Hebrew word · H3724

כֹּפֶר

khofer

ransom

A payment that covers or compensates for a life that is forfeit or under claim. Elsewhere: a bribe or hush money (1 Sam 12:3; Amos 5:12), and the price a husband refuses to accept (Prov 6:35). The underlying idea is equivalence: something of value stands in for a person.

Appears 17 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

price of a life, ransom, bribe

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 43:3

Range of meaning

A payment that covers or compensates for a life that is forfeit or under claim. In Israel's law: the sum paid by the owner of a goring ox to redeem his own life (Exod 21:30); the half-shekel 'ransom for his life' paid at the census (Exod 30:12); the payment forbidden as a way of releasing a murderer (Num 35:31–32). Elsewhere: a bribe or hush money (1 Sam 12:3; Amos 5:12), and the price a husband refuses to accept (Prov 6:35). The underlying idea is equivalence: something of value stands in for a person.

Against the English

Most versions say 'ransom', which is right. YLT's 'atonement' and the Vulgate's 'propitiation' tie it to the temple's atonement language (kipper, from the same root), which is a real link but pulls toward sacrificial ritual when this verse is a picture of buying a captive free.

How it drifted

Modern 'ransom' suggests kidnappers and extortion. The Hebrew word comes from law and from compensation for life, not from crime, and the verse does not say who receives the payment.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 21:30; 30:12; Num 35:31–32; Ps 49:7–8 ('no one can give God the ransom for another'); Prov 13:8; Prov 21:18, a close parallel: 'the wicked is a ransom for the righteous'. The Septuagint here uses allagma, 'thing given in exchange', instead of its usual lytron.

From the study of Proverbs 6:35

Range of meaning

A payment that stands in place of a penalty, especially one owed with a life. It covers: (1) ransom for a forfeited life, e.g. the owner of a goring ox who may pay kofer instead of being put to death (Exod 21:30); (2) the census ransom paid 'for one's life' (Exod 30:12); (3) hush-money or a bribe paid to make a judge or official ignore a wrong (1 Sam 12:3; Amos 5:12); (4) in a figurative sense, one party given up in place of another (Prov 21:18; Isa 43:3). It is related to the verb kipper, which is usually translated 'make atonement'.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, NASB and BSB say 'ransom'. NIV and ESV say 'compensation', which is closer to how a modern reader would understand the situation. YLT's 'atonement' brings out the link with kipper but suggests religious ritual, which is not the setting here.

How it drifted

Modern English 'ransom' usually means money paid to kidnappers to free a hostage. The Hebrew word means a settlement paid by the guilty party (or for him) to buy off the penalty or the claim of the one he wronged.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 35:31–32 forbids taking kofer for the life of a murderer. This shows that buying off a death penalty was an option people knew and that the law sometimes had to rule it out. Prov 13:8: 'the ransom of a man's life is his wealth.' Ps 49:7–8: no one can give God the ransom for another person's life. Outside the Bible, Mesopotamian and Hittite law collections let a wronged party accept payment instead of physical punishment in many cases.

From the study of Proverbs 13:8

Range of meaning

A payment that covers or cancels a claim against a person, especially a claim on his life. It covers (1) legal compensation in place of the death penalty or other punishment; (2) the price paid to free someone held by another; (3) in a bad sense, a bribe or hush-money paid to make a judge or official look away.

Against the English

Every major English version says 'ransom', which is fair. But a modern reader tends to hear only kidnappers and a ransom note. In the Hebrew world kōfer was first of all a recognised legal and social mechanism: a man buys his way out of a penalty or a threat. It sits close to 'compensation', 'settlement' and sometimes 'payoff'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 21:30: when an ox known to gore kills someone, its owner may pay a kōfer 'for the redemption of his life' instead of being put to death. Num 35:31–32 forbids taking kōfer for a murderer, which shows the practice existed and had to be limited. Exod 30:12: the census half-shekel is 'a ransom for his life'. Prov 6:35: the wronged husband 'will not accept any ransom'. 1 Sam 12:3 and Amos 5:12 use it for bribes. Ps 49:7–8: no one can pay God a kōfer for a brother's life, since 'the ransom of their life is costly'. In the Greek translation this verse has lytron, the word behind Mark 10:45 ('a ransom for many').

