Proverbs 13:8

The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
ransom	כֹּ֣פֶר Ko.fer	H3724	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
man’s	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
life	נֶֽפֶשׁ ne.fesh-	H5315	properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
riches	עָשְׁר֑וֹ a.she.Ro	H6239	wealth · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
poor	וְ֝רָ֗שׁ ve.Rash	H7326	to be destitute · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
heareth	שָׁמַ֥ע sha.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
rebuke	גְּעָרָֽה ge.'a.Rah	H1606	a chiding · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by traditio…
2 Kings 24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen…
Psalms 49:6-10 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
2 Kings 25:12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Jeremiah 39:10 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards a…
Zephaniah 3:12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 13:8

We are apt to judge of men's blessedness, at least in this world, by their wealth, and that they are more or less happy accordingly as they have more or less of this world's goods; but Solomon here shows what a gross mistake it is, that we may be reconciled to a poor condition, and may neither covet riches ourselves nor envy those that have abundance. 1. Those that are rich, if by some they are respected for their riches, yet, to balance that, by others they are envied and struck at, and brought in danger of their lives, which therefore they are forced to ransom with their riches. Slay us not, for we have treasures in the field, Jer 41:8. Under some tyrants, it has been crime enough to be ri…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 13:8

Riches save some from punishment, while others suffer because they will not heed the rebuke of sloth, which makes and keeps them poor.

John Gill on Proverbs 13:8

The ransom of a man's life are his riches,.... As Benhadad's were to him, when he was in the hands of the king of Israel, 1 Kings 20:34; and as the treasures the ten men had in the field were to them, for the sake of which Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, slew them not, Jeremiah 41:8. This is the advantage of riches when a man is taken captive in war, or by pirates, or is in the hands of thieves and robbers, he can redeem himself by his money; or when his life is in danger by diseases, he can procure healing medicines; or by famine, he can get food to preserve it, when a poor man cannot: but this is not to be done always, and is only to be understood of a temporal life; for, as to the spiritua…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 13:8

8 A ransom for a man's life are his riches; But the poor heareth no threatening. Bertheau falls into error when he understands גּערה of warning; the contrast points to threatening with the loss of life. The wealth of the rich before the judgment is not here to be thought of; for apart from this, that the Tor only in a single case permits, or rather ordains (Exo 21:29.), ransom from the punishment of death, and declares it in all other cases inadmissible, Num 35:31. (one might indeed think of an administration of justice not strictly in accordance with the Mosaic law, or altogether accessible to bribery), 8b does not accord therewith, since the poor in such cases would fare ill, because one w…

The Church Fathers

As Solomon says, "A man's own wealth is the redemption of his soul." This might be temporal wealth which one distributes and gives to the poor so that one's righteousness may endure forever, or it might be spiritual wealth in the form of the righteousness that one has attained by taking pity on the poor or by doing other good things.
— Bede, On the Tabernacle 3:13

And what use is it to recount how many, because of their failure to manage properly their material riches, have received the same punishment as the rich man in the Gospel? Or how many, because they bore poverty ignobly with behavior more lowly and base than was proper among saints, have fallen away from their heavenly hope? Even those who are midway between these extremes of riches and poverty are not by their moderate estateable to escape sinning.
— Origen of Alexandria, ON PRAYER 29:6

Suppose you are an ignoble and undistinguished person, poor and of lowly origin, without home or city, sick, in need of daily sustenance, in dread of the powerful, cowering before everyone because of your abject condition. "But he that is poor," says the Scripture, "bears not reprehension." Yet, do not despair or cast aside every good hope because your present state is quite unenviable. Rather, turn your thoughts to the blessings already granted you by God and to those reserved by promise for the future.
— Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY ON THE WORDS 'GIVE HEED TO THYSELF.'

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Poor · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Ransom · Of a man’ s life — Of a man’ s life
Riches · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 13:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 13:8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 13:8

John Gill on Proverbs 13:8

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 13:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 13:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 13:8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 13:8

John Gill on Proverbs 13:8

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 13:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 13:8

Rashi on Proverbs 13:8