Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben and Jo Crick)]

On Wed 23 Jul 2003 (14:20:56), jwest wrote:
> Prov 21:18 is a bit odd.  Its not grammatically odd so much as its
> enigmatic in meaning.  How is it that the wicked can be a "kopher"
> (kaph pe resh) for the righteous?  Must we render kopher in the sense
> of "take the place" in order to render something like "the wicked take
> the place of the righteous" (in the same way that Haman took the place
> of Mordechai on the gallows)?

 Jim,

 According to Andrew Walls, late of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland:

 "18 Cf Isa 43:3,4, where Egypt is stated to be the ransom for Israel.
 "'There is a kind of substitution; a ransom is paid to enable the
 righteous to escape, and the ransom is the person of the wicked' (RF Horton).
 "This makes the picture of the just suffering for the unjust (1 Pet 3:18)
 stand out starkly" (New Bible Commentary Revised, IVP, London, 3rd Ed., 
1970).

 HTH

 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick BA CF, and Mrs Joanna (Goodwin) Crick
 <ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
 http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm