Genesis 9:6

9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, ¹ 

by other humans ² 

must his blood be shed;

for in God’s image ³ 

God ⁴  has made humankind.”

Deuteronomy 21:8

21:8 Do not blame ⁵  your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” ⁶  Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed.

Acts 28:4

28:4 When the local people ⁷  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ⁸  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ⁹  has not allowed him to live!” ¹⁰ 

[9:6]  ¹ tn Heb “the blood of man.”

[9:6]  ² tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.

[9:6]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “Atone for.”

[21:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”

[28:4]  ⁷ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ⁹ tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.

[28:4]  ¹⁰ sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.