2 Chronicles 24:25-26

24:25 When they withdrew, they left Joash ¹  badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to ²  the son ³  of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus ⁴  he died and was buried in the City of David, ⁵  but not in the tombs of the kings. 24:26 The conspirators were Zabad son of Shimeath (an Ammonite woman) and Jehozabad son of Shimrith (a Moabite woman).

Genesis 9:5-6

9:5 For your lifeblood ⁶  I will surely exact punishment, ⁷  from ⁸  every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person ⁹  I will exact punishment for the life of the individual ¹⁰  since the man was his relative. ¹¹ 

9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, ¹² 

by other humans ¹³ 

must his blood be shed;

for in God’s image ¹⁴ 

God ¹⁵  has made humankind.”

Exodus 21:14

21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, ¹⁶  you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

Numbers 35:31-33

35:31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. 35:32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. ¹⁷ 

35:33 “You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joash) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “because of the shed blood of.”

³ tc The MT has the plural בְּנֵי (bÿney, “sons”), but the final yod is dittographic. Note the yod that immediately follows.

⁴ tn Heb “and he died.”

⁵ sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.

⁶ tn Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.

⁷ tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.

⁸ tn Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.

⁹ tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.

¹⁰ tn Heb “of the man.”

¹¹ tn Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.

¹² tn Heb “the blood of man.”

¹³ tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.

¹⁴ sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.

¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn The word עָרְמָה (’ormah) is problematic. It could mean with prior intent, which would be connected with the word in Prov 8:5, 12 which means “understanding” (or “prudence” – fully aware of the way things are). It could be connected also to an Arabic word for “enemy” which would indicate this was done with malice or evil intentions (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 270). The use here seems parallel to the one in Josh 9:4, an instance involving intentionality and clever deception.

¹⁷ tn Heb “the priest.” The Greek and the Syriac have “high priest.” The present translation, along with many English versions, uses “high priest” as a clarification.