# G0465 - antallagma **Strong's:** [G0465](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g465/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** an-tal'-ag-mah **Part of speech:** noun, neuter **Root:** from *anti* (G0473, "in place of, in exchange for") + *allassō* (G0236, "to change, exchange"); the compound names *what is given in exchange*, *the price set against the thing*. Strong's glosses it "an equivalent or ransom". **LXX usage:** six occurrences in the canonical books, all in the exchange sense: [Ruth 4:7](/codex/ruth-4-7/) (the sandal custom "for the exchange"), [1 Kings 21:2](/codex/1-kings-21-2/) (LXX 3 Kingdoms 20:2, Ahab's offer of another vineyard "in exchange for" Naboth's), [Job 28:15](/codex/job-28-15-19/) (silver will not be weighed out as wisdom's *antallagma*), [Psalm 55:19](/codex/psalms-55-19/) (LXX 54:20), [Psalm 89:51](/codex/psalms-89-51/) (LXX 88:52), and [Jeremiah 15:13](/codex/jeremiah-15-13/) (treasure handed over "as an exchange for all your sins"). Sirach adds the moral-incomparable sense: there is no *antallagma* for a faithful friend (Sir 6:15) or for a well-instructed soul (Sir 26:14). **NT occurrences:** 2, **[Matt 16:26](/codex/matthew-16-26/)** and **[Mk 8:37](/codex/mark-8-37/)**, parallel sayings of Jesus. The word appears in no other NT context. **The 30-second version:** > *Antallagma* means what is given in exchange, the price set against a thing. In the New Testament it appears in only one saying of Jesus: what will a man give in exchange for his soul? The answer is nothing. No sum of created goods, not even the whole world, can be traded for a soul. That is why the ransom had to be paid in a coin of greater worth, the precious blood of Christ, who gave himself where no human price could reach. ## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG) 1. **An exchange-value**, Thayer: "that which is given in place of another thing by way of exchange"; the *counter-good* one offers in trade. 2. **The price of keeping or gaining something**, Thayer: "what is given either in order to keep or to acquire anything". At [Mark 8:37](/codex/mark-8-37/) Thayer reads the sense as "nothing equals in value the soul's salvation." Strong's "ransom" gloss belongs here: the price paid to keep a life. It overlaps conceptually with [*lytron*](/codex/g3083-lytron/) (ransom-price) and [*antilytron*](/codex/g0487-antilytron/) (ransom given in place of another), but it is a distinct word: *antallagma* names the equivalent, *antilytron* the substitute ransom. 3. **An equivalent / a price**, in a more general sense; whatever counts as the *measure* of the thing's value when set against another good. Thayer cites the word in Euripides (*Orestes* 1157) and Josephus (*Jewish War* 1.18.3) in the plain commercial sense, *what one gives in exchange*. He also notes that Jesus is transferring a proverb about the supreme worth of natural life, comparing Homer, *Iliad* 9.401, where Achilles says nothing is *worth as much as* life (*antaxion*, a different word making the same point). Sirach (6:15; 26:14) develops the *moral-incomparable* sense: certain goods admit of no *antallagma*, no counter-good can equal them. ## Theological force, the soul as the incomparable good ### The single Jesus-saying The word's entire NT weight rests on one Jesus-saying preserved in two synoptic parallels: - **[Matthew 16.26](/codex/matthew-16-26/)**: *"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange (antallagma) for his soul?"* - **[Mark 8.37](/codex/mark-8-37/)**: *"For what shall a man give in exchange (antallagma) for his soul?"* The structure is a rhetorical-impossibility question. The answer is: *nothing*. There is no *antallagma*, no counter-good, no exchange-equivalent, that one can give for one's own soul. The soul (*psychē*) is *incommensurable* with any sum of created goods; the entire world ("gains the whole world", [Mt 16:26](/codex/matthew-16-26/) = [Mk 8:36](/codex/mark-8-36/)) cannot serve as the counter-weight. The implication is not that the soul has *very high* exchange-value; it is that the soul *cannot be exchanged at all* within the economy of creaturely goods. The saying lands at the climax of the first-prediction-of-the-Passion pericope ([Mt 16:21-28](/codex/matthew-16-21-28/); [Mk 8:31-9:1](/codex/mark-8-31-9-1/)), in which Jesus has just rebuked Peter for refusing the cross-shape of messianic identity and has called the disciples to take up *their own* crosses. The *antallagma* question is the *rationale* for cross-bearing: only by *losing* the soul *for Christ's sake* ([Mt 16:25](/codex/matthew-16-25/); [Mk 8:35](/codex/mark-8-35/)) does one *save* it; the world-for-soul trade is structurally a *losing* trade because no *antallagma* is available. ### The conceptual nexus, ransom and redemption *Antallagma* itself occurs only in this one saying, and it is not a ransom-term in the New Testament. The *ransom-and-redemption* word-group, built on a different root (*lyō*, "to loose"), runs broadly through the NT and supplies the answer the saying's question leaves open: - **[Mark 10.45](/codex/mark-10-45/)**, *"the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom (lytron) for many (anti pollōn)."