13:8

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

8a
Riches may ransom a man’s life,

8b but a poor man hears no threat.

This verse explicitly states the advantage of being rich: a rich person has the money that he needs to pay a ransom. But the implied disadvantage is that his wealth puts him in danger of being kidnapped or killed. In contrast, the poor do not have sufficient wealth to cause such problems.

13:8a

Riches may ransom a man’s life: In Hebrew, this clause is literally: “The ransom of a man’s life ⌊is⌋ his wealth.” Another way to translate this line is:

The rich may have to pay a ransom for their lives (New Century Version)

13:8b

but a poor man hears no threat: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as threat is the same Hebrew word that it translated as “rebuke” in 13:1b. Here the meaning threat fits the context. The implied meaning of this line is that a poor person does not face the danger of being kidnapped and having to pay a ransom. It does not mean that a poor person is threatened but fails to hear the threat.

Some other ways to translate the meaning of this line are:

but the poor will face no such danger (New Century Version)
-or-
but the poor won’t even get threatened (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
but the poor don’t have that problem (Contemporary English Version)

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