Translation commentary on Proverbs 13:8

“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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 13:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 13:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “A tycoon is worried because of his wealth/he owns things,
    but a poor person has no fear/anxiety.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “By means of [his] money,
    a rich person may be able
    to get himself set free.
    But a poor person does not even need
    to be afraid of anything.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A rich-one pays so-that his life be- redeemed from the ones who threaten him, but the poor, no one threatens him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The rich-person, he buys-back his life by-means-of his money, but the poor-one, he has no problem like that.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Rich people are able to pay people who want to kill them, with the result that they will be protected, not killed,
    but poor people do not have to worry about that because no one threatens to kill them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 13:8

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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