Deuteronomy 12:23-24

12:23 However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself ¹  – you must not eat the life with the meat! 12:24 You must not eat it! You must pour it out on the ground like water.

[12:23]  ¹ sn The blood is life itself. This is a figure of speech (metonymy) in which the cause or means (the blood) stands for the result or effect (life). That is, life depends upon the existence and circulation of blood, a truth known empirically but not scientifically tested and proved until the 17th century a.d. (cf. Lev 17:11).