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

biblegateway Pro 13:8

The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth, But the poor hears no rebuke.

Riches are a ransom for a man's life, but a poor man hears no threat.

A person’s riches are the ransom for his life, but the poor person does not pay attention to threats.

biblegateway Pro 13:8

A man’s riches may ransom his life, but a poor man hears no threat.

The ransom of a man's life is his wealth, but a poor man hears no threat.

bibleoremus Pro 13:8

Wealth is a ransom for a person’s life, but the poor get no threats.

One who is rich has to pay a ransom, but one who is poor is immune from threats.

biblegateway Pro 13:8

The ransom of a man’s life is his riches, But the poor does not hear rebuke.

The ransom of a man’s life [are] his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.

biblegateway Pro 13:8

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

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”).