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BLOOD

The life of all animals was regarded as especially in the blood, which was a sacred and essential part of the sacrifices offered to God, Heb 9:22 . It was solemnly sprinkled upon the altar and the mercy seat, “for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul,” Lev 17:1-16 the life of the victim for the life of the sinner. It was therefore most sacredly associated with the blood of the Lamb of God which “cleanseth us from all sin,” Zep 1:7 1Jo 1:7 . Hence the strict prohibition renewed in Mal 15:29 . In direct opposition to this are the heathen customs of drinking the blood of animals and even of men- of eating raw flesh, with the blood, and even fresh cut from the living animal, 1Sa 14:32 Psa 16:4 Eze 33:25 .Besides the ordinary meaning of the word blood, it often signifies the guilt of murder, 2Sa 3:28 Mal 27:25 ; also relationship or consanguinity. “Flesh and blood” are placed in contrast with a spiritual nature, Mat 16:17, the glorified body, 1Co 15:50, and evil spirits, Zep 6:12 . The cause “between blood and blood,” Deu 17:8, was one where life was depending on the judgment rendered.

Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Blood

1. Meaning of the term.-Among its simplest designations, blood represents the blood which flows From wounds in the body (Act 22:20); the extremity of human endurance of evil (Heb 12:4). The phrase flesh and blood signifies the lower sensuous nature (1Co 15:50; cf. Mat 16:17); any one whatever (Gal 1:16); the substantial basis of human life (Heb 2:14); and human power antagonistic to the gospel (Eph 6:12). Thus blood may symbolize any aspect of human life inferior to that of the spirit.

2. Origin.-The meaning of the term is derived from OT usage, as in St. Peters reference to the portents of the Day of the Lord, quoting Joels words, blood the moon [shall be turned into] blood (Act 2:19-20; cf. Joe 2:30-31). The same usage together with dependence on the story of the plagues in Egypt appears in Rev. (Rev 6:12; Rev 8:7; Rev 8:6; Rev 11:6; Rev 16:3-4). Blood thus represents the greatness, awfulness, and finality of the Divine judgment, by which either a wicked condition is simply brought to an end (cf. also Rev 19:13), or a temporary dispensation gives place to the last age of human earthly existence in the fulfilment of Gods purpose.

3. Usage.-(1) The word is related to Jewish ordinances. Among the prohibitions put forth by the council at Jerusalem was one enjoining abstinence from blood (Act 15:20-29; Act 21:25; cf. Lev 3:17). The reason for the edict was doubtless that assigned for the earlier restriction, that the life of all flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:14). (2) Blood further symbolizes the life violently taken (Act 1:19; Act 22:20, Rom 3:15, Rev 16:5), for which the murderer is responsible (Act 5:28, Rev 17:6; Rev 18:24), and liable to the just judgment of God (Rev 6:10; Rev 19:2), perhaps, in poetic justice, a punishment like the crime (cf. Rev 14:20). It may also signify the unpitying violence with which men treat their fellows (Rom 3:15). (3) In his denunciation that blood shall be upon ones own head, St. Paul meant that the Corinthians who had refused belief in the gospel were both responsible for their rejection and exposed to Gods judgment against them (Act 18:6; cf. Act 5:26, 2Sa 1:16, Mat 27:25). In like manner one might be guilty of the blood of Christ (1Co 11:27). (4) Blood represents the life of men capable of redemption, for which any herald of the gospel is responsible and of which he may be found guilty if he fails in his duty as a preacher of Christ (Act 20:26). (5) It signifies the life given up for an atonement, both as presented to God and as having reconciling virtue for men (Heb 9:7; Heb 10:4; Heb 10:18-22; Heb 13:11 f.; Heb 13:20 f.).

4. The term used in connexion with the work of Christ.-The most important uses of the word centre in the work of Christ. In the Epistle to the Romans the reference to blood involves its relation on the one hand to the sacrificial-offering, on the other hand to the sin-offering, wherein it appears that the sacrificial is the sin-offering. In other letters of St. Paul the references to blood are incidental and determined by the particular feature of redemption in the mind of the Apostle at the moment. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the meaning of the word is derived from the analogy of the OT Scriptures, which in a very inadequate manner prefigured the offering which Christ made of Himself. Revelation is dominated by the OT usage of the word and is in a large degree influenced by prophetic language, although the common note of redemption through the blood of Christ is heard here also. As related to the work of Christ, then, the apostolic teaching concerning blood involves the following specific features: (a) It is connected with sacrifices, as that of the Day of Atonement (Rom 3:25, Heb 9:7 ff.), by means of which the relation of men to God, and indeed of God to men (cf. Rom 5:10), broken by sin, is restored by the death of Christ. According to the Epistle to the Hebrews, while the animal sacrifices as such were irrational, destitute of personal consent, intermittent, incapable of purifying, spiritual efficacy (Heb 10:4), this lack was more than set off by the blood of Christ, (b) As in the Old Dispensation all persons ministering at the altar, utensils of service and worship, and means of approach to God were cleansed with blood as a medium of purification (cf., however, Lev 5:11 ff.), so the blood of Christ signifies that all that which pertains to salvation in the heavenly sanctuary into which both He and His followers enter has been for ever purified in His blood (Heb 9:22 ff.). It is as if the author of the Hebrews conceived of sin as having penetrated and defiled even the unseen heavenly world, which therefore needed to be set free from contamination and made holy in the same way as things belonging to the earthly tabernacle. (c) It is the sign and pledge of Christs free surrender of Himself to His atoning death (Heb 9:12-14, Rev 1:5), and symbolizes the experience through which Jesus must pass on His way to perfected communion with God and the final stage of His mediatorial agency (Heb 10:19; Heb 13:12, 1Jn 5:6-8; cf. 1Co 15:28, Rev 19:13). (d) The blood is also the means for the ratification of the New Covenant (1Co 11:25, Heb 9:15-20; Heb 10:29; Heb 13:20; cf. Mat 26:28, Exo 24:6-8). It could not but be that a ceremony, the meaning of which was so deeply embedded in the religions experience of the race, and which was so well fitted to symbolize the solemn consecration to mutual obligations, should find its significance completely expressed in the blood of Christ through which God would reunite Himself in even more spiritual bonds to the lives of Christs followers. (e) the blood is represented as the purchase price of deliverance from sin (Act 20:28, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14, 1Pe 1:19, Rev 5:9; cf. Heb 9:22). The vivid imagery of this word receives nowhere a closer definition; its force lies in its suggestion of one aspect of the experience of the man who passes from the consciousness of the bondage of sin to the joyful freedom of forgiveness. (f) Hence the word is associated with forgiveness of sins. As a sacrificial offering Christ was at the same time a sin-offering (Rom 3:25; Rom 5:9, Heb 9:12), and as such His offering has expiatory efficacy. (g) By His blood as our High Priest He enters into the presence of God on our behalf (Heb 9:12-24; Heb 10:19), there both perfectly realizing fellowship with God for Himself and carrying forward His mediatorial work. (h) The blood has efficacy in the actual life of believers, disclosing its energy in their progressive personal sanctification (Heb 9:14; Heb 10:19; Heb 12:24, 1Pe 1:2, 1Jn 1:7, Rev 1:5; Rev 7:14), and in the power which it confers on thorn to overcome that which resists the Christian aim from without (Rev 12:11). (i) Blood is also a symbol of the inner fellowship of believers with one another and with God-the reference is social (1Co 10:16, Heb 13:12).

Looking back over this subject as a whole, it is evident that the apostolic writers do not let their attention rest on blood as such, but only on blood as it is a vehicle and symbol of life. For the blood represents the life, even if this is taken by violence. Christs blood freely given, with the sole aim of recovering men in sin to fellowship with God and to their Divine destination as children of God. The efficacy of the life of Christ thus given is continuous from the unseen world and in the purpose of God. Thus the blood which flowed once for all is not of transitory worth, but is endowed with the energy perpetually to create new redemptive personal and social values-it is eternal.

Literature.-B. F. Westcott, The Epistle of St. John, 1883, Additional note on i. 7:1, p. 34ff., also The Epistle to the Hebrews, 1889, note On the Use at the term Blood in the Epistle, p. 293f.; W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, The Epistle to the Romans 5 (International Critical Commentary , 1902), p. 91ff.

C. A. Beckwith.

Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church

Blood

(, dam; v: both occasionally used, by Hebraism, in the plural with a sing. sense), the red fluid circulating in the veins of men and animals. The term is employed in Scripture in a variety of senses.

