“The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth”: This saying is difficult to interpret, and scholars and translators often depart from the Hebrew text. See the Revised Standard Version footnote. Note that Good News Translation differs from Revised Standard Version, particularly in line 2. “Ransom”, as used here, is payment demanded or paid for the release of a person or property. “Life” translates the Hebrew nefesh, which refers to the physical life. “Wealth” comes from the same Hebrew root as the verb “be rich” in verse 7 and refers to a person’s money or possessions. This line affirms that wealth protects the rich (by their being able to pay). It can be expressed in a number of ways; for example, “Sometimes a rich person needs to use his money to buy off someone who threatens to kill him,” “If bad people threaten to harm someone who is rich, he can pay them with his money and stay safe,” or “A rich person can buy his way out of trouble.”

“But a poor man has no means of redemption”: The Hebrew of this line says “but the poor does not hear rebuke,” which is the same as line 2 of verse 1 except for a different subject. As the text stands there is no apparent connection between the two lines. However, scholars have made attempts to establish a connection. Good News Translation understands “rebuke” to mean “threaten,” and this is followed by New English Bible/Revised English Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Bible en français courant and others, although Toy, Oesterley, and Whybray disagree with them. Revised Standard Version has forced a contrast by its rendering. Contemporary English Version has followed a different approach by saying “but the poor don’t have that problem,” that is, they don’t have the problem of paying ransom because they are not threatened. In the absence of a better solution the Handbook encourages translators to follow Good News Translation. In some languages it may be necessary to say, for example, “The rich have to pay their enemies, but the poor have nothing to pay” or “The rich pay ransom money for their lives, but the poor don’t have to do that.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .