The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke. The ransom of a man's life (are) his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke. If the rich man's life is in danger, he can often redeem himself by his riches (Proverbs 10:15; Proverbs 18:11); but the poor do not ever 'hear' threats -
i.e., the poor are not exposed to threats or envy affecting the safety of their life. On such "rebuke" cf. Isaiah 30:17. The rich deliver themselves from danger: the poor are free from it. If riches have their advantage, so has poverty its advantages. Juvenal says, (Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator), 'The traveler who has nothing to lose can sing in the highwayman's face.' The godly poor, above all, shall 'hear no rebuke' in the great day of the Lord (Isaiah 25:8; Job 3:18).