Verse:
Genesis 9:5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require (darash); at the hand of every beast will I require it (darash), and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require (darash) the life of man .
Commentary by Adam Clarke
Verse 5. Surely your blood-will I require; at the hand of every beast Source
This is very obscure, but if taken literally it seems to be an awful warning against cruelty to the brute creation; and from it we may conclude that horse-racers, hare-hunters, bull-baiters, and cock-fighters shall be obliged to give an account to God for every creature they have wantonly destroyed. Instead of chaiyah, "beast," the Samaritan reads (Sam. Yod Kaph) chai, "living," any "living creature or person;" this makes a very good sense, and equally forbids cruelty either to men or brutes.
Commentary by Coffman
Verses 5, 6 The change of person in Gen. 9:6 should not be disturbing, such is a phenomenon in the sacred writings found frequently in the Minor Prophets. Also the words, "In the image of God made he man," could be understood as an explanatory comment added by the inspired author of Genesis.
And surely your blood, [the blood] of your lives, will I require; At the hand of every beast will I require it. And at the hand of man, even 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: For in the image of God made he man.
This whole passage may be viewed as God's precautionary action taken against the possibility of the recurrence of the universal physical violence that preceded the Flood. It is significant to note that this represents a change in the action of God Himself when He spared Cain, following the murder of his brother Abel. Cain's fear that someone would kill him (Genesis 4:14) shows that even he realized that his crime deserved death, hence, the fear that gripped his evil heart. But with the establishment of this law, God had seen enough of such leniency. Henceforth, the murderer would receive the retribution that his crime deserved. Capital punishment for murderers is a law here instituted by God Himself. The just application of such a law would necessitate the creation of a judiciary with power to exonerate those who were inadvertently guilty in a technical sense, but whose lives should be spared, as later formalized in the law of Moses in the establishment of the cities of refuge. The germ of civil government is also in this.
By man shall his blood be shedScripture Reference
This is not merely a permission legalizing, but an imperative command enjoining capital punishment. Only God has the right to take life, but in this commandment, it is clear that, When God commands man to execute murderers, He delegates this task to him, and it becomes his God-given responsibility to do it. The repeal of capital punishment by many states today is not merely a mistake, it is a VIOLATION of God's law. The unjustified leniency of the judiciary in our own times could not possibly have any different effect than did God's leniency in the case of Cain. If any human society would like to invite the return of universal violence that precipitated the Flood, they could choose no quicker way to do it than by their rejection of God's commandment regarding murderers.
Keil called the divine order to execute murderers a command "that laid the foundation of all civil government ... a barrier against the supremacy of evil."Right here is also the explanation for two DIFFERENT words in the Hebrew Scriptures for killing. They are [~ratsach] which means murder, and [~harag] which means put to death. [~Ratsach] is in the Decalogue, "Thou shalt not kill"; and the other is in Deut. 13:9: "Thou shalt surely kill ([~harag]) him," referring to a legal execution. It is gross ignorance that tries to find in the Bible a prohibition of capital punishment, for it is precisely there that one reads the Divine institution of it and the unqualified order for men to enforce it. Of course, the manner of the enforcement of such a commandment was not prescribed here at a time prior to the establishment of human government, and that is the reason the next of kin under the patriarchal dispensation was given the responsibility, such an individual being called "the avenger of blood." In our own times the police authority of the central government is charged with the task, but in both instances, "The powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13:1). These verses are the account of such powers being ordained.
Genesis 4:14 Deut. 13:9
14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
Romans 13:1
9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Commentary by The Geneva Study Bible
9:5 e And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every mans brother will I require the life of man. Source
(e) That is, I will take vengeance for your blood.
Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
surely your blood of your lives will I require Scripture Reference
--The fourth part establishes a new power for protecting life--the institution of the civil magistrate (Ro 13:4), armed with public and official authority to repress the commission of violence and crime. Such a power had not previously existed in patriarchal society. Source
Ro 13:4
4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Commentary by John Gill
Genesis 9:5 Source
And surely your blood of your lives will I require? at the hand of every beast will I require it;
Or "for surely your blood"; and so is a reason of the preceding law, to teach men not to shed human blood; or though, "surely your blood", as Jarchi and Aben Ezra; though God had given them liberty to slay the creatures, and shed their blood, and eat them, yet he did not allow them to shed their own blood, or the blood of their fellow creatures; should they do this, he would surely make inquisition, and punish them for it: and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man;
should a beast kill a man, or be the instrument of shedding his blood, it should be slain for it; not by means of another beast, God so ordering it, as Aben Ezra suggests, but by the hands or order of the civil magistrate; which was to be done partly to show the great regard God has to the life of man, and partly to punish men for not taking more care of their beasts, as well as to be an example to others to be more careful, and to lessen, the number of mischievous creatures:
which may be reasonably supposed; for if it is required of a beast, and that is punished for the slaughter of a man, then much more a man himself, that is wilfully guilty of murder; and the rather, since he is by general relation a brother to the person he has murdered, which is an aggravation of his crime: or it may signify, that though he is a brother in the nearest relation, as his crime is the greater, he shall not go unpunished.