* The Christ-ransom saying. [*Lytron*](/codex/g3083-lytron/) (G3083) names the *price-of-release*; *anti* names the *in-place-of* substitution. - **[1 Timothy 2.6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/)**, *"who gave Himself as a ransom (antilytron) for all (hyper pantōn)..."* [*Antilytron*](/codex/g0487-antilytron/) (G0487, found only here in the NT) builds *anti* into the noun itself: a ransom given *in place of* another. - **[1 Peter 1:18-19](/codex/1-peter-1-18-19/)**, *"you were not redeemed (elytrōthēte) with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life... but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ."* The redemption is contrasted with monetary exchange precisely because *no monetary antallagma* could effect it. - **[Hebrews 9.12](/codex/hebrews-9-12/)**, *"and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (aiōnian lytrōsin)."* The eternal-redemption procured by Christ's own blood-cost. The conceptual nexus: the human soul is incommensurable with created goods, so the soul-ransom must be paid in a coin of incommensurably-greater value, *the precious blood of Christ*. The *no-antallagma-available* of [Mark 8:37](/codex/mark-8-37/) becomes the *yet-Christ-gave-Himself* of [Mark 10:45](/codex/mark-10-45/) and [1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/). The cross is the only available counter-weight precisely because it is *not* a creaturely good; it is the self-giving of the Incarnate Son, whose worth is divine. ### Reformed soteriological deployment The Reformed atonement tradition reads the *lytron* / *antilytron* sayings as scriptural ground for **penal substitutionary atonement** (see [Atonement Theory Spread](/codex/atonement-theory-spread/) §"Penal Substitution"), with the *antallagma* saying supplying the premise. The structure: humanity owes a debt of righteousness and a penalty for sin that no human can pay; Christ, as the God-man, pays in His own person a price of incommensurable value, satisfying the divine justice and securing the souls of those for whom He pays. The *antallagma*-question of [Mk 8:37](/codex/mark-8-37/) sets up the *necessity*: no human counter-good is available. The *lytron*-saying of [Mk 10:45](/codex/mark-10-45/) declares the *provision*: Christ Himself becomes the ransom. Anselm (*Cur Deus Homo*, 1098) formalizes the underlying logic: only God can pay a debt of infinite weight (because only God's act has infinite value); only man owes the debt (because man is the offender). Therefore the satisfaction requires a God-man. The *antallagma*-rhetoric of Jesus prefigures Anselm's argument by setting the price beyond creaturely reach. Calvin (*Institutes* II.16-17) and the Reformed dogmaticians (Owen, *The Death of Death*) develop the *definite atonement* / *limited atonement* corollary on the same exchange-logic: Christ's ransom is *of infinite value* but applied *to those for whom it was offered* (see Limited Atonement). The competing atonement models (moral influence, Christus Victor, governmental, ransom-to-Satan) interpret the ransom word-group differently: ransom-to-Satan (some patristics: Origen, Gregory of Nyssa) reads the ransom as *paid to the devil*; Christus Victor (Aulén, *Christus Victor*, 1931) reads it as the divine victory over the powers; penal substitution reads it as paid *to divine justice*. The *antallagma*-saying itself is neutral on the *recipient* of any ransom; it asserts only the *necessity* of an incommensurable counter-good. ### Pastoral / homiletic deployment The *antallagma*-saying is one of the most-deployed evangelistic verses in Christian preaching (alongside [John 3.16](/codex/john-3-16/) and [Romans 6.23](/codex/romans-6-23/)). The structure is calibrated to the listener: *what are you currently exchanging your soul for?* The text of [Mark 8:36-37](/codex/mark-8-36-37/) functions as a diagnostic, naming the false *antallagma* (the world, wealth, status, comfort, family approval, intellectual respectability) that the listener has implicitly accepted, and demonstrating the structural failure of the trade. The function is to drive the hearer back to the cross as the *only* effective price available, which is no longer the hearer's to pay because Christ has paid it. The proper response is faith and the cross-bearing discipleship of [Mark 8:34](/codex/mark-8-34/). ## Notable verses ### The literal occurrences - **[Matthew 16.26](/codex/matthew-16-26/)**, *"or what will a man give in exchange (antallagma) for his soul?"