2 Samuel 3:27

3:27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate as if to speak privately with him. Joab then stabbed him ¹  in the abdomen and killed him, avenging the shed blood of his brother Asahel. ² 

2 Samuel 3:39

3:39 Today I am weak, even though I am anointed as king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too much for me to bear! ³  May the Lord punish appropriately the one who has done this evil thing!” ⁴ 

Genesis 9:5-6

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

9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, ¹¹ 

by other humans ¹² 

must his blood be shed;

for in God’s image ¹³ 

God ¹⁴  has made humankind.”

Exodus 21:12

Personal Injuries

21:12 ¹⁵ “Whoever strikes someone ¹⁶  so that he dies ¹⁷  must surely be put to death. ¹⁸ 

Numbers 35:31-34

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. ¹⁹ 

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. 35:34 Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.”

Psalms 9:12

9:12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ²⁰ 

he did not overlook ²¹  their cry for help ²² 

[3:27]  ¹ tn Heb “and he struck him down there [in] the stomach.”

[3:27]  ² tn Heb “and he [i.e., Abner] died on account of the blood of Asahel his [i.e., Joab’s] brother.”

[3:39]  ³ tn Heb “are hard from me.”

[3:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “May the Lord repay the doer of the evil according to his evil” (NASB similar).

[9:5]  ⁵ 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.

[9:5]  ⁶ 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.

[9:5]  ⁷ 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.

[9:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.

[9:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “of the man.”

[9:5]  ¹⁰ 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.

[9:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the blood of man.”

[9:6]  ¹² tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.

[9:6]  ¹³ 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.

[9:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:12]  ¹⁵ sn The underlying point of this section remains vital today: The people of God must treat all human life as sacred.

[21:12]  ¹⁶ tn The construction uses a Hiphil participle in construct with the noun for “man” (or person as is understood in a law for the nation): “the one striking [of] a man.” This is a casus pendens (independent nominative absolute); it indicates the condition or action that involves further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).

[21:12]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew word וָמֵת (vamet) is a Qal perfect with vav consecutive; it means “and he dies” and not “and killed him” (which require another stem). Gesenius notes that this form after a participle is the equivalent of a sentence representing a contingent action (GKC 333 §112.n). The word shows the result of the action in the opening participle. It is therefore a case of murder or manslaughter.

[21:12]  ¹⁸ sn See A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” JJS 28 (1977): 105-26.

[35:32]  ¹⁹ 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.

[9:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for the one who seeks shed blood remembered them.” The idiomatic expression “to seek shed blood” seems to carry the idea “to seek payment/restitution for one’s shed blood.” The plural form דָּמִים (damim, “shed blood”) occurs only here as the object of דָּרַשׁ (darash); the singular form דָּם (dam, “blood”) appears with the verb in Gen 9:5; 42:22; Ezek 33:6. “Them,” the pronominal object of the verb “remembered,” refers to the oppressed, mentioned specifically in the next line, so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “did not forget.”

[9:12]  ²² tn Heb “the cry for help of the oppressed.” In this context the “oppressed” are the psalmist and those he represents, whom the hostile nations have threatened.