1. As Food. To blood is ascribed in Scripture the mysterious sacredness which belongs to life, and God reserved it to Himself when allowing man the dominion over and the use of the lower animals for food, etc. (See Thomson, Land and Book, i, 136.) In Gen 9:4, where the use of animal food is allowed, it is first absolutely forbidden to eat “flesh with its soul, its blood;” which expression, were it otherwise obscure, is explained by the mode in which the same terms are employed in Deu 12:23. In the Mosaic law the prohibition is repeated with frequency and emphasis, although it is generally introduced in connection with sacrifices, as in Lev 3:7; Lev 7:26 (in both which places blood is coupled in the prohibition with the fat of the victims); 17:10-14; 19:2; Deu 12:16-23; Deu 15:23. In cases where the prohibition is introduced in connection with the lawful and unlawful articles of diet, the reason which is generally assigned in the text is that ” the blood is the soul,” and it is ordered that it be poured on the ground like water. But where it is introduced in reference to the portions of the victim which were to be offered to the Lord, then the text, in addition to the former reason, insists that “the blood expiates by the soul” (Lev 17:11; Leviticus 12). This strict injunction not only applied to the Israelites, but even to the strangers residing among them. The penalty assigned to its transgression was the being “cut off from the people,” by which the punishment of death appears to be intended (comp. Heb 10:28), although it is difficult to ascertain whether it was inflicted by the sword or by stoning. It is observed by Michaelis (iMos. Recht. 4:45) that the blood of fishes does not appear to be interdicted. The words in Lev 7:26, only expressly mention that of birds and cattle. This accords, however, with the reasons assigned for the prohibition of blood, inasmuch as fishes could not be offered to the Lord, although they formed a significant offering in heathen religions. To this is to be added that the apostles and elders, assembled in council at Jerusalem, when desirous of settling the extent to which the ceremonial observances were binding upon the converts to Christianity, renewed the injunction to abstain from blood, and coupled it with things offered to idols (Act 15:29). It is perhaps worthy of notice here that Mohammed, while professing to abrogate some of the dietary restrictions of the Jewish law (which he asserts were imposed on account of the sins of the Jews, Sura 4:158). still enforces, among others, abstinence from blood and from things offered to idols (Koran, Sur. v, 4; 6:146, ed. Flugel).

In direct opposition to this emphatic prohibition of blood in the Mosaic law, the customs of uncivilized heathens sanctioned the cutting of slices from the living animal, and the eating of the flesh while quivering with life and dripping with blood. Even Saul’s army committed this barbarity, as we read in 1Sa 14:32; and the prophet also lays it to the charge of the Jews in Eze 33:25. This practice, according to Bruce’s testimony, exists at present among the Abyssinians. Moreover, pagan religions, and that of the Phoenicians among the rest, appointed the eating and drinking of blood, mixed with wine, as a rite of idolatrous worship, and especially in the ceremonial of swearing. To this the passage in Psa 16:4 appears to allude (comp. Michaelis, Critisth. Colleg. p. 108, where several testimonies on this subject are collected).

Among Christians different views have been entertained respecting the eating of blood, some maintaining that its prohibition in the Scriptures is to be regarded as merely ceremonial and temporary, while others contend that it is unlawful under any circumstances, and that Christians are as much bound to abstain from it now as were the Jews under the Mosaic economy. This they found on the facts that when animal food was originally granted to man, there was an express reservation in the article of the blood; that this grant was made to the new parents of the whole human family after the flood, consequently the tenure by which any of mankind are permitted to eat animals is in every case accompanied with this restriction; that there never was any reversal of the prohibition; that most express injunctions were given on the point in the Jewish code; and that in the New Testament, instead of there being the least hint intimating that we are freed from the obligation, it is deserving of particular notice that at the very time when the Holy Spirit declares by the apostles (Acts 15) that the Gentiles are free from the yoke of circumcision, abstinence from blood is explicitly enjoined, and the action thus prohibited is classed with idolatry and fornication. After the time of Augustine the rule began to be held merely as a temporary injunction. It was one of the grounds alleged by the early apologists against the calumnies of the enemies of Christianity that, so far were they from drinking human blood, it was unlawful for them to drink the blood even of irrational animals. Numerous testimonies to the same effect are found in after ages (Bingham, Orig. Eccl., bk. 17:ch. v, 20). SEE FOOD.

2. Sacrificial. It was a well-established rabbinical maxim (Mishna, Yoma, v, 1; Menachoth, xciii, 2) that the blood of a victim is essential to atonement ( , i.e. “there is no expiation except by blood”), a principle recognised by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews ( , 9:22). See Bahr, Symbol. ii, 201 sq. SEE EXPIATION. The blood of sacrifices was caught by the Jewish priest from the neck of the victim in a basin, then sprinkled seven times (in the case of birds at once shed out) on the altar, i.e. on its horns, its base, or its four corners, or on its side above or below a line running round it, or on the mercy-seat, according to the quality and purpose of the offering; but that of the Passover on the lintel and door-posts (Exodus 12; Lev 4:5-7; Lev 16:14-19; Ugolini, Thes. vol. x and xiii). There was a drain from the Temple into the brook Cedron to carry off the blood (Maimon. apud Cramer de A ra Exter. Ugolini, viii). It sufficed to pour the animal’s blood on the earth, or to bury it, as a solemn rendering of the life to God. SEE SACRIFICE.

3. Homicidal. In this respect ” blood” is often used for life: God ” will require the blood of man ;” he will punish murder in what manner soever committed (Gen 9:5). ” His blood be upon us” (Mat 27:25), let the guilt of his death be imputed to us. “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth;” the murder committed on him crieth for vengeance (Gen 4:10). “The avenger of blood;” he who is to avenge the death of his relative (Num 35:24; Num 35:27). The priests under the Mosaic law were constituted judges between “blood and blood,” that is, in criminal matters, and when the life of man was at stake; they had to determine whether the murder were casual or voluntary, whether a crime deserved death or admitted of remission (Deu 17:8). In case of human bloodshed, a mysterious connection is observable between the curse of blood and the earth or land on which it is shed, which becomes polluted by it; and the proper expiation is the blood of the shedder, which every one had thus an interest in exacting, and was bound to seek (Gen 4:10; Gen 9:4-6; Num 35:33; Psa 106:38). SEE AVENGER OF BLOOD. In the case of a dead body found and the death not accounted for, the guilt of blood attached to the nearest city, to be ascertained by measurement, until freed by prescribed rites of expiation (Deu 21:1-9). The guilt of murder is one for which a satisfaction” was forbidden (Num 35:31). SEE MURDER.

4. In a slightly metaphorical sense, ” blood” sometimes means race or nature, by virtue of relationship or consanguinity: God “hath made of one blood all nations of men” (Act 17:26). It is also used as the symbol of slaughter and mortality (Isa 34:3; Eze 14:19). It also denotes every kind of premature death (Eze 32:6; Eze 39:18). “The bold imager’ of the prophet,” says Archbishop Newcome, ” is founded on the custom of invitations to feasts after sacrifices; kings, princes, and tyrants being expressed by rams, bulls, and he-goats.” Blood is sometimes put for sanguinary purposes, as in Isa 33:15, “He that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood,” or, more properly, who stoppeth his ears to the proposal of bloodshed. To “wash the feet in blood” (Psa 58:10) is to gain a victory with much slaughter. To “build a town with blood” (Hab 2:12) is by causing the death of the oppressed laborers as slaves.

Wine is called the blood of the grape; “He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes” (Gen 49:11). Here the figure is easily understood, as any thing of a red color may be compared to blood. See Wemyss, Symbol. Dict. s.v. FLESH AND BLOOD are placed in opposition to a superior or spiritual nature: ” Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven” (Mat 16:17). Flesh and blood are also opposed to the glorified body: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1Co 15:50). They are opposed to evil spirits: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood,” against visible enemies composed of flesh and blood, “but against principalities and powers,” etc. (Eph 6:12). SEE EUCHARIST.

Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Blood (2)

(, dam; v: both occasionally used, by Hebraism, in the plural with a sing. sense), the red fluid circulating in the veins of men and animals. The term is employed in Scripture in a variety of senses.

Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Blood

(1.) As food, prohibited in Gen. 9:4, where the use of animal food is first allowed. Comp. Deut. 12:23; Lev. 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14. The injunction to abstain from blood is renewed in the decree of the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:29). It has been held by some, and we think correctly, that this law of prohibition was only ceremonial and temporary; while others regard it as still binding on all. Blood was eaten by the Israelites after the battle of Gilboa (1 Sam. 14:32-34).

(2.) The blood of sacrifices was caught by the priest in a basin, and then sprinkled seven times on the altar; that of the passover on the doorposts and lintels of the houses (Ex. 12; Lev. 4:5-7; 16:14-19). At the giving of the law (Ex. 24:8) the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the people as well as on the altar, and thus the people were consecrated to God, or entered into covenant with him, hence the blood of the covenant (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:19, 20; 10:29; 13:20).

