---
title: כֹּפֶר — the price of a life · The Tanakh dictionary
description: כֹּפֶר (lemma:כֹּפֶר), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 16 times: the price of a life. BDB 1906: n.m. the price of life, ransom. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# כֹּפֶר

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«כֹּפֶר» in the Tanakh dictionary: **the price of a life** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 16 times · **Key:** lemma:כֹּפֶר · **BDB:** כֹּפֶר

### Glosses

a.ransom (5); ransom (3); (of).a.ransom (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

the price of a life [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/lemma_3a_5db_5b9_5bc_5e4_5b6_5e8/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. the price of life, ransom [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/lemma_3a_5db_5b9_5bc_5e4_5b6_5e8/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. the price of a life, a ransom (ποινή, wergeld);—כ׳ Ex 21:30 + 10 times; sf. כָּפְרְךָ Is 43:3; כָּפְרוֹ ψ 49:8;— a price for ransom of a life Jb 33:24; 36:18; כ׳ עַל Ex 21:30 (Covt. code; ‖ פִּדְיֹן נַפְשׁוֹ); כ׳ נפשׁ Pr 13:8; כ׳ לְ ransom for Pr 6:35; 21:18; Nu 35:31, 32 (P); כָּפְרוֹ his ransom ψ 49:8 (‖ פדה); כָּפְרְךָ thy ransom Is 43:3 (‖ תַּחְתֶּיךָ); כֹּ֫פֶר alone 1 S 12:3 Am 5:12. in the ritual of P כ׳ נַפְשׁוֹ Ex 30:12 is a half shekel of the sanctuary paid by each male above twenty years at the census in order that there might be no plague upon them. It was offered to Yahweh, לְכַפֵּר על to atone for them.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 13 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses (14 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 2 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (10 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «כֹּפֶר» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/lemma_3a_5db_5b9_5bc_5e4_5b6_5e8/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Proverbs 21:18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.21.18/)

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כֹּ֣פֶר לַצַּדִּ֣יק רָשָׁ֑ע וְתַ֖חַת יְשָׁרִ֣ים בּוֹגֵֽד׃

*Word for word:* \[is\].a.ransom for the.righteous \[person\] a.wicked.\[person\] and in.place.of upright.\[people\] \[one.who\].acts.treacherously

*JPS 1917:* The wicked is a ransom for the righteous; and the faithless cometh in the stead of the upright.

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[Proverbs 13:8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.13.8/)

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כֹּ֣פֶר נֶֽפֶשׁ־אִ֣ישׁ עָשְׁר֑וֹ וְ֝רָ֗שׁ לֹא־שָׁמַ֥ע גְּעָרָֽה׃

*Word for word:* \[the\].ransom of.\[the\].life of.a.person wealth \[is\].his and \[one.who.is\].poor not he.hears a.threat

*JPS 1917:* The ransom of a man's life are his riches; but the poor heareth no threatening.

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