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.

Proverbs 13:8

13:8 The ransom ⁵  of a person’s ⁶  life is his wealth,

but the poor person hears no threat. ⁷ 

Proverbs 6:35

6:35 He will not consider ⁸  any compensation; ⁹ 

he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation. ¹⁰ 

[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.

[13:8]  ⁵ sn As the word “ransom” (כֹּפֶר, cofer) indicates, the rich are susceptible to kidnapping and robbery. But the poor man pays no attention to blackmail – he does not have money to buy off oppressors. So the rich person is exposed to legal attacks and threats of physical violence and must use his wealth as ransom.

[13:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “the life of a man.”

[13:8]  ⁷ tn The term גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) may mean (1) “rebuke” (so KJV, NASB) or (2) “threat” (so NIV; cf. ASV, NRSV, NLT ). If “rebuke” is the sense here, it means that the burdens of society fall on the rich as well as the dangers. But the sense of “threat” better fits the context: The rich are threatened with extortion, but the poor are not (cf. CEV “the poor don’t have that problem”).

[6:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “lift up the face of,” meaning “regard.”

[6:35]  ¹⁰ tn The word rendered “compensation” is כֹּפֶר (cofer); it is essentially a ransom price, a sum to be paid to deliver another from debt, bondage, or crime. The husband cannot accept payment as a ransom for a life, since what has happened cannot be undone so easily.

[6:35]  ¹¹ tn BDB 1005 s.v. שֹׁחַד suggests that this term means “hush money” or “bribe” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). C. H. Toy takes it as legal compensation (Proverbs [ICC], 142).