Bible Strands
Proverbs 21:18
The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A wisdom teacher addresses a community seeking practical guidance, positioning this warning between instructions on the poverty of sensual indulgence and the folly of domestic strife.
The words — כֹּ֣פֶר (Kofer) translates to ransom, and בּוֹגֵֽד (boger) denotes a treacherous or faithless person, framing the verse around a substitutionary exchange.
The thread — This substitution motif runs through Proverbs 11:8, where the wicked takes the place of the delivered righteous, and Isaiah 43:3, where nations are given as a ransom in place of God’s people.
Why it lands — The text states that moral corruption inevitably triggers consequences that remove the guilty while sparing the innocent, requiring deliberate avoidance of reckless behavior.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 11:8 The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.
- Isaiah 43:3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.
- Isaiah 53:4 Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
- 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.