Context for understanding the Ransom Theory

[Peter Kirby]

Another example of this connection of the sea to Hades is cited by Beaulieu from Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound 431–35.

The waves of the sea cry out in their fall, the marine depths groan, the dark cavern of Hades rumbles underneath, and the springs of pure-flowing rivers lament your pitiable pain.

[Peter Kirby]

In the mythic thought of the Greeks, spirits could rise out of the water during communication with the dead (Beaulieu, The Sea In Greek Imagination):

The connecting function of the hydrological network is also evident in the practice of necromancy, or divination by communication with the souls of the dead. Indeed, the four main Greek nekyomanteia, or oracles of the dead, are located near the sea or other bodies of water. The nekyomanteion of Acheron in Thesprotia is near the Acherusian marsh, that of Avernus in Campania is near the lake of the same name, the nekyomanteion at Taenarum is in a cave on the tip of the Mani peninsula that extends between the Messenian and Laconian gulfs, and finally the nekyomanteion of Heracleia Pontica is in a cave on the coast of the Black Sea. As Ogden shows, the spirits at the nekyomanteia of Acheron and Avernus are thought to rise directly from the water. Similarly, in Aeschylus’s Ghost Raisers (fr. 273a), Odysseus is instructed to raise the souls of the dead from the river Acheron. In all these cases, the sea and the hydrological network in general mediate between the world of the living and the dead, as they suggest tunnels leading to Hades.

[Peter Kirby]

The sea was the "midpoint between light and darkness" and a "gateway to the invisible world" (Beaulieu, The Sea in the Greek Imagination):

In the story of Glaucus, a vertical leap into the sea operates the passage between the visible and invisible worlds. A similar gateway to the invisible world exists in the farthest reaches of the sea, on the line of the horizon, where the river Ocean flows.94 According to the Theogony 736–39, this location is the meeting point of earth, sky, and sea:

And there, one after the other, are the sources and ends of all, of the black earth, misty Tartarus, the barren sea, and the starry sky, terrible and dank, which even the gods abhor.

In the passage, one of the important differences between the parts of the world that converge on the line of the horizon is the intensity of the light that shines on them. Tartarus, like Hades and the subterranean world in general, is misty and dark. The sky is illuminated by the stars (ἀστερόεντος), and a perpetual light shines on Olympus (Od. 6.45). The sea is therefore the midpoint between light and darkness.

[mbuckley3]

Once Jewish or Christian writers dabble with 'ransom' language, the question immediately arises, who is this ransom paid to ? In terms of the vivid social reality of the OP, Philo's God, who seemingly receives the ransom, resembles a Pirate King :

"We have it indeed on the authority of Moses that the Levites, who in place of the first-born were appointed to the service of Him who alone is worthy of service, were a ransom [λυτρα] for all the others. 'And behold I have taken,' he says, 'the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, in place of every first-born.. from among the sons of Israel. They shall be their ransom and the Levites shall be mine, for every first-born is mine'.....

"This [a life of perfect virtue, symbolized by Levi] is the primary meaning of the price which the soul that craves liberty pays for its deliverance and ransom. But it may be that the prophet also means to show another truth and one that we could ill spare, namely that every wise man is a ransom for the fool, whose existence could not endure for an hour, did not the wise provide for his preservation by compassion and forethought......

"We showed that the excellent man is a ransom for the fool, and therefore it is with good reason that the sinners come to the consecrated to get purification...."

(On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain, 118, 121, 128)

[Peter Kirby]

Well said. Piracy was a widespread reality of the ancient Mediterranean, and familiarity with the fact that captives would be taken for ransom required no literary education or special explanation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_M ... ean_piracy

Crete was also notable for its pirates. If a city had a successful slave market it was most likely a pirate port. Notorious pirate havens like Cilicia and Delos had thriving slave markets. According to the ancient geographer Strabo, as many as ten thousand slaves were sold in Delos in one day. Being kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery was so common that it was a theme of ancient Greek dramatists.
...
The Amarna letters, a series of 362 clay correspondence tablets from the king of Babylon to Pharaoh Amenhotep III or his son Akhenaten written around 1350 BCE, tell of sea raiders beginning not just to plunder ships but also to capture Babylonian towns.
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Nearly a century later, the Sherden remained a threat, with Ramses II recording on the Tanis Stele, "the unruly Sherden whom no one had ever known how to combat, they came boldly sailing in their warships from the midst of the sea, none being able to withstand them."
...
Many texts from Bronze Age and archaic Greece condone piracy as a viable profession. In ancient Greece, "piracy seems to have been widespread and widely regarded as an entirely honourable way of making a living." Numerous references are made to its normal occurrence in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
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Over a century later, the Greek historian Thucydides (ca. 460–395 BCE) wrote that Greeks found a livelihood in piracy: For in early times the Hellenes and the barbarians of the coast and islands, as communication by sea became more common, were tempted to turn pirate… indeed, this came to be the main source of their livelihood, no disgrace being yet attached to such an achievement, but even some glory.
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In 167 BCE Rome forcibly made Delos a "duty free" port to undercut the power and wealth of Rhodes, and Rhodesian harbor-tax income dropped from 1 million drachmas to 150,000 drachmas in a year. Without its policing influence, piracy grew rampant even in the eastern Mediterranean.
...
Illyrian piracy could be more correctly termed privateering, as it was endorsed by the state. In Polybius’ Histories, which covers the period of 220–146 BCE. His description of Teuta, queen of the Illyrians states, reads: "Her first measure was to grant letters of marque to privateers, authorising them to plunder all whom they fell in with." ... By 228 BCE, Teuta had surrendered, and the Romans had decimated the forces of one of the most notorious pirate havens in the Mediterranean.
...

