Rescue, deliver, redeem, ransom, reclaim, save are comparable when they mean to free a person or thing from confinement, danger of death or destruction, or a serious evil.
One rescues a person who is in imminent danger (as of death, of capture, or of assault) by prompt or vigorous action.
Less often one rescues a thing that is in danger of destruction, or that has been forcibly seized, by freeing it from danger or from its captors.
One delivers a person by setting him free from something (as prison, confinement, suffering, temptation, or embarrassment).
One redeems a person from bondage, from captivity, or from suffering the consequences of his sin or crime, or a thing from pawn or from neglect, deterioration, or decay by making some commensurate expenditure (as of money, of effort, or of time).
One ransoms a person who has been captured, enslaved, or kidnapped by paying the amount that is demanded by his captor or owner.
Ransom is often employed in place of redeem in religious use, especially in reference to Christ as the Redeemer, when the emphasis is on the price he paid in accepting crucifixion.
One reclaims what has become debased, wild, savage, waste, or desert by bringing it back to its former state of usefulness. Specifically one reclaims a person who has wandered from rectitude or has become a sinner, a reprobate, or a degenerate when one reforms him or restores him to moral, decent ways of life or one reclaims a thing that has been abandoned or neglected when one works with it so that it becomes productive or finds a new use or is made to give up what is still usable in it.
One saves (see also SAVE 2 ) a person when one rescues, delivers, redeems, ransoms, or reclaims him and enables him not only to be free from the evil that involves or threatens but to continue in existence, to enjoy security or happiness, or to be of future use or service.