57	tn The term “become” is supplied in the translation.
58	sn The Hebrew word translated “ransom” (כֹּפֶר, kofer) normally refers to the price paid to free a prisoner. R. N. Whybray (Proverbs [CBC], 121) gives options for the meaning of the verse: (1) If it means that the wicked obtain good things that should go to the righteous, it is then a despairing plea for justice (which would be unusual in the book of Proverbs); but if (2) it is taken to mean that the wicked suffers the evil he has prepared for the righteous, then it harmonizes with Proverbs elsewhere (e.g., 11:8). The ideal this proverb presents—and the future reality—is that in calamity the righteous escape and the wicked suffer in their place (e.g., Haman in the book of Esther).
59	tn Or “treacherous” (so ASV, NASB, NLT); NIV “the unfaithful.”
60	tn The phrase “are taken” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

Proverbs 21:18