Psalms 49:8
For the redemption of his soul is costly, and never can payment suffice,
BSB
ASV
(For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever),
KJV
(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
For the redemption of their soul is precious,.... Or "heavy" (s); it is, as Jarchi observes, "heavier than their substance": it is too weighty a matter for the richest man in the world to engage in; he is not equal to it; his riches are not an equivalent to the redemption of a soul which has sinned, and which is of more worth than the whole world: "what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" or another for him? all the substance of his house would be utterly despised.
For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever. Too great is the price, the purchase is hopeless. For ever must the attempt to redeem a soul with money remain a failure. Death comes and wealth cannot bribe him; hell follows and no golden key can unlock its dungeon. Vain, then, are your threatenings, ye possessors of the yellow clay; your childish toys are despised by men who estimate the value of possessions by the shekel of the sanctuary.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk5
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Matthew 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
leads to
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.