God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.
Galatians 4: 4-5, RSV
"All Paul's readers would have been familiar with the ... Greek process for freeing slaves. The word redeem describes this process. Sometimes a slave caught the attention of a wealthy free person and for some reason or other -- compassion, affection, justice -- the free person would then go to the temple or shrine and deposit with the priests the sum of money required for manumission. The priests would then deliver an oracle ... then pass the redemptive price on to the recent owner. The ex-slave ... was free.
That, says Paul, is what has happened to each of us. ... A price has been paid to free us. We are valuable beyond calculation."
Traveling Light
God's Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson
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