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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 49:7

"A brother cannot redeem" or "no one can ransom himself"

The Hebrew begins 'ach, written as the word for "brother": "A brother cannot at all redeem a man." Many scholars read 'akh, "surely": "Surely no man can ransom himself." The Greek and Latin read "brother" and turn the line into a question: "A brother does not redeem; shall a man redeem?"

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The psalm as first composedPsalms composed over centuries (c. 10th–4th century BC; debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The psalm as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Psalter
Latin
  1. Jerome's Gallican Psalter (Clementine Vulgate)c. AD 386–392, revised from the GreekTranslated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew
New Testament quotation

    Every witness, in order

    1. Psalms composed over centuries (c. 10th–4th century BC; debated)

      The psalm as first composed

      – No copy survives

      No original survives. About forty Psalms manuscripts from Qumran, Masada and Nahal Hever (c. 2nd century BC – 1st century AD) are the oldest copies.

    2. c. AD 386–392, revised from the Greek

      Jerome's Gallican Psalter (Clementine Vulgate)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

      Frater non redimit, redimet homo: non dabit Deo placationem suam,

      Latin numbering: Psalm 48:8. Jerome revised this Latin Psalter from the Greek, so it is a witness to the Greek, not to the Hebrew.

    3. AD 1008

      Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The psalm as first composed

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

      אָ֗ח לֹא־פָדֹ֣ה יִפְדֶּ֣ה אִ֑ישׁ לֹא־יִתֵּ֖ן לֵאלֹהִ֣ים כָּפְרֽוֹ׃

      A brother ('ach) no one can by any means redeem, nor give to God his ransom

      Hebrew numbering: Psalm 49:8. Hebrew counts the heading as verse 1.

    4. 1611

      King James Bible

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

      None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

    5. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

      Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Psalter

      How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

      Si le frère ne rachète pas son frère, un autre homme le rachètera-t-il? Non, et il ne donnera pas à Dieu la rançon de lui-même,

      Greek numbering: Psalm 48:7. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text; not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition.

    What changed, and why

    The issue is how to read and vowel the same consonants, and whether the subject is redeeming another or oneself. Verse 8 ("the redemption of their soul is precious") and v. 15 ("But God will redeem my soul") suggest the point is that no one can buy off death, for himself or anyone; only God can redeem.

    Jesus' saying "what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:37) is often compared with this verse.

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedThe library's Hebrew writes 'ach ("brother") in 49:7.
    • Independently documentedThe Greek/Latin read "brother."
    • Plausible, not confirmedThe original sense was "surely no one can ransom himself."

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Psalm 49: No One Can Ransom a Life →"Hear this, all ye people… both low and high, rich and poor, together." The teacher will open his "dark saying" on the harp. Why fear the rich? "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Wise and foolish die alike and leave their wealth; their graves are their houses for ever. "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me." The refrain: "Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish."