New Living Translation
Proverbs 13:8
8The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened.
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
6Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin. 7Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor. The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened. 9The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. 10Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.
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 accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
- Exodus 21:30However, the dead person’s relatives may accept payment to compensate for the loss of life. The owner of the ox may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.
- Job 2:4Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.
- Psalms 49:6They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches.
- Jeremiah 41:8The other ten had talked Ishmael into letting them go by promising to bring him their stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey that they had hidden away.
- Matthew 16:26And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
- 1 Peter 1:18For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.
- 2 Kings 24:14King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land.
- 2 Kings 25:12But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.
- Jeremiah 39:10But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind in the land of Judah, and he assigned them to care for the vineyards and fields.
- Zephaniah 3:12Those who are left will be the lowly and humble, for it is they who 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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