| 8. Linguistic Exegesis This proverb employs antithetic parallelism, contrasting wealth’s power with poverty’s resistance. The construct chain kofer {כֹּפֶר | kō-p̄er} ‘ransom’ plus nefesh-ish {נֶפֶשׁ־אִישׁ | ne-p̄eš īš} ‘life of a man’ conveys an exchange. Asro {עָשְׁרוֹ | ʿā-šərô} ‘his wealth’ completes the first clause. The adversative ve-rash {וְ֝רָשׁ | wə-rāš} ‘but poor person’ shifts to the contrasting subject. Lo-shama {לֹא־שָׁמַע | lō-šā-maʿ} ‘does not hear’ denotes refusal, and gearah {גְּעָרָה | gə-ʿā-rāh} ‘rebuke’ functions as the direct object with coercive force. The balanced structure highlights protection through wealth and immunity through poverty. |