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 6:14 בַּכֹּֽפֶר׃ with <the> pitch

    Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.

    Here: 'With the pitch.' The word is related to Akkadian kupru, 'bitumen', the natural asphalt used across Mesopotamia to waterproof boats. The verse ends on a sound-echo: the verb kāpar ('pitch it') and the noun kōper ('pitch') close a verse that began with gōper wood.

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 21:30 כֹּ֖פֶר a ransom

    If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him.

  2. Exodus 30:12 כֹּ֧פֶר [the] ransom of

    “When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.

    Here: A payment that buys off a life that is liable or forfeit (compare Exodus 21:30). Each man's life is treated as exposed to danger by the census, and the payment releases it.

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 35:31 כֹ֙פֶר֙ a ransom

    You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.

    Here: A payment that buys off a death penalty or settles a blood claim. It is what the guilty party, or his family, would hand over so the slain person's kin give up their right to his life.

  2. Numbers 35:32 כֹ֔פֶר a ransom

    Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

    Here: A payment that buys a person free of a liability that would otherwise fall on his life or freedom. Here it would be money paid to cut short the killer's required stay in the refuge city.

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 6:18 כֹּ֣פֶר <the> village[s] of

    The number of gold rats also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers—the fortified cities and their outlying villages. And the large rock on which they placed the ark of the LORD stands to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

  2. 1 Samuel 12:3 כֹ֔פֶר a ransom

    Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”

    Here: A 'ransom price': money paid to buy off a penalty or settle a case. In a judge's hands it is a payoff that lets a guilty party walk free.

Job · 2

  1. Job 33:24 כֹֽפֶר׃ a ransom

    to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’

    Here: A payment accepted in place of a forfeited life: the legal price that buys off a death sentence. The verse does not say what the ransom is. That silence is one of the passage's famous puzzles.

  2. Job 36:18 כֹּ֝֗פֶר [the] ransom

    Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a large bribe lead you astray.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 49:7 כָּפְרֽוֹ׃ ransom his

    No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.

    Here: A *kōfer* is a payment that buys off a life that has been forfeited. "His" can refer to the brother ("a ransom for him") or to the man himself ("his own ransom"). The Hebrew allows both.

Proverbs · 3

  1. Proverbs 6:35 כֹּ֑פֶר ransom

    He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.

    Here: A payment that buys off a penalty or a claim against someone's life, settling a wrong without the full punishment. The adulterer hopes to pay his way out; the husband will not take it.

  2. Proverbs 13:8 כֹּ֣פֶר [the] ransom of

    Riches may ransom a man’s life, but a poor man hears no threat.

    Here: A payment that buys off a claim against someone's life: legal compensation, a payoff, or a ransom. It opens the verse and names the money as the price that stands between a man and what threatens him.

  3. Proverbs 21:18 כֹּ֣פֶר [is] a ransom

    The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright.

Song of Songs · 2

  1. Song of Songs 1:14 הַכֹּ֤פֶר׀ <the> henna blossom

    My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.

  2. Song of Songs 4:13 כְּפָרִ֖ים henna plants

    Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,

    Here: Henna (Lawsonia inermis) is a shrub with strongly scented clusters of flowers, also used as a red-orange dye. The plural pictures whole bushes. It already appeared in 1:14 ('a cluster of henna in the vineyards of En-gedi').

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 43:3 כָפְרְךָ֙ ransom your

    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.

    Here: 'Your ransom': the price paid to buy back a life that is forfeit or held. Here God is the one who pays it, and he pays in nations.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 5:12 כֹ֔פֶר ransom

    For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.

    Here: A payment that buys someone off: money paid to escape a legal penalty or to settle a case. Here it is cash that lets the guilty go free and pushes the innocent down.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.