Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Genesis 9 stands within the inspired Old Testament Scriptures affirmed as divine by Christ. The account of Noah and the Flood there is of a literal person and a historical event. Noah's generation prefigures the age before Christ's return.
The verse carefully protects human rights by attaching the death penalty to wilful murder. Human life, which God alone can give, must be sacredly guarded. A wilful, intentional murderer proved guilty by fair trial must be put to death by man. For the intentional murderer there is no atonement or ransom to rescue him from death. A wilful murderer finds no protection by fleeing to God's altar but will be taken, even forced, from that altar to be slain. If a person takes life unintentionally, God provides a place of refuge to which he can flee.
The land where blood has been shed cannot be cleansed except by the blood of the one who shed it. God must punish murderers because He gives life and He will take life when that life becomes a terror and a menace. If one murderer were allowed to go unpunished, his evil influence and cruel violence would subvert others and bring back the condition that existed before the Flood. Mercy shown to a wilful murderer is cruelty to his fellow men. The safety and purity of the nation demand severe punishment for murder.
Genesis 9 stands within the inspired Old Testament Scriptures affirmed as divine by Christ. The account of Noah and the Flood there is of a literal person and a historical event. Noah's generation prefigures the age before Christ's return.
The verse carefully protects human rights by attaching the death penalty to wilful murder. Human life, which God alone can give, must be sacredly guarded. A wilful, intentional murderer proved guilty by fair trial must be put to death by man. For the intentional murderer there is no atonement or ransom to rescue him from death. A wilful murderer finds no protection by fleeing to God's altar but will be taken, even forced, from that altar to be slain. If a person takes life unintentionally, God provides a place of refuge to which he can flee.
The land where blood has been shed cannot be cleansed except by the blood of the one who shed it. God must punish murderers because He gives life and He will take life when that life becomes a terror and a menace. If one murderer were allowed to go unpunished, his evil influence and cruel violence would subvert others and bring back the condition that existed before the Flood. Mercy shown to a wilful murderer is cruelty to his fellow men. The safety and purity of the nation demand severe punishment for murder.