New International Version
Proverbs 13:8
8A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened.
Context of Proverbs 13:8
6Righteousness guards the person of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner. 7One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes. 9The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out. 10Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.
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 6:35He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.
- Exodus 21:30However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded.
- Job 2:4“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life.
- Psalms 49:6those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?
- Jeremiah 41:8But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley, olive oil and honey, hidden in a field.” So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others.
- Matthew 16:26What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
- 1 Peter 1:18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,
- 2 Kings 24:14He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.
- 2 Kings 25:12But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
- Jeremiah 39:10But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.
- Zephaniah 3:12But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust 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
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