(3.) Human blood. The murderer was to be punished (Gen. 9:5). The blood of the murdered “crieth for vengeance” (Gen. 4:10). The “avenger of blood” was the nearest relative of the murdered, and he was required to avenge his death (Num. 35:24, 27). No satisfaction could be made for the guilt of murder (Num. 35:31).

(4.) Blood used metaphorically to denote race (Acts 17:26), and as a symbol of slaughter (Isa. 34:3). To “wash the feet in blood” means to gain a great victory (Ps. 58:10). Wine, from its red colour, is called “the blood of the grape” (Gen. 49:11). Blood and water issued from our Saviour’s side when it was pierced by the Roman soldier (John 19:34). This has led pathologists to the conclusion that the proper cause of Christ’s death was rupture of the heart. (Comp. Ps. 69:20.)

Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Blood

Forbidden to be eaten (Gen 9:4) under the Old Testament, on the ground that “the life (soul) of the flesh (the soul which gives life to the flesh) is in the blood,” and that “God gave it upon the altar to make atonement with for men’s souls” (Lev 17:11). Translate the next clause, “for the blood maketh atonement by virtue of the soul.” The blood, not in itself, but as the vehicle of the soul, atones, because the animal soul was offered to God on the altar as a. substitute for the human soul. Now that Christ’s one, and only true, sacrifice has superseded animal sacrifices, the prohibition against eating blood ceases, the decree in Acts 15 being but temporary, not to offend existing Jewish prejudices needlessly. In Lev 3:17 the “fat” is forbidden as well as the blood. God reserved the blood to Himself, investing it with a sacramental sanctity, when allowing man animal food. Besides the atoning virtue it typically had, it brought a curse when not duly expiated, as by burial (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:13).

The blood of victims was caught by the priest in a basin, and sprinkled seven times (that of birds was squeezed out at once) on the altar, its four corners or horns, on its side above and below the line running round it, or on the mercy-seat, according to the nature of the offering; the blood of the Passover lamb on the lintel and doorposts (Exodus 12; Lev 4:5-7; Lev 16:14-19). A drain from the temple carried the blood into the brook Kedron. A land was regarded as polluted by blood shed on it, which was to be expiated only by the blood of the murderer, and not by any “satisfaction” (Gen 4:10; Gen 9:4-6; Heb 12:24; Num 35:31; Num 35:33; Psa 106:38). The guilt of bloodshed, if the shedder was not known, fell on the city nearest by measurement, until it exculpated itself, its elders washing their hands over an expiatory sacrifice, namely, a beheaded heifer in a rough, unplowed, and unsown valley (Deu 21:1-9).

The blood and water from Jesus’ side, when pierced after death, was something extraordinary; for in other corpses the blood coagulates, and the water does not flow clear. The “loud voice” just before death (Luk 23:46) shows that He did not die from mere exhaustion. The psalmist, His typical forerunner, says (Psa 69:20), “reproach hath broken my heart.” Crucifixion alone would not have killed Him in so short a time. Probably the truth is, if we may with reverence conjecture from hints in Scripture, that mental agony, when He hung under the Father’s displeasure at our sins which He bore, caused rupture of the pericardium, or sac wherein the heart throbs. The extravasated blood separated into the crassamentum and serum, the blood and the water, and flowed out when the soldier’s spear pierced the side.

Hence appears the propriety of Heb 10:19-20, “having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the veil (which was ‘rent’ at His death), that is to say His flesh.” Also, “this is My body which is broken for you” (1Co 11:24) is explained by the breaking of the heart, though it was true “a bone of Him shall not be broken” (Joh 19:32-27); compare also 1Jo 5:6, “this is He that came by water (at His baptism by John in Jordan) and blood” (by His bloody baptism, at Calvary).

THE AVENGING OF BLOOD by the nearest kinsman of the deceased was a usage from the earliest historical times (Gen 9:5-6; Gen 34:30; 2Sa 14:7). Among the Bedouin Arabs the thar, or law of blood, comes into effect if the offer of money satisfaction be refused. So among the Anglo-Saxons the wer-gild, or money satisfaction for homicide, varying in amount according to the rank, was customary. The Mosaic law mitigated the severity of the law of private revenge for blood, by providing six cities of refuge (among the 48 Levitical cities), three on one side of Jordan, three on the other, for the involuntary homicide to flee into. The avenger, or goel (derived from a Hebrew root “pollution,” implying that he was deemed polluted until the blood of his slain kinsman was expiated), was nearest of kin to the man slain, and was bound to take vengeance on the manslayer.

If the latter reached one of the six cities, (Kedesh in Naphtali, Shechem in mount Ephraim, Hebron in the hill country of Judah, W. of Jordan; Bezor in Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead (Gad), Golan in Manasseh, E. of Jordan,) he was safe until the elders of the city, and then those of his own city, decided whether it was an involuntary act. In this case he was kept safe from the avenger in the city of refuge, so long as he did not go 2,000 cubits beyond its precincts. After the high priest’s death he might return home in safety (Num 35:25; Num 35:28; Jos 20:4-6). The roads were to be kept clear, that nothing might retard the flight of the manslayer, to whom every moment was precious (Deu 19:3). Jewish tradition adds that posts inscribed “Refuge,” “Refuge,” were to be set up at the cross roads. All necessaries of water, etc., were in the cities.

No implements of war were allowed there. The law of retaliation in blood affected only the manslayer, and not also (as among pagan nations) his relatives (Deu 24:16). Blood revenge still prevails in Corsica. The law of blood avenging by the nearest kinsman, though incompatible with our ideas in a more civilized age and nation, is the means of preventing much bloodshed among the Arabs; and its introduction into the law of Israel, a kindred race, accords with the provisional character of the whole Mosaic system, which establishes not what is absolutely best, supposing a state of optimism, but what was best under existing circumstances. Moreover, it contained an important typical lesson, hinted at in Heb 6:18; Heb 2:14-15.

The Son of man, as He to whom the Father hath committed all judgment, is the goel or avenger of blood on guilty man, involved by Satan the “murderer from the beginning” in murderous rebellion against God. He, in another sense, is the goel or redeemer of man, as the high priest whose death sets the shut up captive free; He is also the priestly city of refuge (His priestly office being the mean of our salvation), by fleeing into which man is safe; but in this latter sense, as our High priest “ever liveth,” we must not only eater the city, and moreover abide in Him, but also abide in Him forever for eternal safety (Joh 15:1-11). “The way” to Him is clearly pointed out by God Himself (Isa 30:21). “Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope” (Zec 9:12) Once in Christ, He can defy avenging justice (Rom 8:33-34).

Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary

BLOOD

The special significance of blood in the Bible is that it commonly signifies death; not death through natural causes, but death through killing or violence. In the language of the Bible, anyone responsible for the death of another has upon him the blood of the dead person, and the one who executes the guilty avenges the blood of the dead person (Num 35:19; 1Ki 2:32-33; 1Ki 2:37; Mat 27:4; Mat 27:24-25; Act 5:28; Rev 6:10; Rev 17:6). Likewise those who lay down their lives for others are, so to speak, offering their own blood (2Sa 23:15-17; Rom 5:6-9).

The life of the flesh

Blood has this special significance because the life of the flesh is in the blood (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:11; Deu 12:23). However, the Bibles emphasis is not on blood circulating through the body, but on shed blood; not on bloods chemical properties, but on its symbolic significance. Since blood in the body represents life, shed blood represents life poured out; that is, death.

One of the principles on which Israelite law was based was that all physical life belonged to God and was therefore precious in his sight. This was particularly so in the case of human life, because men and women are made in Gods image (Gen 1:26). Any person who killed another without Gods approval was considered no longer worthy to enjoy Gods gift of life and had to be executed. In this case the executioner was not guilty of wrongdoing, because he was acting with Gods approval. He was carrying out Gods judgment (Gen 9:5-6). Therefore, until a murderer was punished, the blood of the murdered person cried out for justice (Gen 4:10; Num 35:33; Deu 19:11-13).

Animal life also belonged to God. God allowed the flesh of animals to be a source of food for human beings, but in the law he set out for Israel, those who took an animals life had to acknowledge God as the rightful owner of that life. They took the animals life only by Gods permission. Therefore, they poured out the animals blood (representing the life that had been taken) either on the altar or on the ground. This was an expression of sacrificial thanks to God for benefits received at the cost of the animals life. Any drinking of the blood was strictly forbidden (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:3-7; Lev 17:10-14; Lev 19:26; Deu 12:15-16; Deu 12:20-28).

