Genesis 9:4

9:4 But ¹  you must not eat meat ²  with its life (that is, ³  its blood) in it. ⁴ 

Leviticus 3:16-17

3:16 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar as a food gift for a soothing aroma – all the fat belongs to the Lord. 3:17 This is ⁵  a perpetual statute throughout your generations ⁶  in all the places where you live: You must never eat any fat or any blood.’” ⁷ 

Leviticus 17:11

17:11 for the life of every living thing ⁸  is in the blood. ⁹  So I myself have assigned it to you ¹⁰  on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life. ¹¹ 

Leviticus 17:14

17:14 for the life of all flesh is its blood. ¹²  So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing ¹³  because the life of every living thing is its blood – all who eat it will be cut off. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 20:28

20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom ¹⁵  for many.”

Revelation 5:9

5:9 They were singing a new song: ¹⁶ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ¹⁷ 

and at the cost of your own blood ¹⁸  you have purchased ¹⁹  for God

persons ²⁰  from every tribe, language, ²¹  people, and nation.

[9:4]  ¹ tn Heb “only.”

[9:4]  ² tn Or “flesh.”

[9:4]  ³ tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.

[9:4]  ⁴ tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:17]  ⁵ tn The words “This is” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied due to requirements of English style.

[3:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “for your generations”; NAB “for your descendants”; NLT “for you and all your descendants.”

[3:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “all fat and all blood you must not eat.”

[17:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “the life of the flesh.” Here “flesh” stands for “every living thing,” that is, all creatures (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “every creature”; CEV “every living creature.”

[17:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “for the soul/life (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) of the flesh, it is in the blood” (cf. the note of v. 10 above and v. 14 below). Although most modern English versions begin a new sentence in v. 11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (see, e.g., NJPS, NASB, NIV, NRSV), the כִּי (ki, “for, because”) at the beginning of the verse suggests continuation from v. 10, as the rendering here indicates (see, e.g., NEB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 261; and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 239).

[17:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And I myself have given it to you.”

[17:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for the blood, it by (בְּ, bet preposition, “in”] the life makes atonement.” The interpretation of the preposition is pivotal here. Some scholars have argued that it is a bet of exchange; that is, “the blood makes atonement in exchange for the life [of the slaughtered animal]” (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:694-95, 697 for analysis and criticism of this view). It is more likely that, as in the previous clause (“your lives”), “life/soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) here refers to the person who makes the offering, not the animal offered. The blood of the animal makes atonement for the person who offers it either “by means of” (instrumental bet) the “life/soul” of the animal, which it symbolizes or embodies (the meaning of the translation given here); or perhaps the blood of the animal functions as “the price” (bet of price) for ransoming the “life/soul” of the person.

[17:14]  ¹² tn Heb “for the life/soul (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) of all flesh, its blood in its life/soul (נֶפֶשׁ) it is.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate leave out “in its life/soul,” which would naturally yield “for the life of all flesh, its blood it is” (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 261, 263). The present translation is something of an oversimplification, but the meaning is basically the same in any case. Cf. NRSV “For the life of every creature – its blood is its life.”

[17:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “of all flesh” (also later in this verse). See the note on “every living thing” in v. 11.

[17:14]  ¹⁴ tn For remarks on the “cut off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above.

[20:28]  ¹⁵ sn The Greek word for ransom (λύτρον, lutron) is found here and in Mark 10:45 and refers to the payment of a price in order to purchase the freedom of a slave. The idea of Jesus as the “ransom” is that he paid the price with his own life by standing in our place as a substitute, enduring the judgment that we deserved for sin.

[5:9]  ¹⁶ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ¹⁸ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ¹⁹ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ²⁰ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ²¹ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.