Would you please be so kind and help me out with Proverbs 21:18, when you have a minute? Why / how are the wicked a ransom for the righteous, and the treacherous for the upright? My Bible (the CSB) points me to Prov 11:8 and Is 43:3, but I still don't understand ransom in that context. Isn't ransom what gets you out of an undesirable situation (kidnapping, blackmailing, extortion, cybercrime ...)? Did the original term mean something different? — H. W.
I've asked my colleague Joey Harris to weigh in:
The “ransom” is a כֺפֵר, an “atonement” (same root as in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement) for reparation or “covering” (another connotation of כפר) for the consequences or results of sin.
Prof 21:18 may refer to the fact that the wicked will suffer the consequences of all sin, metaphorically (not literally) “covering” or “ransoming” the upright whose sins will be forgiven. Like all proverbs, it’s a generality and somewhat metaphorical, and so should not be pressed into service for specific theological or doctrinal statements.
It’s similar in some ways to the saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I,” applied in a somewhat teleological sense to the ultimate fate of the wicked vs. the righteous. It isn’t making a theological statement about salvation, but a general observation about life more typical of ancient wisdom literature: evil people will be justly punished because they refuse to repent, while, despite also sinning, righteous or upright people regret their sin, repent, learn, change and grow.
