# G0487 - antilytron **Strong's:** [G0487](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g487/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** an-til'-oo-tron **Part of speech:** noun, neuter **Root:** from *anti* (G0473, "in place of, instead of") + [*lytron*](/codex/g3083-lytron/) (G3083, "ransom, price of release"). Strong's: "a redemption-price, ransom." **LXX usage:** none in the Septuagint. Thayer notes the word in an anonymous later Greek translation of [Psalm 49](/codex/psalms-49/) (LXX numbering 48:9), the psalm that says no man can pay a ransom for his brother ([Psalm 49:7-8](/codex/psalms-49-7-8/)), and in the Orphic *Lithica*. **NT occurrences:** 1, **[1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/)**. It is a hapax legomenon, found nowhere else in the New Testament. **The 30-second version:** > *Antilytron* means a ransom given in place of someone. Paul uses it once, in [1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/), where Christ "gave Himself as a ransom for all." The word takes Jesus' own saying, that He came to give His life as a ransom for many, and packs the "in place of" into the noun itself. Christ did not just pay a price. He was the price, given in the place of those He set free. ## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG) 1. **A ransom given in exchange for another**, Thayer: "what is given in exchange for another as the price of his redemption, ransom." The *anti-* prefix makes the exchange explicit: the payment stands in the place of the person released. 2. **A redemption-price**, Strong's gloss; the price paid to free a captive or a forfeited life, the same field as [*lytron*](/codex/g3083-lytron/) with the substitutionary element sharpened. The word is rare in all Greek literature, so its sense is read from its parts and from its one NT setting rather than from a broad usage history. It is distinct from [*antallagma*](/codex/g0465-antallagma/) (G0465), "what is given in exchange", the word of [Mark 8:37](/codex/mark-8-37/): *antallagma* names an equivalent value, *antilytron* a substitute ransom. ## Theological force, the ransom in place of all ### The one occurrence > *ho dous heauton antilytron hyper pantōn*, "who gave Himself as a ransom for all" ([1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/)) The verse completes the confession of [1 Timothy 2:5](/codex/1-timothy-2-5/): one God, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Three features of the wording carry the weight: - **The compound noun.** *Anti* ("in place of") is built into the word. The ransom is not only paid *for* the captives' benefit; it is given *in their place*. - **The reflexive *heauton*.** Christ gave *Himself*. The giver and the price are the same person, which no human ransom could ever be. - **The preposition *hyper pantōn*.** *Hyper* ("on behalf of") names the beneficiaries, "all". The scope of "all" is debated between Reformed and Arminian readers; the substitutionary shape of *antilytron* is common ground between them. ### The echo of Mark 10:45 Set side by side, [1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/) reads as a Greek restatement of Jesus' ransom saying: | Mark 10:45 | 1 Timothy 2:6 | |---|---| | *dounai* (to give) | *dous* (having given) | | *tēn psychēn autou* (His life) | *heauton* (Himself) | | *lytron anti* (a ransom in place of) | *antilytron* (a ransom-in-place-of) | | *pollōn* (many) | *hyper pantōn* (on behalf of all) | Joachim Jeremias argued that [1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/) is a Hellenized form of the [Mark 10:45](/codex/mark-10-45/) logion ("Das Lösegeld für viele (Mk. 10,45)", *Judaica* 3, 1947/48, pp. 249-264; reprinted in his *Abba*, 1966, pp. 216-229), and the parallel is widely noted in the commentaries. If so, the Pastoral Epistles preserve an early Christian confession grounded in Jesus' own words, with the "in place of" of *lytron anti* folded into a single noun. ### The answer to Psalm 49 [Psalm 49:7-8](/codex/psalms-49-7-8/) states the problem: no man can redeem his brother or give to God a ransom (Hebrew [*kopher*](/codex/h3724-kopher/)) for him, because the redemption of a soul is too costly. Jesus restates the problem in [Mark 8:37](/codex/mark-8-37/): there is no *antallagma*, no exchange, a man can give for his soul. [1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/) names the one man who could: the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as the *antilytron*. The one Mediator is the one ransom. ### In the atonement debate The *lytron* / *antilytron* sayings are standard exhibits for substitutionary readings of the atonement (see [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/) and [Atonement Theory Spread](/codex/atonement-theory-spread/)). Christus Victor and ransom-to-Satan readings take the same vocabulary as liberation from captivity; the patristic question of *to whom* the ransom was paid is treated under [G3083 - lytron](/codex/g3083-lytron/). Whatever the recipient, the word itself fixes two points: the release was costly, and the cost was borne by a substitute. ## Notable verses ### The literal occurrence - **[1 Timothy 2.6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/)**, *"who gave Himself as a ransom (antilytron) for all"* ### The ransom word-group - **[Mark 10.45](/codex/mark-10-45/)** and **[Matthew 20.28](/codex/matthew-20-28/)**, the Son of Man gives His life as *lytron anti pollōn* - **[Titus 2.14](/codex/titus-2-14/)**, Christ "gave Himself for us to redeem (*lytrōsētai*) us from every lawless deed" - **[Galatians 1.4](/codex/galatians-1-4/)**, Christ "gave Himself for our sins", the same self-giving formula - **[1 Peter 1.18-19](/codex/1-peter-1-18-19/)**, redeemed (*elytrōthēte*) not with silver or gold but with precious blood - **[Ephesians 1.7](/codex/ephesians-1-7/)**, redemption (*apolytrōsis*) through His blood ### Old Testament background - **[Psalm 49:7-8](/codex/psalms-49-7-8/)**, no man can give God a ransom for his brother - **[Isaiah 53.10](/codex/isaiah-53-10/)** and **[Isaiah 53.12](/codex/isaiah-53-12/)**, the Servant whose life is an offering for sin and who bears the sin of many ## Scholarly note Leon Morris, *The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross* (1955), treats *antilytron* within the redemption word-group and reads the *anti-* compound as underlining substitution. David Hill, *Greek Words and Hebrew Meanings* (1967), covers the same *lytron* family. Jeremias's case for [1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/) as a form of the [Mark 10:45](/codex/mark-10-45/) saying is noted above. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Anchors: [1 Timothy 2.6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/) (the only occurrence), [1 Timothy 2.5](/codex/1-timothy-2-5/) (the one-mediator confession it completes), [Mark 10.45](/codex/mark-10-45/) (the saying it echoes), [Psalms 49.7-8](/codex/psalms-49-7-8/) (the problem it answers). ## See also - [G3083 - lytron](/codex/g3083-lytron/), *lytron*, the ransom-price; the root noun of this compound - [G0465 - antallagma](/codex/g0465-antallagma/), *antallagma*, what is given in exchange ([Mark 8:37](/codex/mark-8-37/)); a different word, often confused with this one - [G0629 - apolytrosis](/codex/g0629-apolytrosis/), *apolytrōsis*, redemption-deliverance - [H3724 - kopher](/codex/h3724-kopher/), *kopher*, the OT ransom-price - [Atonement](/codex/atonement/), the doctrine this word anchors - [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/), the substitutionary reading of the ransom sayings - [Atonement Theory Spread](/codex/atonement-theory-spread/), the multi-model atonement landscape