Jerry Shugart
Well-known member
Let us look at these two verses:
In the first verse it says that He gave His life as a ransom for "all." Then in the second verse it says that He gave His life as a ransom for "many," but not all.
How can this be explained? The key to understanding the difference is understanding the meaning of the Greek words translated "for" in both verses.
In the first verse the Greek word translated "for" is hyper, and one of the meanings of that word is "on behalf of" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon). The Lord Jesus died on "behalf" of ALL MEN.
In the second verse the Greek word anti is translated as "for," and that word means "in place of" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon). So the Lord gave His life a ransom in place of MANY, but not all.
So we can see that the Lord Jesus gave His life as a ransom on behalf of all men but the Lord only gave His life as a ransom "in place of" MANY people but not all.
The Lord Jesus only gave His life as a ransom "in place of" those who believe the gospel of our salvation. But He died on behalf of all men.
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;Who gave himself a ransom for (hyper) all, to be testified in due time" (1 Tim.2:6).
"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for (anti) many" (Mt.20:28).
In the first verse it says that He gave His life as a ransom for "all." Then in the second verse it says that He gave His life as a ransom for "many," but not all.
How can this be explained? The key to understanding the difference is understanding the meaning of the Greek words translated "for" in both verses.
In the first verse the Greek word translated "for" is hyper, and one of the meanings of that word is "on behalf of" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon). The Lord Jesus died on "behalf" of ALL MEN.
In the second verse the Greek word anti is translated as "for," and that word means "in place of" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon). So the Lord gave His life a ransom in place of MANY, but not all.
So we can see that the Lord Jesus gave His life as a ransom on behalf of all men but the Lord only gave His life as a ransom "in place of" MANY people but not all.
The Lord Jesus only gave His life as a ransom "in place of" those who believe the gospel of our salvation. But He died on behalf of all men.
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