* - **[Mark 8.37](/codex/mark-8-37/)**, *"or what shall a man give in exchange (antallagma) for his soul?"* ### The ransom-redemption nexus (other words, same question) - **[Mark 10.45](/codex/mark-10-45/)**, the Son of Man gives His life as *lytron* for many - **[1 Timothy 2.6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/)**, Christ as *antilytron* for all - **[1 Peter 1.18-19](/codex/1-peter-1-18-19/)**, redeemed not with silver or gold but with precious blood - **[Hebrews 9.12](/codex/hebrews-9-12/)**, eternal redemption through Christ's own blood - **[Ephesians 1.7](/codex/ephesians-1-7/)**, *"in Him we have redemption (apolytrōsin) through His blood"*, the Pauline complement ### LXX backgrounds - **[Ruth 4:7](/codex/ruth-4-7/)**, the plain transactional sense, the sandal given to confirm an exchange - **[Job 28:15-19](/codex/job-28-15-19/)**, wisdom cannot be bought; LXX 28:15 says silver is not its *antallagma* - **Sirach 6:15; 26:14**, no *antallagma* for a faithful friend or an instructed soul - **[Psalm 49:7-8](/codex/psalms-49-7-8/) (LXX 48:8-9)**, *"no man can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him; for the redemption of his soul is costly"*. The LXX here uses other words (*exilasma*, *lytrōsis*), not *antallagma*, but the psalm is the OT anchor for the no-creaturely-price logic the saying assumes. ## Patristic / scholarly note **Origen** (*Commentary on Matthew*, book 12, on [Mt 16:26](/codex/matthew-16-26/)) reads the saying as exposing the mistake of the world-for-soul trade. **Chrysostom** (*Homilies on Matthew* 55, on [Mt 16:24-28](/codex/matthew-16-24-28/)) develops the *pastoral-diagnostic* deployment: each hearer has already named some substitute good, and the verse functions to undo the trade. **Augustine** does not comment on the word in this connection, but his distinction between goods to be *enjoyed* (God) and goods to be *used* (creatures) (*On Christian Teaching* 1.3-4) describes the same bad exchange: disordered love trades the highest good for lesser ones. **Anselm** (*Cur Deus Homo* I.21, II.6-7) is the formal-systematic locus: the *sin-debt* exceeds the *human-paying-capacity*, requiring an *infinite-value* satisfaction available only in the God-man. The *antallagma*-rhetoric of Jesus is the implicit premise. **Calvin** (*Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists*, on [Mt 16:26](/codex/matthew-16-26/)) presses the irreparability of the soul's loss: no riches, honours or pleasures can compensate for it. The Reformed pastoral-preaching tradition (Bunyan, *Pilgrim's Progress*; Edwards, *Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God*; the modern evangelistic-preaching tradition from Spurgeon through Lloyd-Jones) keeps [Mark 8:37](/codex/mark-8-37/) in heavy rotation as the verse that *forces the soul-pricing question*. The scholarly literature on *antallagma* itself is thin (the word's NT footprint is too small to support its own monograph), but the *lytron* / *antilytron* / *apolytrōsis* word-group has extensive treatment in Leon Morris, *The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross* (1955); Hill, *Greek Words and Hebrew Meanings* (1967); and the standard atonement-theology literature (Stott, *The Cross of Christ*, 1986; Jeffery / Ovey / Sach, *Pierced for Our Transgressions*, 2007). ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Anchors: [Matthew 16.26](/codex/matthew-16-26/) and [Mark 8.37](/codex/mark-8-37/) (the two literal occurrences); ransom-nexus passages [Mark 10.45](/codex/mark-10-45/), [1 Timothy 2.6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/), [1 Peter 1.18-19](/codex/1-peter-1-18-19/), [Hebrews 9.12](/codex/hebrews-9-12/). ## See also - [G3083 - lytron](/codex/g3083-lytron/), *lytron*, ransom-price (the conceptual cousin) - [G0487 - antilytron](/codex/g0487-antilytron/), *antilytron*, ransom given in place of another ([1 Tim 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/)); a different word, often confused with this one - [G0629 - apolytrosis](/codex/g0629-apolytrosis/), *apolytrōsis*, redemption-deliverance - G0473 - anti, *anti*, in-exchange-for (the prepositional root) - [Atonement Theory Spread](/codex/atonement-theory-spread/), the multi-model atonement landscape - [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/), the Reformed framework that deploys this word-group - Limited Atonement, the Reformed-particularist corollary - Christus Victor, the alternative framework - [Anselm of Canterbury](/codex/anselm/), *Cur Deus Homo* and the incommensurability argument - Passages: [Matthew 16.26](/codex/matthew-16-26/), [Mark 8.37](/codex/mark-8-37/), [Mark 10.45](/codex/mark-10-45/), [1 Timothy 2.6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/), [1 Peter 1.18-19](/codex/1-peter-1-18-19/), [Hebrews 9.12](/codex/hebrews-9-12/)