Psalms 49:8

For the redemption of their soul is precious - It is of too high a price to be redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver or gold, and has required the sacrificial death of Christ.

And it ceaseth for ever - This is very obscure, and may apply to the ransom which riches could produce. That ransom must be for ever unavailable, because of the value of the soul. Or this clause should be added to the following verse, and read thus: "And though he cease to be, (וחדל vechadal), during the hidden time, (לעולם leolam); yet he shall live on through eternity, (ויחי עוד לנצח vichi od lanetsach), and not see corruption." This is probably the dark saying which it was the design of the author to utter in a parable, and leave it to the ingenuity of posterity to find it out. The verb חדל chadal signifies a cessation of being or action, and עולם olam often signifies hidden time, that which is not defined, and the end of which is not ascertained, though it is frequently used to express endless duration. This translation requires no alteration of the original text, and conveys a precise and consistent meaning.

For the redemption of their soul is precious - The word "soul" here means "life," and not the immortal part. The only question which the psalmist here considers is the value of wealth in preserving "life," or in saving man from the grave. The phrase, ""their" soul," refers doubtless to the man and his brother, as alluded to in the previous verse. The idea is that neither can the man of wealth ransom his own life from the grave, nor the life of his brother. Wealth can save neither of them. The word "precious" means "costly," "valuable." The word is applied 1 Kings 10:2, 1 Kings 10:10-11 to gems, and then to the costlier kinds of stones employed in building, as marble and hewn-stones, 2 Chronicles 3:6. Compare the notes at Psalm 36:7. The idea here is, that the rescue of the life, or the saving from the grave, would be too "costly;" it would be beyond the power of all wealth to purchase it; no amount of silver or gold, or raiment, or precious stones, could "constitute" a sufficient "price" to secure it.

And it ceaseth for ever - That is, Wealth forever comes short of the power necessary to accomplish this. It has always been insufficient; it always "will" be. There is no hope that it "ever" will be sufficient; that by any increase in the amount - or by any change in the conditions of the bargain - property or riches can avail for this. The whole matter is perfectly "hopeless" as to the power of wealth in saving one human being from the grave. It must always "fail" in saving a man from death. The word rendered "ceaseth" - חדל châdal - means "to leave off, to desist, to fail," Genesis 11:8; Exodus 9:34; Isaiah 2:22. As there is no allusion here to the redemption of the "soul" - the immortal part - this passage affirms nothing in regard to the fact that the work of redemption by the Saviour is completed or finished, and that an atonement cannot be made again, which is true; nor to the fact that when salvation through that atonement is rejected, all hope of redemption is at an end, which is also true. But though there is, originally, no such reference here, the "language" is such as is "adapted" to express that idea. In a much higher and more important sense than any which pertains to the power of wealth in saving from the grave, it is true tint the work of the atonement ceased for ever when the Redeemer expired on the cross, and that all hope of salvation ceases forever when the atonement is rejected, and when man refuses to be saved by his blood; nothing then can save the soul. No other sacrifice will be made, and when a man has finally rejected the Saviour, it may be said in the highest sense of the term, that the redemption of the soul is too costly to be effected by any other means, and that all hope of its salvation "has ceased" forever.

49:8 Soul - Of their life. Precious - Hard to be obtained.Ceaseth - It is never to be accomplished, by any mere man, for himself or for his brother.