Week 21 Psalm 49
No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them – the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough – so that they should live on forever and not see decay.
I notice the dash at the beginning of verse-8 and another at the end so I realize that verse-8 is an idea inserted between 7 & 9. Something related & useful. But something that breaks-up the flow. Something distracting & not technically necessary.
I get rid of verse-8:
No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them…so that they should live on forever and not see decay.
I get rid of verse-8 in a couple of other versions:
No one can by any means redeem another or give God a ransom for him…that he might live on eternally, that he might not undergo decay
(Money) cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God…so that he may live forever and not see the Pit.
I think 7 & 9 make better sense when they’re run-together – it’s what I’d do if I was writing the psalm (of course at the end I’d add verse-8: that’s because the ransom for a life is costly, and no payment is ever enough).
But more clear or not I don’t get to write psalm 49. I just get to read it. So it’s on me to make whatever mental adjustments I need to make for mental clarification’s sake.
Note: quotes from Psalm 49:7-9 (NIV NASB CSB)