Genesis 9:5-6

9:5 For your lifeblood ¹  I will surely exact punishment, ²  from ³  every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person ⁴  I will exact punishment for the life of the individual ⁵  since the man was his relative. ⁶ 

9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, ⁷ 

by other humans ⁸ 

must his blood be shed;

for in God’s image ⁹ 

God ¹⁰  has made humankind.”

Numbers 35:33

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.

Numbers 35:2

35:2 “Instruct the Israelites to give ¹¹  the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites ¹²  will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns.

Numbers 24:4

24:4 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

although falling flat on the ground ¹³  with eyes open: ¹⁴ 

Psalms 9:12

9:12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ¹⁵ 

he did not overlook ¹⁶  their cry for help ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 26:21

26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, ¹⁸ 

to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.

The earth will display the blood shed on it;

it will no longer cover up its slain. ¹⁹ 

Revelation 18:20-24

18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,

and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has pronounced judgment ²⁰  against her on your behalf!) ²¹ 

18:21 Then ²²  one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,

“With this kind of sudden violent force ²³ 

Babylon the great city will be thrown down ²⁴ 

and it will never be found again!

18:22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,

flute players, and trumpeters

will never be heard in you ²⁵  again.

No ²⁶  craftsman ²⁷  who practices any trade

will ever be found in you again;

the noise of a mill ²⁸  will never be heard in you again.

18:23 Even the light from a lamp

will never shine in you again!

The voices of the bridegroom and his bride

will never be heard in you again.

For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,

because all the nations ²⁹  were deceived by your magic spells! ³⁰ 

18:24 The ³¹  blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, ³² 

along with the blood ³³  of all those who had been killed on the earth.”

[9:5]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.

[9:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “of the man.”

[9:5]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “the blood of man.”

[9:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.

[9:6]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:2]  ¹¹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive: “command…and they will give,” or “that they give.”

[35:2]  ¹² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:4]  ¹³ tn The phrase “flat on the ground” is supplied in the translation for clarity. The Greek version interprets the line to mean “falling asleep.” It may mean falling into a trance.

[24:4]  ¹⁴ tn The last colon simply has “falling, but opened eyes.” The falling may simply refer to lying prone; and the opened eyes may refer to his receiving a vision. See H. E. Freeman, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets, 37-41.

[9:12]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “did not forget.”

[9:12]  ¹⁷ 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.

[26:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “out of his place” (so KJV, ASV).

[26:21]  ¹⁹ sn This implies that rampant bloodshed is one of the reasons for divine judgment. See the note at 24:5.

[18:20]  ²⁰ tn On the phrase “pronounced judgment” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 4.b states, “The OT is the source of the expr. κρίνειν τὸ κρ. (cp. Zech 7:9; 8:16; Ezk 44:24) ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς God has pronounced judgment for you against her or God has pronounced on her the judgment she wished to impose on you (HHoltzmann, Hdb. 1893 ad loc.) Rv 18:20.”

[18:20]  ²¹ tn Grk “God has judged a judgment of you of her.” Verse 20 is set in parentheses because in it the saints, etc. are addressed directly in the second person.

[18:21]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[18:21]  ²³ tn On ὅρμημα ({ormhma) BDAG 724 s.v. states, “violent rush, onset ὁρμήματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλών Babylon will be thrown down with violence Rv 18:21.” L&N 68.82 refers to the suddenness of the force or violence.

[18:21]  ²⁴ sn Thrown down is a play on both the words and the action. The angel’s action with the stone illustrates the kind of sudden violent force with which the city will be overthrown.

[18:22]  ²⁵ tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:22]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:22]  ²⁷ tn On this term BDAG 1001 s.v. τεχνίτης states, “craftsperson, artisan, designer…Of a silversmith Ac 19:24, 25 v.l., 38….Of a potter 2 Cl 8:2 (metaph., cp. Ath. 15:2). πᾶς τεχνίτης πάσης τέχνης Rv 18:22.”

[18:22]  ²⁸ tn This is a different Greek word (μύλος, mulos) from the one for the millstone in v. 21 (μύλινος, mulinos). See L&N 7.68.

[18:23]  ²⁹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[18:23]  ³⁰ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

[18:24]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:24]  ³² tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:24]  ³³ tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.