Genesis 4:10

4:10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? ¹  The voice ²  of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!

Genesis 9:5-6

9:5 For your lifeblood ³  I will surely exact punishment, ⁴  from ⁵  every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person ⁶  I will exact punishment for the life of the individual ⁷  since the man was his relative. ⁸ 

9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, ⁹ 

by other humans ¹⁰ 

must his blood be shed;

for in God’s image ¹¹ 

God ¹²  has made humankind.”

Genesis 9:1

God’s Covenant with Humankind through Noah

9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Genesis 2:1-2

2:1 The heavens and the earth ¹³  were completed with everything that was in them. ¹⁴  2:2 By ¹⁵  the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, ¹⁶  and he ceased ¹⁷  on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing.

Genesis 24:22

24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka ¹⁸  and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels ¹⁹  and gave them to her. ²⁰ 

Psalms 9:12

9:12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ²¹ 

he did not overlook ²²  their cry for help ²³ 

Ezekiel 3:18

3:18 When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” ²⁴  and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, ²⁵  but I will hold you accountable for his death. ²⁶ 

Luke 11:50-51

11:50 so that this generation may be held accountable ²⁷  for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning ²⁸  of the world, ²⁹  11:51 from the blood of Abel ³⁰  to the blood of Zechariah, ³¹  who was killed ³²  between the altar and the sanctuary. ³³  Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against ³⁴  this generation.

Acts 28:4

28:4 When the local people ³⁵  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ³⁶  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ³⁷  has not allowed him to live!” ³⁸ 

Revelation 13:10

13:10 If anyone is meant for captivity,

into captivity he will go.

If anyone is to be killed by the sword, ³⁹ 

then by the sword he must be killed.

This ⁴⁰  requires steadfast endurance ⁴¹  and faith from the saints.

Revelation 16:9

16:9 Thus ⁴²  people ⁴³  were scorched by the terrible heat, ⁴⁴  yet ⁴⁵  they blasphemed the name of God, who has ruling authority ⁴⁶  over these plagues, and they would not repent and give him glory.

[4:10]  ¹ sn What have you done? Again the Lord’s question is rhetorical (see Gen 3:13), condemning Cain for his sin.

[4:10]  ² tn The word “voice” is a personification; the evidence of Abel’s shed blood condemns Cain, just as a human eyewitness would testify in court. For helpful insights, see G. von Rad, Biblical Interpretations in Preaching; and L. Morris, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 6 (1955/56): 77-82.

[9:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.

[9:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “of the man.”

[9:5]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “the blood of man.”

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.

[9:6]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:1]  ¹³ tn See the note on the phrase “the heavens and the earth” in 1:1.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and all the host of them.” Here the “host” refers to all the entities and creatures that God created to populate the world.

[2:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “on/in the seventh day.”

[2:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his work which he did [or “made”].”

[2:2]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term שָׁבַּת (shabbat) can be translated “to rest” (“and he rested”) but it basically means “to cease.” This is not a rest from exhaustion; it is the cessation of the work of creation.

[24:22]  ¹⁸ sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).

[24:22]  ¹⁹ sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).

[24:22]  ²⁰ tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[9:12]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “did not forget.”

[9:12]  ²³ 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.

[3:18]  ²⁴ sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.

[3:18]  ²⁵ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

[3:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).

[11:50]  ²⁷ tn Or “that this generation may be charged with”; or “the blood of all the prophets… may be required from this generation.” This is a warning of judgment. These people are responsible for the shedding of prophetic blood.

[11:50]  ²⁸ tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.

[11:50]  ²⁹ tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.

[11:51]  ³⁰ sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.

[11:51]  ³¹ sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.

[11:51]  ³² tn Or “who perished.”

[11:51]  ³³ tn Or “and the temple”; Grk “and the house,” but in this context a reference to the house of God as a place of sanctuary.

[11:51]  ³⁴ tn Or “required from.”

[28:4]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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.

[13:10]  ³⁹ tc Many mss (C 051* 2351 Ï^A pc) read “if anyone will kill with the sword, it is necessary for him to be killed with the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτενεῖ, δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Other mss (א 1006 1611* 1854 al) are similar except that they read a present tense “kills” (ἀποκτείνει, apokteinei) in this sentence. Both of these variants may be regarded as essentially saying the same thing. On the other hand, codex A reads “if anyone is to be killed by the sword, he is to be killed by the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Thus the first two variants convey the idea of retribution, while the last variant, supported by codex A, does not. (There are actually a dozen variants here, evidence that scribes found the original text quite difficult. Only the most important variants are discussed in this note.) The first two variants seem to be in line with Jesus’ comments in Matt 26:52: “everyone who takes up the sword will die by the sword.” The last variant, however, seems to be taking up an idea found in Jer 15:2: “Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.” Though G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 169-70, gives four arguments in favor of the first reading (i.e., “whoever kills with the sword must with the sword be killed”), the arguments he puts forward can be read equally as well to support the latter alternative. In the end, the reading in codex A seems to be original. The fact that this sentence seems to be in parallel with 10a (which simply focuses on God’s will and suffering passively and is therefore akin to the reading in codex A), and that it most likely gave rise to the others as the most difficult reading, argues for its authenticity.

[13:10]  ⁴⁰ tn On ὧδε (Jwde) here, BDAG 1101 s.v. 2 states: “a ref. to a present event, object, or circumstance, in this case, at this point, on this occasion, under these circumstances…in this case moreover 1 Cor 4:2. ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν…Rv 13:18; cf. 17:9. ὧδέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονή…13:10; 14:12.”

[13:10]  ⁴¹ tn Or “perseverance.”

[16:9]  ⁴² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of the bowl poured on the sun.

[16:9]  ⁴³ tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") and refers to both men and women.

[16:9]  ⁴⁴ tn On this phrase BDAG 536 s.v. καῦμα states, “burning, heat Rv 7:16…καυματίζεσθαι κ. μέγα be burned with a scorching heat 16:9.”

[16:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[16:9]  ⁴⁶ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.