A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
The saying stands within the group of Solomonic proverbs found in chapters 25 through 29, gathered together in the time of Hezekiah about three hundred years after Solomon. The English word rendered person represents the Hebrew nephesh, which in other places is rendered soul.
In this place that term denotes a single human life subjected to bloody violence, an individual human being against whom violence shedding blood is done. Soul in such a use can therefore designate a person who is capable of being killed. Person in such a use means an embodied and formed being rather than a formless essence.
The one who does such violence to blood flees toward the pit and is headed for destruction. That fugitive is to be allowed to face the consequences without being stayed or hindered.
The saying stands within the group of Solomonic proverbs found in chapters 25 through 29, gathered together in the time of Hezekiah about three hundred years after Solomon. The English word rendered person represents the Hebrew nephesh, which in other places is rendered soul.
In this place that term denotes a single human life subjected to bloody violence, an individual human being against whom violence shedding blood is done. Soul in such a use can therefore designate a person who is capable of being killed. Person in such a use means an embodied and formed being rather than a formless essence.
The one who does such violence to blood flees toward the pit and is headed for destruction. That fugitive is to be allowed to face the consequences without being stayed or hindered.