When we think of the word גְּאֻלָּה geula - we typically think of a divine redemption or salvation, perhaps with a messianic bent. It could be spiritual or it could be physical, but God is the one doing the redeeming.
However, the root גאל - "to redeem" - doesn't have that meaning exclusively. In the Tanakh, we find it frequently referring to redemption by humans: redemption of land, or redemption of other humans (for example, slaves).
For example, in Vayikra 25:25, if an Israelite becomes poor and sells part of his ancestral property, the Torah says:
וּבָא גֹאֲלוֹ הַקָּרֹב אֵלָיו וְגָאַל אֵת מִמְכַּר אָחִיו
“His nearest goel shall come and redeem what his relative sold.”
The goel here is the close relative who has the right, and in some cases the responsibility, to recover property that has left the family.
The same chapter extends this role to a relative who has sold himself into servitude. A brother, uncle, cousin, or other close relative can redeem him.
This is also the background to the role of the goel in the book of Ruth. Boaz is a goel because he belongs to Naomi's family circle. There is an even closer relative who has the first claim, and when he declines, Boaz steps in.
In Ruth 4:6, the nearer relative tells Boaz:
גְּאַל־לְךָ אַתָּה אֶת־גְּאֻלָּתִי כִּי לֹא אוּכַל לִגְאֹל
"You redeem my geula, for I cannot redeem."
Here גְּאֻלָּתִי does not mean “my salvation.” It means something like “my right [or obligation] of redemption,” the claim that belongs to him as the closer relative.
This helps explain another Biblical expression that otherwise seems quite far removed from “redemption”: goel hadam גּוֹאֵל הַדָּם.
This is usually translated “the avenger of blood,” the relative who acts in response to the killing of a family member.
Why call such a person a goel?
The answer seems to lie in the role rather than in one specific action. The goel is the relative who represents the family's interests and is authorized to act when something has been lost, violated, or taken away.
Some linguists claimed that this legal sense of restoring family property was the original meaning of the root גאל, and it only later expanded to the divine one we're more familiar with today. However, there are early examples of supernatural redemption. For example, Yaakov says in Bereishit 48:16:
הַמַּלְאָךְ הַגֹּאֵל אֹתִי מִכָּל־רָע
“the angel who redeems me from all evil.”
In addition to the angel mentioned (as opposed to human intervention), there is no land transaction here, no purchase price, and no family property. The meaning is clearly “rescue” or “deliver” in the broader sense.
Sometimes both meanings can overlap. Take Shemot 6:6, where God says:
וְגָאַלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בִּזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה
“I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.”
On the one hand, God is redeeming Israel from Egyptian slavery, in the same way a family member would redeem an enslaved relative. But on the other hand, God is redeeming His people, so this is a case of divine salvation.
In modern times, we find the same dual meaning. The Zionist project talked about גְּאֻלַּת הָאָרֶץ geulat ha'aretz - literally, "redemption of the land." It describes both a practical project of acquiring and settling parcels of land while at the same time evoking a much larger historical and religious vision.
There is also a second Biblical root spelled גאל, traditionally understood as meaning “defile” or “pollute.” It only appears in 11 verses, as opposed to the 105 verses with the meaning "redeem."
Some scholars try to connect the two meanings (see here), but the widespread approach (for example cited by Klein) is that this second meaning is related to the root געל, also meaning to "defile." (See my post here about how the root געל came to mean "defile" and "rinse, clean, purify,")
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