Proverbs 13:8

The ransom ¹  of a person’s ²  life is his wealth, but the poor person hears no threat. ³ 

Ex 21:30; 2Ki 24:14; 2Ki 25:12; Job 2:4; Ps 49:6-10; Pr 6:35; Jer 39:10; Jer 41:8; Zep 3:12; Mt 16:26; 1Pe 1:18,19

¹ sn As the word “ransom” (כֹּפֶר, cofer) indicates, the rich are susceptible to kidnapping and robbery. But the poor man pays no attention to blackmail – he does not have money to buy off oppressors. So the rich person is exposed to legal attacks and threats of physical violence and must use his wealth as ransom.

² tn Heb “the life of a man.”

³ tn The term גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) may mean (1) “rebuke” (so KJV, NASB) or (2) “threat” (so NIV; cf. ASV, NRSV, NLT ). If “rebuke” is the sense here, it means that the burdens of society fall on the rich as well as the dangers. But the sense of “threat” better fits the context: The rich are threatened with extortion, but the poor are not (cf. CEV “the poor don’t have that problem”).