Job 5:20

5:20 In time of famine ¹  he will redeem you from death,

and in time of war from the power of the sword. ² 

Leviticus 25:48

25:48 after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption. ³  One of his brothers may redeem him,

Nehemiah 5:8

5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ⁴  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ⁵  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

Psalms 49:7-8

49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; ⁶ 

he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price ⁷ 

49:8 (the ransom price for a human life ⁸  is too high,

and people go to their final destiny), ⁹ 

Psalms 49:15

49:15 But ¹⁰  God will rescue ¹¹  my life ¹²  from the power ¹³  of Sheol;

certainly ¹⁴  he will pull me to safety. ¹⁵  (Selah)

Psalms 107:2

107:2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out, ¹⁶ 

those whom he delivered ¹⁷  from the power ¹⁸  of the enemy,

Jeremiah 15:21

15:21 “I will deliver you from the power of the wicked.

I will free you from the clutches of violent people.”

[5:20]  ¹ sn Targum Job here sees an allusion to the famine of Egypt and the war with Amalek.

[5:20]  ² tn Heb “from the hand of the sword.” This is idiomatic for “the power of the sword.” The expression is also metonymical, meaning from the effect of the sword, which is death.

[25:48]  ³ tn Heb “right of redemption shall be to him.”

[5:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “your brothers.”

[49:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “a brother, he surely does not ransom, a man.” The sequence אִישׁ...אָח (’akh...’ish, “a brother…a man”) is problematic, for the usual combination is אָח...אָח (“a brother…a brother”) or אִישׁ...אִישׁ (“a man…a man”). When אִישׁ and אָח are combined, the usual order is אָח...אִישׁ (“a man…a brother”), with “brother” having a third masculine singular suffix, “his brother.” This suggests that “brother” is the object of the verb and “man” the subject. (1) Perhaps the altered word order and absence of the suffix can be explained by the text’s poetic character, for ellipsis is a feature of Hebrew poetic style. (2) Another option, supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss, is to emend “brother” to the similar sounding אַךְ (’akh, “surely; but”) which occurs in v. 15 before the verb פָּדָה (padah, “ransom”). If this reading is accepted the Qal imperfect יִפְדֶּה (yifddeh, “he can [not] ransom”) would need to be emended to a Niphal (passive) form, יִפָּדֶה (yifadeh, “he can[not] be ransomed”) unless one understands the subject of the Qal verb to be indefinite (“one cannot redeem a man”). (A Niphal imperfect can be collocated with a Qal infinitive absolute. See GKC 344-45 §113.w.) No matter how one decides the textual issues, the imperfect in this case is modal, indicating potential, and the infinitive absolute emphasizes the statement.

[49:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “he cannot pay to God his ransom price.” Num 35:31 may supply the legal background for the metaphorical language used here. The psalmist pictures God as having a claim on the soul of the individual. When God comes to claim the life that ultimately belongs to him, he demands a ransom price that is beyond the capability of anyone to pay. The psalmist’s point is that God has ultimate authority over life and death; all the money in the world cannot buy anyone a single day of life beyond what God has decreed.

[49:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “their life.” Some emend the text to “his life,” understanding the antecedent of the pronoun as “brother” in v. 7. However, the man and brother of v. 7 are representative of the human race in general, perhaps explaining why a plural pronoun appears in v. 8. Of course, the plural pronoun could refer back to “the rich” mentioned in v. 6. Another option (the one assumed in the translation) is that the suffixed mem is enclitic. In this case the “ransom price for human life” is referred to an abstract, general way.

[49:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “and one ceases forever.” The translation assumes an indefinite subject which in turn is representative of the entire human race (“one,” that refers to human beings without exception). The verb חָדַל (khadal, “cease”) is understood in the sense of “come to an end; fail” (i.e., die). Another option is to translate, “and one ceases/refrains forever.” In this case the idea is that the living, convinced of the reality of human mortality, give up all hope of “buying off” God and refrain from trying to do so.

[49:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “certainly.”

[49:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “redeem.”

[49:15]  ¹² tn Or “me.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[49:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “hand.”

[49:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “for.”

[49:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).

[107:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “let the redeemed of the Lord say [so].”

[107:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “redeemed.”

[107:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hand.”