God’s Word Translation
Proverbs 13:8
8A person’s riches are the ransom for his life, but the poor person does not pay attention to threats.
Proverbs 13:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.
- New International Version (NIV)A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The ransom of a man's life is his wealth, but a poor man hears no threat.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The ransom of a man’s life is his riches, But the poor does not hear rebuke.
Context of Proverbs 13:8
6Righteousness protects the honest way of life, but wickedness ruins a sacrifice for sin. 7One person pretends to be rich but has nothing. Another pretends to be poor but has great wealth. A person’s riches are the ransom for his life, but the poor person does not pay attention to threats. 9The light of righteous people beams brightly, but the lamp of wicked people will be snuffed out. 10Arrogance produces only quarreling, but those who take advice gain wisdom.
Read all of Proverbs 13Proverbs 13:8 word by word
כֹּ֣פֶר נֶֽפֶשׁ־אִ֣ישׁ עָשְׁר֑וֹ וְ֝רָ֗שׁ לֹא־שָׁמַ֥ע גְּעָרָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 13:8
- Proverbs 6:35No amount of money will change his mind. The largest bribe will not satisfy him.
- Exodus 21:30However, if only a cash settlement is demanded from the owner, the bull’s owner may save his life by paying whatever price is demanded of him.
- Job 2:4Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Certainly, a man will give everything he has for his life.
- Psalms 49:6They trust their riches and brag about their abundant wealth.
- Jeremiah 41:8However, ten men from the group had said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey hidden in the country.” So he left them alone and didn’t kill them along with the others.
- Matthew 16:26What good will it do for people to win the whole world and lose their lives? Or what will a person give in exchange for life?
- 1 Peter 1:18Realize that you weren’t set free from the worthless life handed down to you from your ancestors by a payment of silver or gold which can be destroyed.
- 2 Kings 24:14He captured all Jerusalem, all the generals, all the soldiers (10,000 prisoners), and all the craftsmen and smiths. Only the poorest people of the land were left.
- 2 Kings 25:12The captain of the guard left some of the poorest people in the land to work in the vineyards and on the farms.
- Jeremiah 39:10But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left some poor people who had nothing in the land of Judah. At that time he gave them vineyards and farms.
- Zephaniah 3:12So with you I will leave a faithful few, a humble and poor people. They will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
Commentaries on Proverbs 13:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8The ransom of a man's life - Those who have riches have often much trouble with them; as they had much trouble to get them, so they have much trouble to keep them. In despotic countries, a rich man is often accused of some capital crime, and to save his life, though he may be quite innocent, is obliged to give up his riches; but the poor, in such countries, are put to no trouble.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8On the one side is the seeming advantage of wealth. The rich man who gets out of many troubles often escapes from a just retribution by his money. But then the poor man in his turn is free from the risk of the threats and litigation that beset the rich. He “hears no rebuke” (the words are not used as in Proverbs 13:1) just as the dead “hear not the voice of the oppressor” Job 3:18 or the abuse of the envious.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8Verse 8 Great riches often tempt to violence against those that possess them; but the poor are free from such perils.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Money can be a blessing or a curse (see Proverbs 3:9–10; 21:6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Riches save some from punishment, while others suffer because they will not heed the rebuke of sloth, which makes and keeps them poor.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 13:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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