Discovery BoxProverbs 6:35
Context6:35 He will not consider 1 any compensation; 2
he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation. 3
Exodus 21:30
Context21:30 If a ransom is set for him, 4 then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him.
Job 2:4
Context2:4 But 5 Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for 6 skin! 7 Indeed, a man will give up 8 all that he has to save his life! 9
Psalms 49:6-10
Context49:6 They trust 10 in their wealth
and boast 11 in their great riches.
49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; 12
he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price 13
49:8 (the ransom price for a human life 14 is too high,
and people go to their final destiny), 15
49:9 so that he might continue to live 16 forever
and not experience death. 17
49:10 Surely 18 one sees 19 that even wise people die; 20
fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away 21
and leave their wealth to others. 22
Jeremiah 41:8
Context41:8 But there were ten men among them who said 23 to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey we have hidden in a field. 24 So he spared their lives and did not kill 25 them along with the rest. 26
Matthew 16:26
Context16:26 For what does it benefit a person 27 if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?
Matthew 16:1
Context16:1 Now when the Pharisees 28 and Sadducees 29 came to test Jesus, 30 they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 31
Matthew 1:18-19
Context1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, 32 she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 1:19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, 33 was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her 34 privately.
[6:35] 1 tn Heb “lift up the face of,” meaning “regard.”
[6:35] 2 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] 3 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).
[21:30] 4 sn The family of the victim would set the amount for the ransom of the man guilty of criminal neglect. This practice was common in the ancient world, rare in Israel. If the family allowed the substitute price, then the man would be able to redeem his life.
[2:4] 5 tn The form is the simply preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive. However, the speech of Satan is in contrast to what God said, even though in narrative sequence.
[2:4] 6 tn The preposition בְּעַד (bÿ’ad) designates interest or advantage arising from the idea of protection for (“for the benefit of”); see IBHS 201-2 §11.2.7a.
[2:4] 7 sn The meaning of the expression is obscure. It may come from the idea of sacrificing an animal or another person in order to go free, suggesting the expression that one type of skin that was worth less was surrendered to save the more important life. Satan would then be saying that Job was willing for others to die for him to go free, but not himself. “Skin” would be a synecdoche of the part for the whole (like the idiomatic use of skin today for a person in a narrow escape). The second clause indicates that God has not even scratched the surface because Job has been protected. His “skin” might have been scratched, but not his flesh and bone! But if his life had been put in danger, he would have responded differently.
[2:4] 8 tc The LXX has “make full payment, pay a full price” (LSJ 522 s.v. ἐκτίνω).
[2:4] 9 tn Heb “Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.”
[49:6] 10 tn Heb “the ones who trust.” The substantival participle stands in apposition to “those who deceive me” (v. 5).
[49:6] 11 tn The imperfect verbal form emphasizes their characteristic behavior.
[49:7] 12 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
[49:7] 13 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] 14 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] 15 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.
[49:9] 16 tn The jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is taken as indicating purpose/result in relation to the statement made in v. 8. (On this use of the jussive after an imperfect, see GKC 322 §109.f.) In this case v. 8 is understood as a parenthetical comment.
[49:9] 17 tn Heb “see the Pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 55:24; 103:4).
[49:10] 18 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is understood here as asseverative (emphatic).
[49:10] 19 tn The subject of the verb is probably the typical “man” mentioned in v. 7. The imperfect can be taken here as generalizing or as indicating potential (“surely he/one can see”).
[49:10] 20 tn The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to what is characteristically true. The vav (ו) consecutive with perfect in the third line carries the same force.
[49:10] 21 tn Heb “together a fool and a brutish [man] perish.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 73:22; 92:6; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).
[49:10] 22 sn Death shows no respect for anyone. No matter how wise or foolish an individual happens to be, all pass away.
[41:8] 23 tn Heb “But there were ten men found among them and they said.” However, for the use of “were found” = “be, happened to be” see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא 2.c and compare the usage in 41:3.
[41:8] 24 tn This sentence is a good example of the elliptical nature of some of the causal connections in the Hebrew Bible. All the Hebrew says literally is “For we have hidden stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey in a field.” However, it is obvious that they are using this as their bargaining chip to prevent Ishmael and his men from killing them. For the use of “for” (כִּי, ki) for such elliptical thoughts see BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c.
[41:8] 25 tn Or “So he refrained from killing them”; Heb “he refrained and did not kill them.”
[41:8] 26 tn Heb “in the midst of their brothers/fellow countrymen.”
[16:26] 27 tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.
[16:1] 28 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
[16:1] 29 sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
[16:1] 30 tn The object of the participle πειράζοντες (peirazontes) is not given in the Greek text but has been supplied here for clarity.
[16:1] 31 sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.
[1:18] 32 tn The connotation of the Greek is “before they came together in marital and domestic union” (so BDAG 970 s.v. συνέρχομαι 3).
[1:19] 33 tn Grk “husband.” See following note for discussion.
