Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 49:8

"(For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever;)" — Psalms 49:8 (ASV)

For the redemption of their soul is precious — The word soul here means life, and not the immortal part. The only question that 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 Psalms 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 clothing, 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 regarding 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 does it affirm 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 that it is adapted to express that idea.

In a much higher and more important sense than any that pertains to the power of wealth in saving from the grave, it is true that the work of the atonement ceased forever when the Redeemer expired on the cross. It is also true that all hope of salvation ceases forever when the atonement is rejected and when a person refuses to be saved by His blood; nothing then can save the soul.

No other sacrifice will be made. When a person 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.