[mbuckley3]

Don't get carried away by the pirates

Philo, no lover of travel by sea, reserves most of his 'real life' ransom language in connection with prisoners-of-war.

Also, he deplores 'substitution' ransoms which allow the release of a criminal.

Also deplorable, tax-collectors whipping already-dead defaulters to excite the pity of friends and relatives, who then pony up a ransom to obtain release of the body for burial.

So again, Philo's good God, insofar as he receives ransoms (however 'spiritualized'), is in rather strange company...

[Peter Kirby]

Origen emphasizes the culpable and voluntary nature of the devil's acquisition of souls, referring to "that lord to whom we sold ourselves by sinning," saying "we have become slaves of the devil in so far as we have been sold for our sins" because "each one is sold for his own sins and, for his iniquities, parts from his own creator." (Exodus Homily 6.9)

But if the Lord himself is creator of all things, we must consider in what manner he is said "to have acquired" what is without doubt his own. It is said also in another song in Deuteronomy: "Is not he himself your God who made you and created you and acquired you?" [Dt 32:6] For each one appears to acquire that which was not his own. Indeed on this basis the heretics also say of the Savior that he "acquired" those who were not his; for with the price which was paid he purchased men whom the creator had made. And it is certain, they say, that everyone buys that which is not his own; indeed the Apostle says, "You have been bought with a price." [1 Cor 7:23] But hear what the prophet says, "You have been sold for your sins and for your iniquities I sent your mother away." [Is 50:1] You see, therefore, that we are all creatures of God. But each one is sold for his own sins and, for his iniquities, parts from his own creator. We, therefore, belong to God in so far as we have been created by him. But we have become slaves of the devil in so far as we have been sold for our sins. Christ came, however, and "bought us back" [Gal 3:13] when we were serving that lord to whom we sold ourselves by sinning. And so he appears to have recovered as his own those whom he created; to have acquired as people belonging to another indeed those who had sought another lord for themselves by sinning.

But perhaps Christ, who gave his own blood as the price for us, is rightly said to have bought us back. But what sort of price did the devil, too, pay that he might purchase us? Pay attention then. Murder is the money of the devil; for "he is a murderer from the beginning." [Jn 8:44] You have committed murder; you have received the devil's money. Adultery is the money of the devil for "the image and superscription" [Mt 22:20] of the devil is on it. You have committed adultery; you have received a coin from the devil. Theft, false testimony, greediness, violence, all these are the devil's property and treasure for such money proceeds from his mint. With this money, therefore, he buys those whom he buys and makes all of those his slaves who have received however insignificant a coin from his property of this kind. But I fear that the devil is secretly purchasing even some of these who are in the Church, some of these who are present, while we do not know it. I fear that he also may present this money which we enumerated above to some of us and make those his own again, and again write for them documents of slavery and bond sureties of sin and mingle those whom he made his slaves for the price of sin with the servants of God. For he is accustomed, because he is "the enemy," "to mix tares with the wheat." [Mt 13:25-28] Nevertheless, if someone, perhaps having been deceived by the devil, accepts money of this kind, he is not totally hopeless. For "the Lord is merciful and full of pity" [Ps 110:4] and "does not wish the death" of his creation, but wishes "that it might be converted and live." [Ez 33:11] By repenting, by weeping, by making amends, let him destroy what has been committed. For the prophet says, "When you have turned and mourned, you will be saved." [Is 45:22] We have proceeded far afield while wishing to explain how God is said "to acquire" what is his own and Christ is said "to buy back with his precious blood" [1 Pt 1:19] those whom the devil bought with the cheap wages of sin.

[Peter Kirby]

The Commentaries of Origen and Jerome on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians (Heine's translation), p. 91, on Ephesians 1:7.

