As a youngster growing up , I too did not understand the ransom doctrine. By my teens I felt too embarrassed to ask, I mean ,you are supposed to know this… right?
So, since I assisted the Magazine Servant I had a key to the KHall ( that would not happen today) One Saturday afternoon I let myself in and delved into the library with the old written indexes. I looked up everything all about the ransom. Having read it all, I finally got it… Job done.
My point is , if you don’t know, look it up ! It is much easier these days with stuff on line.