Difference between revisions of "Goel"

<p> ''''' gō´el ''''' ( גּאל , <i> ''''' gō'ēl ''''' </i> , "redeemer"): [[Goel]] is the participle of the Hebrew word <i> ''''' gā'al ''''' </i> ("to deliver," "to redeem") which aside from its common usage is frequently employed in connection with Hebrew law, where it is the technical term applied to a person who as the nearest relative of another is placed under certain obligations to him. (1) If a Jew because of poverty had been obliged to sell himself to a wealthy "stranger or sojourner," it became the duty of his relatives to redeem him. Compare &nbsp; Leviticus 25:47 and the article [[Jubilee]] . (2) The same duty fell upon the nearest kinsman, if his brother, being poor, had been forced to sell some of his property. Compare &nbsp;Leviticus 25:23; Rth 4:4, and the article [[Jubilee]] . (3) It also devolved upon the nearest relative to marry the ú childless widow of his brother (Rth 3:13; [[Tobit]] 3:17). (4) In &nbsp;Numbers 5:5 a law is stated which demands that restitution be made to the nearest relative, and after him to the priest, if the injured party has died (&nbsp; Leviticus 6:1 ). (5) The law of blood-revenge ( <i> ''''' Blut ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Rache ''''' </i> ) made it the sacred duty of the nearest relative to avenge the blood of his kinsman. He was called the גּאל הדּם , <i> ''''' gō'ēl ha ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' dām ''''' </i> , "the avenger of blood." This law was based upon the command given in &nbsp;Genesis 9:5 f: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed," and was carried out even if an animal had killed a man; in this case, however, the payment of a ransom was permitted (&nbsp; Exodus 21:28 ). A clear distinction was made between an accidental and a deliberate murder. In both cases the murderer could find refuge at the altar of the sanctuary; if, however, the investigation revealed presumptuous manslaughter, he was taken from the altar to be put to death (&nbsp;Exodus 21:12; &nbsp;1 Kings 1:50; &nbsp;1 Kings 2:28 ). In &nbsp;Numbers 35:9 definite regulations as to the duties of the Goel are given. Six cities were to be appointed as "cities of refuge," three on each side of the Jordan. The congregation has judgment over the murderer. There must be more than one witness to convict a man. If he is found guilty, he is delivered to the Goel; if murder was committed by accident he is permitted to live within the border of the city of refuge; in case the manslayer leaves this city before the death of the high priest, the avenger of blood has a right to slay him. After the death of the high priest the murderer may return to his own city. [[Ransom]] cannot be given for the life of a murderer; no expiation can be made for a murder but by the blood of the murderer (&nbsp; Deuteronomy 19:4; &nbsp;Joshua 20:1-9; &nbsp;2 Samuel 14:6 ). According to the law the children of a murderer could not be held responsible for the crime of their father (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 24:16; &nbsp;2 Kings 14:6 ), but see &nbsp;2 Samuel 21:1 . The order in which the nearest relative was considered the Goel is given in &nbsp;Leviticus 25:48 f: first a brother, then an uncle or an uncle's son, and after them any other near relative. This order was observed in connection with (1) above, but probably also in the other cases except (4). </p> <p> For the figurative use of Goel ("redeemer") see &nbsp; Psalm 119:154; &nbsp;Proverbs 23:11; &nbsp;Job 19:25; <i> &nbsp;Isaiah 41:14 </i> . See also [[Avenge]]; [[Murder]]; [[Refuge]] , Cities Of . </p>

<p> ( '''''גּוֹאֵל''''' , ''Go [['''''Ë''''' L''']]  part. of '''''גָּאִל''''' , gaal', to ''Redeem;'' in full, '''''גּוֹאֵל''''' '''''הִדָּם''''' , ''Avenger Of Blood,'' rendered "kinsman," "redeemer," "avenger," etc., in the A. Vers.), Among the Hebrews, the right of repurchasing and redeeming, as well as that of avenging blood, appertained only to the next relative; hence goel, simply, is used for the next relative (&nbsp;Leviticus 25:25). [[Similar]] usages prevail universally among the modern Arabs. (See Blood- Revenge). Connected with the duties of the Goel was, according to custom, also that of marrying the childless widow of the deceased relative (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 20:5-10). (See [[Levirate Law]]). The fact of the close consanguinity renders the Goel an eminent type of the Redeemer of mankind, as is especially evinced in that famous passage in the Oriental epic of Job. The afflicted man, by a striking anticipation of the incarnate Mediator, standing in immortal self-existence over the sleeping ashes of his kindred saint, who was misunderstood and maligned even by his best earthly friends, thus touchingly exults in the prospect that his disembodied spirit should survive to witness the posthumous vindication of his fame (&nbsp;Job 19:25-27): </p> <p> [Be this my dying testimony,] That I have known my living God; And last upon [the] dust he will arise: Yes, after my skin has decayed, [even] thus; Yet without my flesh shall I behold Deity! Whom I shall behold [as] mine; (Yes, my eyes, they have [already] seen [him], Nor has he been strange [to me]), [Though] they have failed, my reins within me. </p> <p> The sentiment was well worthy to be "engraved with an iron style, and set with lead in the rock forever, as the epitaph of the noble patriarch (&nbsp;Job 19:24). Although it does not (as erroneously rendered in the A.V.) contain any allusion to the resurrection of the body, yet it distinctly recognises the doctrines of a fellow-feeling on the part of God towards man, and of the immortality of the soul; and it shows how these tenets, which lie at the basis of all true religion, whether natural or revealed, are alone adequate to support the human spirit under the sorrows of life, and in view of death. (See St '''''Ö''''' r, De vindice sanguinis, Lips. 1694; Stickel, De Go '''''Ë''''' le, Jen. 1832; and the dissertations on the passage by Rosshirt [Herbip. 1791] and Kosegarten [Griefsw. 1815].) (See Redeemer). </p>