ContradictionsReading order 301Bible context 3 min read
Who (or what) is the ransom for the righteous?
The passages use ransom for different exchanges and also disagree over the scope of human righteousness. They do not explicitly identify one exclusive payment in one shared transaction.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Foundational
- A central claim about origins, salvation, divine justice, or religious authority.
Different ransom transactions are compatible, while an assumed righteous category supplies only an indirect version of the separate righteousness tension.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
The wicked are described as a ransom for the righteous
The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.
Proverbs 21:18
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Proverbs 21
The Son of man gives his life as a ransom for many
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1 Timothy 2:6
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:1 Timothy 2