Commentary by John Wesley
Verse 5 Scripture References
And surely your blood of your lives will I require - Our own lives are not so our own, that we may quit them at our own pleasure; but they are God's, and we must resign them at his pleasure. If we any way hasten our own deaths, we are accountable to God for it. Yea, At the hand of every beast will I require it - To shew how tender God was of the life of man, he will have the beast put to death that kills a man. This was confirmed by the law of Moses, Exodus 21:28, and it would not be unsafe to observe it still. And at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of a man - I will avenge the blood of the murdered upon the murderer. When God requires the life of a man at the hand of him that took it away unjustly, he cannot render that, and therefore must render his own in lieu of it, which is the only way left of making restitution. Source
Exodus 21:28
28 "If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.
Commentary by Matthew Henry
2. Man must not take away his own life: Your blood of your lives will I require, Genesis 9:5. Our lives are not so our own as that we may quit them at our own pleasure, but they are God's and we must resign them at his pleasure; if we in any way hasten our own deaths, we are accountable to God for it.
3. The beasts must not be suffered to hurt the life of man: At the hand of every beast will I require it. To show how tender God was of the life of man, though he had lately made such destruction of lives, he will have the beast put to death that kills a man. This was confirmed by the law of Moses (Exodus 21:28), and I think it would not be unsafe to observe it still. Thus God showed his hatred of the sin of murder, that men might hate it the more, and not only punish, but prevent it. And see Job 5:23.
4. Wilful murderers must be put to death. This is the sin which is here designed to be restrained by the terror of punishmentScripture Reference
(1.) God will punish murderers: At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man, that is, "I will avenge the blood of the murdered upon the murderer." 2 Chronicles 24:22. When God requires the life of a man at the hand of him that took it away unjustly, the murderer cannot render that, and therefore must render his own in lieu of it, which is the only way left of making restitution. Note, The righteous God will certainly make inquisition for blood, though men cannot or do not. One time or other, in this world or in the next, he will both discover concealed murders, which are hidden from man's eye, and punish avowed and justified murders, which are too great for man's hand.
(2.) The magistrate must punish murderers (Genesis 9:6): Whoso sheddeth man's blood, whether upon a sudden provocation or having premeditated it (for rash anger is heart-murder as well as malice prepense, Matthew 5:21,22), by man shall his blood be shed, that is, by the magistrate, or whoever is appointed or allowed to be the avenger of blood. There are those who are ministers of God for this purpose, to be a protection to the innocent, by being a terror to the malicious and evildoers, and they must not bear the sword in vain, Romans 13:4. Before the flood, as it should seem by the story of Cain, God took the punishment of murder into his own hands; but now he committed this judgment to men, to masters of families at first, and afterwards to the heads of countries, who ought to be faithful to the trust reposed in them. Note, Wilful murder ought always to be punished with death. It is a sin which the Lord would not pardon in a prince (2 Kings 24:3,4), and which therefore a prince should not pardon in a subject. To this law there is a reason annexed: For in the image of God made he man at first. Man is a creature dear to his Creator, and therefore ought to be so to us. God put honour upon him, let not us then put contempt upon him. Such remains of God's image are still even upon fallen man as that he who unjustly kills a man defaces the image of God and does dishonour to him. When God allowed men to kill their beasts, yet he forbade them to kill their slaves; for these are of a much more noble and excellent nature, not only God's creatures, but his image, James 3:9. All men have something of the image of God upon them; but magistrates have, besides, the image of his power, and the saints the image of his holiness, and therefore those who shed the blood of princes or saints incur a double guilt.Source
Exodus 21:28 Job 5:23
28 "If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 2 Chronicles 24:22
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.Genesis 9:6
22 King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah's father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, "May the LORD see this and call you to account."
Matthew 5:21,22
6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.
Romans 13:4
21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'
22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.2 Kings 24:3,4
4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. James 3:9
3 Surely these things happened to Judah according to the LORD's command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done,
4 including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to forgive.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.
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Prepared by William C. Barman for George Young Memorial United Methodist Church -- Palm Harbor, FL on 9/15/03; 1:12:55 PM