and reconciliation language for salvation. Those images can be read alongside padah while each New Testament text determines who acts, what is overcome, and what cost is named.
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