Proverbs 21:18

21:18 The wicked become ¹  a ransom ²  for the righteous,

and the faithless ³  are taken ⁴  in the place of the upright.

Esther 7:9-10

7:9 Harbona, ⁵  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ⁶  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!” 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

Isaiah 43:3-4

43:3 For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, ⁷  your deliverer.

I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,

Ethiopia and Seba ⁸  in place of you.

43:4 Since you are precious and special in my sight, ⁹ 

and I love you,

I will hand over people in place of you,

nations in place of your life.

Daniel 6:23-24

6:23 Then the king was delighted and gave an order to haul Daniel up from the den. So Daniel was hauled up out of the den. He had no injury of any kind, because he had trusted in his God. 6:24 The king gave another order, ¹⁰  and those men who had maliciously accused ¹¹  Daniel were brought and thrown ¹²  into the lions’ den – they, their children, and their wives. ¹³  They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

[21:18]  ¹ tn The term “become” is supplied in the translation.

[21:18]  ² sn The Hebrew word translated “ransom” (כֹּפֶר, kofer) normally refers to the price paid to free a prisoner. R. N. Whybray (Proverbs [CBC], 121) gives options for the meaning of the verse: (1) If it means that the wicked obtain good things that should go to the righteous, it is then a despairing plea for justice (which would be unusual in the book of Proverbs); but if (2) it is taken to mean that the wicked suffers the evil he has prepared for the righteous, then it harmonizes with Proverbs elsewhere (e.g., 11:8). The ideal this proverb presents – and the future reality – is that in calamity the righteous escape and the wicked suffer in their place (e.g., Haman in the book of Esther).

[21:18]  ³ tn Or “treacherous” (so ASV, NASB, NLT); NIV “the unfaithful.”

[21:18]  ⁴ tn The phrase “are taken” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[7:9]  ⁵ sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

[7:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.

[43:3]  ⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:3]  ⁸ sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.

[43:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”

[6:24]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “said.”

[6:24]  ¹¹ tn Aram “had eaten the pieces of.” The Aramaic expression is ironic, in that the accusers who had figuratively “eaten the pieces of Daniel” are themselves literally devoured by the lions.

[6:24]  ¹² tn The Aramaic active impersonal verb is often used as a substitute for the passive.

[6:24]  ¹³ tc The LXX specifies only the two overseers, together with their families, as those who were cast into the lions’ den.