The blood of atonement

Because of this connection between shed blood and life laid down, God gave the blood of sacrificial animals to his people as a way of atonement. Their sin made them guilty before God, and the penalty was death. But God in his mercy provided a way for repentant sinners to come to him and have their sins forgiven, while at the same time the penalty for their sin was carried out. An animal was killed in their place. People received forgiveness through the animals blood; that is, through the animals death on their behalf (Lev 17:11; see ATONEMENT; SACRIFICE).

This symbolic significance of blood was clearly illustrated at the time of the Passover in Egypt. The sprinkling of the blood around the door was a sign that an animal had died in the place of the person who was under judgment. The firstborn was saved through the death of an innocent substitute (Exo 12:13).

The blood of Christ

Human beings live in a body of flesh that is kept alive by the blood that circulates through it. Therefore, when Jesus became a human being he took upon himself the nature of flesh and blood (Heb 2:14; Heb 5:7; cf. Mat 16:17; Gal 1:16; Eph 6:12). All humankind was, because of sin, under the penalty of death; but when Jesus Christ died on the cross in the sinners place, he made salvation possible. He broke the power of sin through his own blood (Act 20:28; Eph 1:7; Tit 2:14; Rev 1:5; Rev 5:9).

In the New Testament the expressions blood of the cross, blood of Christ and death of Christ are often used interchangeably (Rom 5:7-9; Eph 2:13; Eph 2:16; Col 1:20; Col 1:22). To have life through Christs blood means to have life through his death. There is no suggestion of using Christs blood in any way that might be likened to the modern practice of a blood transfusion. Christ did not give his blood in the sense of a blood donor who helps overcome some lack in another person. He gave his blood through dying to bear the penalty of sin (Rom 3:24-25; Col 1:14; 1Pe 2:24; 1Jn 1:7). Those who share in Christs blood share in the benefits of his death through receiving forgiveness of sins and eternal life (Joh 6:54-58; 1Co 10:16).

The book of Revelation uses the symbolism of Christs blood in relation to the presence in heaven of those killed for the sake of Christ. Yet their fitness to appear in Gods presence is because of Christs sacrifice, not theirs. They are cleansed through Christs blood. This does not mean that they are washed in blood in the sense that clothes are washed in water, but that they are cleansed from sin through Christs atoning death (Rev 7:14; cf. 1Pe 1:2; 1Jn 1:7).

Under the Old Testament system peoples access to God was limited. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest, and he alone, could enter the Most Holy Place, the symbol of Gods presence. Even then, he could enter the divine presence only by taking with him the blood of a sacrificial animal and sprinkling it on and in front of the mercy seat. This blood was a sign of a life laid down in atonement for sin, so that the barrier to Gods presence through sin might be removed (Leviticus 16; Heb 9:7; Heb 9:25; for details of the ritual see DAY OF ATONEMENT).

But Christ, the great high priest, entered the heavenly presence of God, not with his blood but through his blood. He entered by means of his death. Christ has no need to carry out blood rituals in heaven, for he has already put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb 9:12; Heb 9:24-26). Just as he entered Gods holy presence through his blood, so his people can have boldness to enter by the same blood. They claim for themselves the benefits of his death (Heb 10:19).

Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Blood

BLOOD (, Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] , Gr. ).Underlying the use of the term blood in the Gospels is its root conception, as contained in the OT. This root conception is clearly seen, e.g., in Lev 17:11; Lev 17:14 The life (soul ) of the flesh is in the blood it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. For as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all one with the life thereof for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof. The close connexion between life and bloodamounting even to identificationwas doubtless realized by man from very early times; for constant experience taught him that loss of blood entailed weakness, while great loss resulted in death, i.e. the departure of life. This would have been noticed again and again in everyday life, whether in hunting, or in slaughtering (both for food and sacrifice), or in battle.* [Note: Cf. H. L. Strack, Der Blutaberglaube in der Menschheit4, p. 1 ff.] This belief was by no means confined to the Hebrews, but was universal in ancient times, just as it is now among primitive races.* [Note: Rob. Smith, Rel. of the Semites2, p. 337 ff.; Wellhausen, Reste arabischen Heid.2 p. 226 ff.; Strack, op. cit. p. 9 ff.; J. G. Frazer, Golden Bough2, i. 353, where other authorities are cited; Bahr, Symbolik des Mosaischen Cultus2, i. 44 ff.; Trumbull, Studies in Oriental Social Life, p. 157 ff.]

The reiterated prohibition with regard to the eating of blood contained in the Hebrew Code was due, firstly, to the fact that God had made use of it as a means of atonement, and that therefore it ought not to be used for any other purpose; and, secondly, because it was believed to contain the soul or life. In the one case, the prohibition is due to the holy character of blood; [Note: See, further, with regard to this point, the many interesting details in Trumbulls The Threshold Covenant, and Doughtys Arabia Deserta (2 vols.); the references are too numerous to quote, but both works will well repay careful study.] in the other, to its essential nature. [Note: Cf. Strack, op. cit. p. 75 ff.; Franz Delitzsch, System der biblischen Psychologie, pp. 196, 202.] it being the centre from which animal life in all its various forms emanated. Blood was therefore holy from the Divine point of view, because God had sanctified it to holy uses; and it was holy from mans point of view, both because it had been ordained as a means of atonement in the sight of God, and because human life, of which blood was the essence, was sacred to Him.

In the Gospels one or other of these conceptions underlies the use of the word blood. Its use may be briefly summarized thus:

1. Blood in its material sense, e.g., the woman with the issue of blood (Mar 5:25, Luk 8:43). The power which went out from Christ stayed the flow of the womans blood; it is implied (Mar 5:26 ) that this outflow was the ebbing-out of her life. The ancient conception is, therefore, plainly present here.

2. Blood used in the sense of life (i.e. poured out in death). It is interesting to observe that in all the Gospel passages in which blood is used as synonymous with life, the reference is either to an OT occurrence, or else to Christ as fulfilling OT types. The passages are the following: Mat 23:30 We should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets; Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar, cf. Luk 11:51; Mat 27:4 I have betrayed innocent blood; Mat 27:8 the price of blood; Mat 27:25 the field of blood; Mat 27:24 I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; Mat 27:25 His blood be upon us. In each of these passages the meaning of blood as implying life is sufficiently clear.

3. In Luk 13:1 occurs a reference to the Galilaeans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. There is no reference to this event either in Josephus (although there is mention of a similar occurrence in Ant. xvii. ix. 3) or elsewhere; but the meaning appears to be that they were offering up their usual sacrifice in the ordinary course, when they were fallen upon and butchered by the Roman soldiery, probably as a punishment for some act of revolt [the restlessness of the Galilaeans was notorious, cf. Act 5:37].

4. A further use of the word is seen in Mat 16:17, where the expression flesh and blood occurs. [Note: The expression (also in the order ) is frequent in Rabbinical writing ( ); the Jewish writers use this form of speech infinite times, and by it oppose to (Lightfoot, ae Heb. et Talm. [Gandells ed.] ii. 234); see also Sir 14:18, where flesh and blood are compared to the leaves on a tree.] In this passage the use of blood is somewhat modified from what has been found hitherto; the phrase denotes what is human, abstractly considered; the antithesis is between knowledge resulting from natural human development, or on the basis of natural birth, and knowledge proceeding from the revelation of the Father in heaven, or on the basis of regeneration (Lange).* [Note: Commentary on Matt. in loc. Cf. the words of Tholuck: It designates humanity with reference to its character as endowed with the senses and passions (Com. on Matt.); see also Olshausen, Com. on the Gospels, vol. ii. (T. & T. Clark).] The expression therefore emphasizes the contrast between human and Divine knowledge (cr. Gal 1:18 immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood; cf. also Heb 2:14, 1Co 15:50, Eph 6:12). The special meaning attaching to blood here is that it belongs to human nature; and significant in this connexion is the passage Luk 24:39 a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye behold me having, where flesh is clearly intended to include blood; [Note: See, further, art. Body.] the primary difference in bodily structure between a natural and a spiritual body being the absence of blood in the latter. If in the ordinary human body blood is conceived of as being the source of life, the body without blood receives its life in a manner utterly different,it is the life which comes from Christ: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (Joh 10:10). Closely connected with this are the words in Joh 1:13 which were born, not of blood [Note: The use of the plur. here (Vulg. ex sanguinibus) appears, according to Westcott, to emphasize the idea of the elements out of which in various measures the body is framed (Com. on St. John, in loc.; cf. also Godets Com. on St. John, vol. i. p. 357 ff. (T. & T. Clark).] but of God; here, too, the contrast is between that which is born of blood, i.e. according to a natural birth, and that which is born of God, i.e. according to a spiritual birth.