‘Redemption’ [or] deliverance has to do with prisoners and those who have come under the power of enemies. And we had come under the power of enemies, namely ‘the ruler of this world’ and the evil powers under him and for this reason were in need of redemption and of him who purchased us, that he might receive us back who were alienated from him. The Saviour, therefore, ‘gave’ his own blood as the ‘ransom’ for us, wherefore ‘we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of trespasses.’

Origen doesn't present this as a "theory" so much as the meaning of the word redemption according to him.

[Peter Kirby]

Origen is able to identify, when being more specific, the moment of giving himself as "the redemption price" as being the same as when "he handed himself over to the enemies." As Origen describes elsewhere (quoted previously), going on to torture and kill Jesus was a decision made after the payment of the ransom of Jesus himself. Of course, it could be thought that God knew what would be done in advance. Below, Origen uses a simile, mentioning prisoners of war.

The term ‘redemption’ refers to that which is given to enemies for those whom they are keeping in captivity, in order that they might restore them to their original freedom. Captives conquered by sin, as if by war, were being held fast, then, by the enemies of the human race. The Son of God came, who ‘has become for us’ not only ‘wisdom from God and righteousness and holiness’ but also ‘redemption.’ [1 Cor. 1:30] He gave himself as the redemption price, that is to say, he handed himself over to the enemies and, what is more, poured out his own blood to those thirsting for it . . . Perhaps even Solomon was describing this under a mystery when he said, ‘The redemption price of a man’s soul is his own wealth.’ [Prov. 13:8] For if you ask what the wealth of the soul is, you will discover that its wealth is wisdom, righteousness, and holiness. But the apostle says that Christ is all these things. Christ then is the soul’s wealth and therefore he himself is the soul’s redemption price.

from Commentary on Romans 3.7.14, quoted in "From Whom Was Humanity Saved?" by Daniel Waldow.

Previously we saw similarly:

https://www.academia.edu/35210397/Orige ... ised_2020_

So to whom did he give his soul a ransom on behalf of many? Certainly not to God, so would it not then be to the evil one? For he had control over us, until the soul of Jesus was given to him as a ransom for our sakes, he who was deceived <quite clearly and imagined> that he would be able to lord it over [Jesus’ soul] and did not see that torture would not suffice to constrain it. Wherefore indeed “his death” which seemed to have mastered [him] “no longer masters [him]” (Rom 6.9) after he <alone> became “free among the dead” (Ps 87.5) and [became] mightier than the authority of death.

[Peter Kirby]

Irenaeus is best known for the "recapitulation theory," which does merit the term "theory" and may be his own innovation. Irenaeus still refers to the "redemption" of souls, by the giving of Jesus himself to redeem those in captivity. On this, Origen and Irenaeus both attest.

https://earlychristianwritings.com/text ... book5.html

We — who were but lately created by the only best and good Being, by Him also who has the gift of immortality, having been formed after His likeness (predestinated, according to the prescience of the Father, that we, who had as yet no existence, might come into being), and made the first-fruits of creation — have received, in the times known beforehand, [the blessings of salvation] according to the ministration of the Word, who is perfect in all things, as the mighty Word, and very man, who, redeeming us by His own blood in a manner consonant to reason, gave Himself as a redemption for those who had been led into captivity. And since the apostasy tyrannized over us unjustly, and, though we were by nature the property of the omnipotent God, alienated us contrary to nature, rendering us its own disciples, the Word of God, powerful in all things, and not defective with regard to His own justice, did righteously turn against that apostasy, and redeem from it His own property, not by violent means, as the [apostasy] had obtained dominion over us at the beginning, when it insatiably snatched away what was not its own, but by means of persuasion, as became a God of counsel, who does not use violent means to obtain what He desires; so that neither should justice be infringed upon, nor the ancient handiwork of God go to destruction. Since the Lord thus has redeemed us through His own blood, giving His soul for our souls, and His flesh for our flesh, and has also poured out the Spirit of the Father for the union and communion of God and man, imparting indeed God to men by means of the Spirit, and, on the other hand, attaching man to God by His own incarnation, and bestowing upon us at His coming immortality durably and truly, by means of communion with God — all the doctrines of the heretics fall to ruin.

Like Origen, Irenaeus both refers to Jesus "giving himself" or "his soul" and also to "redeeming us by his own blood." Since, in the story, Jesus died after he was handed over, it would seem natural to go on to speak of the price paid by Jesus in terms of his death (as could also be done in cases of prisoner substitution where the substitute dies while in captivity). The reference to "blood" may evoke 1 Peter.

Origen speaks of ‘the ruler of this world’ and the devil, as well as "evil powers under him." Irenaeus speaks abstractly in terms of "apostasy." He would seem to be uncomfortable with a more specific story of redemption, i.e., the identification of us being redeemed from the devil or (as some may have claimed) the creator god of the Old Testament.