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In the Acts and Epistles the word ‘deliverer’ occurs only twice. Once (Act_7:35) the original word is ὁ ëõôñùôÞò and once (Rom_11:26) it is ὁ ῥõüìåíïò . The reference in Acts is to Moses, and so does not specifically concern us here, except that the word is one of a group ( ëýôñïí , ἀíôßëõôñïí , ëõôñüù , ἀðïëýôñùóéò ) used of the redemptive work of Christ. In the Koine the word ëýôñïí usually meant the purchase-money for the manumission of slaves (A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East2, 1911, p. 331f.). In the Septuagint (Psa_19:14; Psa_68:35) the word ëõôñùôÞò is used of God Himself, and the ëýôñùóéò wrought by Christ is illustrated by that wrought by Moses (Luk_1:68; Luk_2:38, Heb_9:12, Tit_2:14), and that notion may have influenced Luke’s choice of the word in Act_7:35 (R. J. Knowling, Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘Acts,’ 1900, p. 192). The passage in Rom_11:26 ( ὁ ῥõüìåíïò ) is a quotation from Isa_59:20 and is given the Messianic interpretation. ‘There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer.’ It is a free quotation, the Septuagint having ἐê Óéþí instead of ἕíåêåí Óéþí , while the Hebrew has ‘to Zion.’ Some of the current Jewish writings (En. xc. 33; Sib. Orac. iii. 710f.; Pss. Sol. 17:33-35) cherished the hope of the conversion of the Gentiles. St. Paul here seizes on that hope, and the OT prophecy of the Messiah as Deliverer, to hold out a second hope to the Jews who have already in large measure rejected the Messiah. Before He comes again, or at His coming, the Jews will turn in large numbers to the Deliverer once rejected (cf. Sanday-Headlam, Rom. 5, 1902, in loc.). In 1Th_1:10 St. Paul had already used ὁ ῥõüìåíïò of Jesus in connexion also with the expectation of the Second Coming of Christ. It is not here translated ‘the Deliverer’ because the participle is followed by ἡìᾶò , ‘who delivereth us from the wrath to come.’ The word ῥýù means properly ‘to draw,’ and so the middle voice is ‘to draw to one’s self for shelter,’ ‘to rescue.’ The word emphasizes the power of Christ as our Deliverer, ἐê ôῆò ὀñãῆò ôῆò ἐñ÷ïìÝíçò . The deliverance is complete ( ἐê ) (Milligan, Thess., 1908, in loc.). This word ῥýïìáé is the most frequent one for deliverance by God. St. Paul in 2Co_1:10 uses it of his rescue from death in Ephesus ( ἐñýóáôï ἡìᾶò êáὶ ῥýóåôáé - êáὶ ἕôé ῥýóåôáé ). It is the word for our rescue from the power of darkness in Col_1:13. St. Paul has it also in 2Ti_3:11 when he tells how the Lord delivered him out of his persecutions. In 4:17f. he uses it of his rescue from the lion, and of his hope that the Lord will deliver him from every evil deed. In 2Pe_2:9 St. Peter uses it also for God’s help in temptation. In Gal_1:4 St. Paul has ὅðùò ἑîÝëçôáé for Christ’s purpose to deliver us from the present evil age. The word is ἐîáéñÝïìáé , ‘to take out from,’ while in Heb_2:15 the word for deliverance from the fear of death is ἀðáëëÜóóù , ‘to set free from.’
These words are simply those that in the Revised Version happen to be translated by ‘deliver’ in English. But they by no means cover the whole subject. As a matter of fact all the atoning work of Christ is embraced in the notion of deliverance from sin and its effects. St. Paul himself epitomizes his conception of Christ as Deliverer in his paean of victory in 1Co_15:54 ff.: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,’ This deliverance applies to the whole man (soul and body) and to the whole creation (Rom_8:18-25). It means ultimately the over-throw of Satan and the complete triumph of Christ in a new heaven and a new earth (the Apocalypse).
A. T. Robertson.