5. A very mysterious use of blood is that contained in the words bloody sweat (Luk 22:44). [Note: Regarding the text here, see Westcott-Hort, and Godet, in loc.] It is probable that this strange disorder arises from a violent commotion of the nervous system, and forcing of the red particles into the cutaneous excretories.|| [Note: | Stroud, Physical Cause of the Death of Christ, pp. 74, 380, quoted in Trumbulls The Blood Covenant, p. 279 note; cf. also the letters of Dr. Begbie and Sir James Y. Simpson, given in App. i. of Hannas Last Day of Our Lords Passion.] The intensity of the struggle, says Godet, becomes so great, that it issues in a sort of beginning of physical dissolution. The words, as it were drops, express more than a simple comparison between the density of the sweat and that of blood. The words denote that the sweat itself resembled blood. Phenomena of frequent occurrence demonstrate how immediately the blood, the seat of life, is under the empire of moral impressions. Does not a feeling of shame cause the blood to rise to the face? Cases are known in which the blood, violently agitated by grief, ends by penetrating through the vessels which enclose it, and, driven outwards, escapes with the sweat through the transpiratory glands (see Langen, pp. 212214). [Note: on Luke , ii. 306 (T. & T. Clark). There is certainly one other instance on record of a like mysterious flow of blood, that, namely, of Charles ix. of France. It is said of him that on his deathbed his bitterness of sorrow and qualms of conscience, on account of the massacre on St. Bartholomews Eve, were so intense that in the anguish of his soul he literally sweated blood.] See Sweat.

6. One other passage must be referred to before coming to the spiritual use of blood, namely, Joh 19:34 and straightway there came out blood and water. On the phenomenon of the effusion of water together with the blood, see Godets Gospel of St. John, iii. 274 f. With regard to the flowing of the blood, there seems to be a striking significance in the fact; it was a visible instance of the fulfilment of Christs own words: Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfil ** [Note: * Cf. the frequent occurrence of such phrases as that the Scripture might be fulfilled.] (Mat 5:17-18); for it was of the essence of sacrifice under the Old Dispensation that blood should flow,* [Note: This was originally based on the conception of blood being the drink of gods (cf. Psa 50:13); see Rob. Smith, op. cit. p. 233 ff.; Curtiss, Primitive Sem. Rel. To-day, p. 223: The consummation of the sacrifice is in the outflow of blood.] and that it should flow from a vital part, usually from the throat, though the spirit of the Law would obviously be fulfilled when the blood flowed from such a vital part as the region of the heart, the central part of man; [Note: Cf. the words of Philo, de Concupisc. x.: Some men prepare sacrifices which ought never to be offered, strangling the victim and stifling the essence of life, which they ought to let depart free and unrestrained (quoted by Kalisch, Leviticus, i. 184).] the sacrifice was consummated when the life, i.e. the blood, had flowed out. [Note: Under the symbolic sacrifices of the Old Covenant it was the blood which made atonement for the soul. It was not the death of the victim, nor yet its broken body; but it was the blood, the life, the soul, that was made the means of a souls ransom, of its rescue, of its redemption (Trumbull, The Blood Covenant, p. 286). Blood atones by virtue of the life that is in it (Bahr, op. cit. ii. 207).] Kalisch points out that, guided by similar views, the Teutons pierced the heart of the sacrificial victims, whether animals or men, because the heart is the fountain of the blood, and the blood of the heart was pre-eminently regarded as the blood of sacrifice. [Note: Kalisch, op. cit. i. 189.] See also the following article.

7. The passages which speak of the blood of Christ (Mat 26:28, Mar 14:24, Luk 22:20, Joh 6:53-56), i.e. of blood in its spiritual meaning, can be here only briefly referred to [see Atonement, Last Supper]. They must be taken in conjunction with such expressions elsewhere as the blood of Christ (1Co 10:16, Eph 2:13), the blood of the Lord (1Co 11:27), the blood of his cross (Col 1:20), the blood of Jesus (Heb 10:19, 1Jn 1:7), the blood of Jesus Christ (1Pe 1:2), the blood of the Lamb (Rev 12:11).

From the earliest times among the ancient Hebrews the various rites and ceremonies, indeed the whole sacrificial system, showed the yearning desire for a closer union with God; this union was to be effected only through life-containing and life-giving blood. The very existence of these sacrifices proved (and the offering up of their first born sons only emphasized the fact) that men deemed the relationship between God and themselves to be unsatisfactory. Useless as these sacrifices were in themselves, they were at any rate (when not unauthorized) shadows of good things to come (Heb 10:1-4); and they served their purpose of witnessing to profound truths which God intended to reveal more fully as soon as mans capacity for apprehension should have become sufficiently developed. The shedding of Christs blood effected a new relationship between God and man; it sealed a New Covenant,|| [Note: | A covenant was always ratified by the shedding of blood.] and became the means of the salvation of many (Mat 26:28, Mar 14:24, cf. Luk 22:20). But the ancient conception, the God-revealed truth only dimly apprehended, was right: the life was in the blood, inasmuch as the shedding of blood brought lifeI lay down my life, that I may take it again (Joh 10:17)only it was a life which it was impossible to conceive of before the Author of it brought it to man. Having in His own blood the life of God and the life of man, Jesus Christ could make men sharers of the Divine by making them sharers of His own nature; and this was the truth of truths which He declared to those whom He instructed. [Note: Trumbull, op. cit. p. 274.]

Literature.There are many books which give information on this subject, but as regards the special relationship between blood and Christ it is difficult to point to any particular work; many details are to be had, but they must be gathered from numerous sources; some of the more important of these are: Franz Delitzsch, System der biblischen Psychologie, Leipzig, 1855; P. Cassel, Die Symbolik des Blutes, Berlin, 1882; C. Bahr, Symbolik des Mosaischen Cultus2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , 1874; F. Godet, Biblical Studies in the OT and NT (English translation by Lyttelton), London, 1876; L. J. Rckert, Das Abendmahl , Leipzig, 1856; H. L. Strack, Der Blutaberglaube in der Menschheit4 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , Mnchen, 1892 (a work of extreme interest). A great fund of information is to be found scattered in the three books of H. C. Trumbull, The Blood Covenant, London, 1887, The Threshold Covenant, Philadelphia, 1896, Studies in Oriental Social Life, London, 1895; and in C. M. Doughtys Travels in Arabia Deserta, 2 vols., Cambridge, 1888. Other works that should be consulted are: J. Lightfoot, Horae Heb. et Talm. [Note: Talmud.] , 4 vols. (ed. Gandell), Oxford, 1859; Rob. Smith, Rel. of the Semites2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , London, 1894, Kinship and Marriage (ed. S. A. Cook), London, 1903; S. I. Curtiss, Primitive Semitic Religion To-day, London, 1902. Various notices will also be found in the Commentaries of Lange, Tholuck, Olshausen, Godet, and Westcott. See also the art. on Blood and kindred subjects in the Bible Dictionaries, such as Hamburger, Riehm, Hastings, Cheyne, and the Jewish Encyclopedia.

W. O. E. Oesterley.

Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels

Blood

BLOOD.Among all primitive races the blood, especially of human beings, has been and is regarded with superstitious, or rather, to be just, religious awe. By the Hebrews also blood was Invested with peculiar sanctity as the seat of the soul (nephesh), that is of the principle of life (Lev 17:11 the life [Heb. nephesh] of the flesh is in the blood). From this fundamental conception of blood as the vehicle of life may be derived all the manifold social and religious beliefs and practices with regard to it, which play so large a part in Scripture. See Atonement, Clean and Unclean, Covenant, Food, Propitiation, Sacrifice.

A. R. S. Kennedy.

Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible

Blood

Very important, in Scripture language, is the mention made of blood. So much so, indeed, that perhaps the perfect apprehension of it is not known. From the beginning of the creation of God, the Lord himself pointed to the blood as the life of the creature. And in a peculiar and special manner, the Lord intimated somewhat of an high nature in the blood, when speaking to Cain concerning the blood of his brother Abel, which he had shed; the Lord said, “What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” In the margin of the Bible, the word is rendered bloods, in the plural number. (Gen 4:10) In Deu 12:23, the prohibition of eating blood is mentioned with peculiar emphasis, and the reason assigned; “because it is the life.” And it is again and again forbidden. There can be no question but that much of the Lord Jesus, and his precious blood-shedding, was veiled under it; though the subject is too mysterious to explain.

