Psalms 49:7 - Exposition

None of them can by any means redeem his brother. The text is suspected. If we read אַךְ for אָה , with Ewald and Professor Cheyne, the right translation will be, Nevertheless , no man can by any means redeem himself. With all his boasting, the rich man cannot effect his own redemption; nor, however great his wealth, can he give to God a ransom for him; i.e. for himself. "Brother" is not used in the Psalms in the sense of "fellow-man," but only in the literal sense of close blood, relation ( Psalms 35:14 ; Psalms 50:20 ).