It is, no doubt, a wonderful dispensation from beginning to end, that of redemption by the blood of Christ. That blood should be an appointed laver for uncleanness, so that, “without shedding of blood there is no remission;” and that “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin,” (1Jn 1:7) whereas according to all our natural ideas of blood, it defiles. Yea, the Lord himself, speaking of defilements in his people Israel, he expresseth their uncleanness under this figure: “Your hands are full of blood;” and instantly adds, “wash you, make you clean: put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes.” (Isa 1:15-16) But here we stop; the subject is mysterious, and beyond our scanty line of knowledge to fathom. It is enough for us to know that that blood which Christ shed, as a sacrifice for sin, is, the only “fountain opened to the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for all uncleanness.” In this the church on earth are beheld clean; and in this the church in heaven are accepted before God, having “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 7:14) And hence, those strong expressions we every where meet with in the Scripture, “of the blood of the covenant, the blood of sprinkling, and the like.” (Zec 9:11; Heb 12:24)

Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures

Blood

blud (, dam, probably from , ‘adham to be red; , hama): Used in the Old Testament to designate the life principle in either animal or vegetable, as the blood of man or the juice of the grape (Lev 17:11, et al.); in the New Testament for the blood of an animal, the atoning blood of Christ, and in both Old Testament and New Testament in a figurative sense for bloodshed or murder (Gen 37:26; Hos 4:2; Rev 16:6).

1. Primitive Ideas

Although the real function of the blood in the human system was not fully known until the fact of its circulation was established by William Harvey in 1615, nevertheless from the earliest times a singular mystery has been attached to it by all peoples. Blood rites, blood ceremonies and blood feuds are common among primitive tribes. It came to be recognized as the life principle long before it was scientifically proved to be. Naturally a feeling of fear, awe and reverence would be attached to the shedding of blood. With many uncivilized peoples scarification of the body until blood flows is practiced. Blood brotherhood or blood friendship is established by African tribes by the mutual shedding of blood and either drinking it or rubbing it on one another’s bodies. Thus and by the inter-transfusion of blood by other means it was thought that a community of life and interest could be established.

2. Hebrew and Old Testament Customs

Notwithstanding the ignorance and superstition surrounding this suggestively beautiful idea, it grew to have more than a merely human significance and application. For this crude practice of inter-transference of human blood there came to be a symbolic substitution of animal blood in sprinkling or anointing. The first reference in the Old Testament to blood (Gen 4:10) is figurative, but highly illustrative of the reverential fear manifested upon the shedding of blood and the first teaching regarding it.

The rite of circumcision is an Old Testament form of blood ceremony. Apart from the probable sanitary importance of the act is the deeper meaning in the establishment of a bond of friendship between the one upon whom the act is performed and Yahweh Himself. In order that Abraham might become the friend of God he was commanded that he should be circumcised as a token of the covenant between him and God (Gen 17:10-11; see CIRCUMCISION).

It is significant that the eating of blood was prohibited in earliest Bible times (Gen 9:4). The custom probably prevailed among heathen nations as a religious rite (compare Psa 16:4). This and its unhygienic influence together doubtless led to its becoming taboo. The same prohibition was made under the Mosaic code (Lev 7:26; see SACRIFICE).

Blood was commanded to be used also for purification or for ceremonial cleansing (Lev 14:5-7, Lev 14:51, Lev 14:52; Num 19:4), provided, however, that it be taken from a clean animal (see PURIFICATION).

In all probability there is no trace of the superstitious use of blood in the Old Testament, unless perchance in 1Ki 22:38 (see BATHING); but everywhere it is vested with cleansing, expiatory, and reverently symbolic qualities.

3. New Testament Teachings

As in the transition from ancient to Hebrew practice, so from the Old Testament to the New Testament we see an exaltation of the conception of blood and blood ceremonies. In Abraham’s covenant his own blood had to be shed. Later an expiatory animal was to shed blood (Lev 5:6; see ATONEMENT), but there must always be a shedding of blood. Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb 9:22). The exaltation and dignifying of this idea finds its highest development then in the vicarious shedding of blood by Christ Himself (1Jo 1:7). As in the Old Testament blood was also used to signify the juice of grapes, the most natural substitute for the drinking of blood would be the use of wine. Jesus takes advantage of this, and introduces the beautiful and significant custom (Mat 26:28) of drinking wine and eating bread as symbolic of the primitive intertransfusion of blood and flesh in a pledge of eternal friendship (compare Exo 24:6, Exo 24:7; Joh 6:53-56). This is the climactic observance of blood rites recorded in the Bible.

Literature

Trumbull, The Blood Covenant and The Threshold Covenant; Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas; Robertson Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semites.

Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Blood

There are two respects in which the ordinances of the Old and New Testaments concerning blood deserve notice herethe prohibition of its use as an article of food, and the appointment and significance of its use in the ritual of sacrifice; both of which appear to rest on a common ground.

In Gen 9:4, where the use of animal food is allowed, it is first absolutely forbidden to eat ‘flesh with its soul, its blood;’ which expression, were it otherwise obscure, is explained by the mode in which the same terms are employed in Deu 12:23. In the Mosaic law the prohibition is repeated with frequency and emphasis although it is generally introduced in connection with sacrifices, as in Lev 3:17; Lev 7:26; Lev 17:10-14; Lev 19:26; Deu 12:16-23; Deu 15:23. In cases where the prohibition is introduced in connection with the lawful and unlawful articles of diet, the reason which is generally assigned in the text is, that ‘the blood is the soul;’ and it is ordered that it be poured on the ground like water. But where it is introduced in reference to the portions of the victim which were to be offered to the Lord, then the text, in addition to the former reason, insists that ‘the blood expiates by the soul’ (Lev 17:11-12). This strict injunction not only applied to the Israelites, but even to the strangers residing among them. The penalty assigned to its transgression was the being ‘cut off from the people;’ by which the punishment of death appears to be intended (cf. Heb 10:28), although it is difficult to ascertain whether it was inflicted by the sword or by stoning. To this is to be added, that the Apostles and elders, assembled in council at Jerusalem, when desirous of settling the extent to which the ceremonial observances were binding upon the converts to Christianity, renewed the injunction to abstain from blood, and coupled it with things offered to idols (Act 15:29).

The appointment and significance of the use of blood in the ritual of sacrifice belongs indeed to this head; but their further notice will be more appropriately pursued in the article: Sacrifices.

Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature

Blood

The blood of man is claimed by God; for the ‘life is in the blood;’ ‘the blood is the life.’ It therefore must not be eaten; if not offered in sacrifice it must be ‘poured upon the earth as water.’ “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” The blood also maketh atonement for the soul: it must be poured out upon the altar. Gen 9:4-6; Lev 17:10-14; Deu 12:23-25; Act 15:29. In the O.T. dispensation everything in the tabernacle, the priests and their dresses were purged and sanctified by blood, everything being sprinkled with blood, including the book of the law and the people. Heb 9:18; Heb 9:21. This was typical of the blood of the Lord Jesus, which has accomplished everything for the Christian: with His blood He ‘purchased’ us, Act 20:28; ‘justified’ us, Rom 5:9; ‘redeemed,’ Eph 1:7; ‘sanctified,’ Heb 13:12; ‘cleanseth us from all sin,’ 1Jn 1:7; etc.

Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary

Blood

Is the life

Gen 9:4; Lev 17:11; Lev 17:14; Lev 19:16; Deu 12:23; Mat 27:4; Mat 27:24

Forbidden to be used as food

Gen 9:4; Lev 3:17; Lev 7:26-27; Lev 17:10-14; Lev 19:26; Deu 12:16; Deu 12:23; Deu 15:23; Eze 33:25; Act 15:20; Act 15:29; Act 21:25

Plague of

Exo 7:17-25; Psa 78:44; Psa 105:29

Sacrificial

– Without shedding of, no remission

Heb 9:22

– Sprinkled on altar and people

Exo 24:6-8; Eze 43:18; Eze 43:20

– Sprinkled on door posts

Exo 12:7-23; Heb 11:28

– Of sin offering

b Sprinkled seven times before the vail

Lev 4:5-6; Lev 4:17

b Sprinkled on horns of the altar of sweet incense, and at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering

Exo 30:10; Lev 4:7; Lev 4:18; Lev 4:25; Lev 4:30; Lev 5:9; Lev 9:9; Lev 9:12

b Of bullock of sin offering, put on the horns of the altar

Exo 29:12; Lev 8:15

b Poured at the bottom of the altar

Exo 29:12; Lev 8:15 Offerings

– Of trespass offering

b Sprinkled on the altar

Lev 7:2 Offerings

– Of burnt offering

b Sprinkled round about, and upon the altar

Exo 29:16; Lev 1:5; Lev 1:11; Lev 1:15; Lev 8:19; Deu 12:27

b Used for cleansing of leprosy

Lev 14:6-7; Lev 14:17; Lev 14:28; Lev 14:51-52 Offerings

– Of peace offering

b Sprinkled about the altar

Lev 3:2; Lev 3:8; Lev 3:13; Lev 9:18

b Blood of the ram of consecration put on tip of right ear, thumb, and great toe of, and sprinkled upon, Aaron and his sons

Exo 29:20-21; Lev 8:23-24; Lev 8:30 Offerings

– Of atonement

b Sprinkled on mercy seat

Lev 16:14-15; Lev 16:18-19; Lev 16:27; Lev 17:11 Offerings

– Blood of the Covenant

b General references

Exo 24:5-8; Zec 9:11; Mat 26:28; Heb 9:18-19; Heb 9:22; Heb 10:29; Heb 13:20 Offerings

Figurative:

– Of victories

Psa 58:10

– Of oppression and cruelty

Hab 2:12

– Of destruction

Eze 35:6

– Of guilt

Lev 20:9; 2Sa 1:16; Eze 18:13

– Of judgments

Eze 16:38; Rev 16:6

Of sacrifices, typical of the atoning blood of Christ

Heb 9:6-28

Of Christ

– General references

Mat 26:28; Mar 14:24; Luk 22:20; Joh 6:53-56; Joh 19:34; Act 20:28; Rom 3:24-25; Rom 5:9; 1Co 10:16; 1Co 11:25; Eph 1:7; Eph 2:13; Eph 2:16; Col 1:14; Col 1:20; Heb 9:12-14; Heb 10:19-20; Heb 10:29; Heb 12:24; Heb 13:12; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 1:2; 1Pe 1:18-19; 1Jn 1:7; 1Jn 5:6; 1Jn 5:8; Rev 1:5-6; Rev 5:9; Rev 7:14; Rev 12:11 Atonement; Jesus, The Christ, Mission of; Jesus, The Christ, Sufferings of

Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible

Blood

Blood. The blood of an animal is declared to be “the life” of it. Gen 9:4; Lev 17:11. And hence God may be said to have reserved it to himself; it was not to be eaten; it was that by which sacrificial atonement was made; all the cleansings of the law being by the shedding and sprinkling of blood. Heb 9:18-22. In this respect it had a typical meaning. The blood-shedding of the Mosaic victims prefigured that greater and more efficacious blood-shedding, when Christ gave his life for mankind, Mat 20:28; 1Jn 3:16; so that his blood “cleanseth from all sin.” 1Jn 1:7. Further, when blood was shed wantonly, a curse was incurred. The blood of a bird or animal was to be poured upon the ground and covered up, Lev 17:13; and the blood of a man cried for vengeance against the murderer. Gen 4:10-11. Hence the command to Noah that a murderer must be put to death, Gen 9:6, a command sanctioned in the Mosaic legislation, Num 35:30-31; Num 35:33, a command which it would be hard to prove not intended to be binding as an universal law upon the world. And, if any one was slain, and the slayer could not be found, the nearest city was to make an atonement. Deu 21:1-9. In the earlier law it is written, “Surely your blood of your lives will I require… At the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” Gen 9:5-6. In the Lord’s Supper we are reminded of Christ’s giving his life for us. He said: “This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luk 22:20; Mar 14:24. Our ascription of praise is: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” See Sacrifice.

Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible

Blood

Blood. To blood, is ascribed in Scripture, the mysterious sacredness which belongs to life, and God reserved it to himself, when allowing man the dominion over and the use of the lower animals for food. Thus reserved, it acquires a double power:

(1) that of sacrificial atonement; and

(2) that of becoming a curse when wantonly shed, unless duly expiated. Gen 9:4; Lev 7:26; Lev 17:11-13.

Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary

BLOOD

Blood the symbol of slaughter and mortality, Isa 34:3; Eze 14:19; Eze 32:6; Joe 2:30; Rev 8:1; Rev 14:20. Rev 14:19 “Blood even to the horses’ bridles,” denotes vast slaughter and effusion of blood: a way of speaking not unknown to the Jews. The Jerusalem Talmud, describing the woful slaughter which the Roman emperor Adrian made of the Jews at the destruction of the city of Bitter, saith that the horses waded in blood up to the nostrils. Nor are similar examples wanting in classic authors: Silius Italicus, speaking of Annibal’s descent into Italy, useth the like expression; the bridles flowing with much blood.

Blood, as of a dead body, denotes prodigious mortality and slaughter. Rev 16:3.

Fuente: A Symbolical Dictionary

BLOOD

(1) Of Christ. See CHRIST JESUS

(2) Sprinkled

Exo 12:7; Exo 24:8; Lev 4:6; Num 19:4; Heb 11:28; Heb 12:24; 1Pe 1:2

(3) Innocent, Allusions to the Shedding of

Deu 19:10; 1Sa 19:5; 1Ki 2:31; 2Ki 21:16; Psa 94:21; Isa 59:7

Lam 4:13; Joe 3:19; Jon 1:14; Mat 27:4

(4) Forbidden to be eaten

Gen 9:4; Lev 3:17; Lev 7:26; Deu 12:16; 1Sa 14:34; Act 15:20

–SEE Food Prohibited, FOOD, PHYSICAL

(5) Upon Men

2Sa 1:16; Jer 2:34; Luk 11:50; Act 5:28; Act 18:6

–SEE Guiltiness, GUILT

(6) Of Sacrifices, Typical of the Blood of Christ

Sheltering

Exo 12:13

Atoning

Exo 30:10; Lev 17:11

Liberating

Zec 9:11

Securing Pardon

Heb 9:7

Cleansing

Heb 9:22

–SEE Blood of Christ, CHRIST JESUS

(7) Applied to persons

Exo 29:20; Lev 8:23; Lev 14:14; Lev 14:25

Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible

Blood

(hence Eng., prefix haem,), besides its natural meaning, stands, (a) in conjunction with sarx, “flesh,” “flesh and blood,” Mat 16:17; 1Co 15:50; Gal 1:16; the original has the opposite order, blood and flesh, in Eph 6:12; Heb 2:14; this phrase signifies, by synecdoche, “man, human beings.” It stresses the limitations of humanity; the two are essential elements in man’s physical being; “the life of the flesh is in the blood,” Lev 17:11; (b) for human generation, Joh 1:13; (c) for “blood” shed by violence, e.g., Mat 23:35; Rev 17:6; (d) for the “blood” of sacrificial victims, e.g., Heb 9:7; of the “blood” of Christ, which betokens His death by the shedding of His “blood” in expiatory sacrifice; to drink His “blood” is to appropriate the saving effects of His expiatory death, Joh 6:53. As “the life of the flesh is in the blood,” Lev 17:11, and was forfeited by sin, life eternal can be imparted only by the expiation made, in the giving up of the life by the sinless Savior.

denotes “shedding of blood,” Heb 9:22 (haima, “blood,” ekchuno, “to pour out, shed”).

from haima, “blood,” rheo, “to flow” (Eng., “hemorrhage”), signifies “to suffer from a flow of blood,” Mat 9:20.

Notes: (1) In Mar 5:25; Luk 8:43, different constructions are used, the translations respectively being “having a flowing of blood” and “being in (i.e., with) a flowing of blood.”

(2) In Act 17:26 (RV, “of one;” AV, “of one blood”), the most authentic mss. do not contain the noun haima, “blood.” So with the phrase “through His blood,” in Col 1:14.

(3) For “bloody flux” in Act 28:8, AV, see DYSENTERY (RV).

Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words

Blood

Beside its proper sense, the fluid of the veins of men and animals, the term in Scripture is used,

1. For life. God will require the blood of a man, he will punish murder in what manner soever committed. His blood be upon us, let the guilt of his death be imputed to us. The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth; the murder committed on him crieth for vengeance. The avenger of blood;

he who is to avenge the death of his relative, Num 35:24; Num 35:27.

2. Blood means relationship, or consanguinity.

3. Flesh and blood are placed in opposition to a superior nature: Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven,

Mat 16:17.

4. They are also opposed to the glorified body; Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 1Co 15:50.

5. They are opposed also to evil spirits: We wrestle not against flesh and blood, against visible enemies composed of flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, &c, Eph 6:12.

6. Wine is called the pure blood of the grape: Judah shall wash his garments in the blood of the grape, Gen 49:11; Deu 32:14.

7. The priests were established by God to judge between blood and blood; that is, in criminal matters, and where the life of man is at stake;to determine whether the murder be casual, or voluntary; whether a crime deserve death, or admit of remission, &c.

8. In its most eminent sense blood is used for the sacrificial death of Christ; whose blood or death is the price of our salvation. His blood has purchased the church, Act 20:28. We are justified by his blood,

Rom 5:9 We have redemption through his blood, Eph 1:7, &c. See ATONEMENT.

That singular and emphatic prohibition of blood for food from the earliest times, which we find in the Holy Scriptures, deserves particular attention. God expressly forbade the eating of blood alone, or of blood mixed with the flesh of animals, as when any creature was suffocated, or strangled, or killed without drawing its blood from the carcass. For when the grant of animal food was made to Noah, in those comprehensive words, Even as the green herb have I given you all things, it was added, but flesh with the life thereof, namely, its blood, ye shall not eat Gen 9:4. And when the law was given to the children of Israel, we find the prohibition against the eating of blood still more explicitly enforced, both upon Jews and Gentiles, in the following words, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people: for the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul,

Lev 17:10-11. And to cut off all possibility of mistake upon this particular point, it is added: Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood; and whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof and cover it with dust, for it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof; therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be cut off, Lev 17:12-14. This restraint, than which nothing can be more express, was also, under the new covenant, enjoined upon believing Gentiles, as a burden which it seemed necessary to the Holy Spirit to impose upon them, Act 15:28-29. For this prohibition no moral reason seems capable of being offered; nor does it clearly appear that blood is an unwholesome aliment, which some think was the physical reason of its being inhibited; and if, in fact, blood is deleterious as food, there seems no greater reason why this should be pointed out by special revelation to man, to guard him against injury, than many other unwholesome ailments. There is little force in the remark, that the eating of blood produces a ferocious disposition; for those nations that eat strangled things, or blood cooked with other ailments, do not exhibit more ferocity than others. The true reason was, no doubt, a sacrificial one. When animals were granted to Noah for food, the blood was reserved; and when the same law was reenacted among the Israelites, the original prohibition is repeated, with an explanation which at once shows the original ground upon which it rested: I have given it upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls. From this additional reason, as it has been called, it has been argued, that the doctrine of the atoning power of blood was new, and was, then, for the first time, announced by Moses, or the same cause for the prohibition would have been assigned to Noah. To this we may reply,

1. That unless the same reason be supposed as the ground of the prohibition of blood to Noah, as that given by Moses to the Jews, no reason at all can be conceived for this restraint being put upon the appetite of mankind from Noah to Moses; and yet we have a prohibition of a most solemn kind, which in itself could have no reason, enjoined without any external reason being either given or conceivable.

2. That it is a mistake to suppose that the declaration of Moses to the Jews, that God had given them the blood for an atonement, is an additional reason for the interdict, not to be found in the original prohibition to Noah. The whole passage occurs in Leviticus 17; and the great reason there given of the prohibition of blood is, that it is the life; and what follows respecting atonement, is exegetical of this reason;the life is in the blood, and the blood or life is given as an atonement. Now, by turning to the original prohibition in Genesis, we find that precisely the same reason is given: But the flesh with the blood, which is the life thereof, shall ye not eat. The reason, then, being the same, the question is, whether the exegesis added by Moses must not necessarily be understood in the general reason given for the restraint to Noah. Blood is prohibited because it is the life; and Moses adds, that it is the blood, or life, which makes atonement. Let any one attempt to discover any reason for the prohibition of blood to Noah, in the mere circumstance that it is the life, and he will find it impossible. It is no reason at all, moral or instituted, except that as it was LIFE SUBSTITUTED FOR LIFE, the life of the animal in sacrifice for the life of man, and that, therefore, blood had a sacred appropriation. The manner, too, in which Moses introduces the subject, is indicative that, though he was renewing a prohibition, he was not publishing a new doctrine; he does not teach his people that God had then given, or appointed, blood to make atonement; but he prohibits them from eating it, because he had already made this appointment, without reference to time, and as a subject with which they were familiar. Because the blood was the life, it was sprinkled upon, and poured out at, the altar: and we have in the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, and the sprinkling of its blood, a sufficient proof that, before the giving of the law, not only was blood not eaten, but was appropriated to a sacred sacrificial purpose. Nor was this confined to the Jews; it was customary with the Romans and Greeks, who, in like manner, poured out and sprinkled the blood of victims at their altars; a rite derived, probably, from the Egyptians, who deduced it, not from Moses, but from the sons of Noah. The notion, indeed, that the blood of the victims was peculiarly sacred to the gods, is impressed upon all ancient Pagan mythology.

Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary

Blood

Gen 4:10 (c) This is symbolical of the death of Abel by the hand of Cain, his brother. The actual blood shed by Abel and lying on the ground called loudly for the punishment of the murderer.

Exo 12:13 (a) Here is a proof that those in the house had believed GOD’s Word and had offered the proper sacrifice. The lamb and its blood are types of CHRIST and His Blood. (See 1Co 5:7).

Lev 20:9 (a) Here is pictured the fact that GOD will fasten upon the guilty person his guilt and his punishment. The lawbreaker shall receive the due reward of his deeds. (See also Lev 20:13 and Lev 20:27; Eze 18:13; Eze 33:5).

Deu 17:8 (a) The words used here refer to relatives who are quarreling among themselves. Those of the same blood are brought before the judgment seat for the adjustment of their difficulties. (See 2Ch 19:10).

Job 16:18 (a) Job is making a call for a great inventory of his own life. He is inviting an investigation of his own character. He is really asserting that he has lived a righteous life.

Psa 58:10 (b) This is a description of the joy of GOD’s people when the wicked are conquered and the enemy is under the feet of the Lord. (See also Psa 68:23).

Isa 1:15 (a) Probably this is a figure which describes the guilt of these people in murdering their fellowmen and murdering their children for idol worship.

Eze 16:6 (a) This probably refers to the early days of Israel’s history in the time of Abraham followed by the times of Isaac and Jacob. The nation was formed with difficulty and trouble which is compared to the birth of a baby whereby blood is shed.

Joe 2:31 (c) It is not clearly understood whether the moon will actually become red, or whether men because of strained eyes see the moon as red, or whether the tumult of earth’s sorrows changes man’s vision. Evidently it refers to a time of great and miraculous happenings because of the powerful operation of the Spirit of GOD in human affairs. (See also Rev 6:12; Rev 8:8; Rev 16:3).

Mat 16:17 (a) This represents human reasonings, philosophies and deductions or conclusions. Nothing within the human heart or mind ever reveals anything of GOD or of the Deity of CHRIST.

Joh 1:13 (a) This is a definite statement that no one becomes a child of GOD because of his parents, or through any blood stream. Salvation or Christianity is not passed down to the children through the blood stream of the father or the mother. Each child and each relative must experience the will and the power of GOD in his own personal case in order to become a child of GOD. This relationship only comes about through personal faith in JESUS CHRIST.

Joh 6:54 (a) The blood in this case is a type or a picture of the life and death of CHRIST and the Person of CHRIST appropriated by the believer for salvation. It represents the receiving by faith of the sacrifice of CHRIST for forgiveness and cleansing. It is a figure of speech which we commonly use when one expresses his love for another by saying, “I could eat you up.” Sometimes the expression is used, “I lapped it up as a cat laps milk.” The thought is the same. The believer embraces by faith with no question or doubt the value of the person of CHRIST and the efficacy of His work for our souls. See also 1Co 11:25-26.

Act 17:26 (a) This blood is a type or a symbol of the universal character of human beings as distinguished from all animal life. All human beings are made of the same kind of blood. It is different from animal blood, but it is always human blood. This links all human beings together as a separate group from all the animal creation and proves the fallacy and the false character of the hypothesis of “evolution.”

Act 20:26 (a) The word in this case is used to represent the fact that Paul would not be held responsible for the death, the second death, of any of those whom he had contacted in his travels and preaching. The appearance of blood indicates death. Paul so preached CHRIST and the Gospel that none of those who heard His Word need never die in their sins and be sent to the Lake of Fire, which is the second death. Paul felt that he had completely cleared himself of all responsibility in connection with the salvation of those people.

1Jo 1:7 (a) The blood here represents the sacrifice of CHRIST at Calvary with all the saving power connected with it. When we believe in and trust the Lord JESUS CHRIST, GOD and CHRIST apply His sacrifice to our record of sins, and to ourselves in order to blot out all these sins and iniquities. GOD has made a “blood bank.” Any person who believes in and accepts the Lord JESUS CHRIST may and does receive the benefits of that precious blood.

Rev 14:20 (c) This is a picture of the complete victory of the Lord JESUS over all His enemies and the vindication as well as the culmination of the wrath of GOD against all His opponents.

Rev 17:6 (b) This blood represents the death of multitudes who have been slain by this wicked church under the guise of serving GOD. That evil monster, the apostate church, was and is responsible for the death of many thousands of true believers who were burned at the stake, tortured in cages, torn by the rack, and otherwise killed by extremely cruel means. This church reveled in this carnage, and still rejoices in every opportunity to injure and destroy true believers in the Lord JESUS CHRIST. (See also Rev 18:24).

Fuente: Wilson’s Dictionary of Bible Types

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