Devine Scripture

Genesis 9:4

What does Genesis 9:4 mean?

A plain-English look at Genesis 9:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Genesis 9:4 means

Despite the permission to eat meat, God institutes a crucial prohibition: humanity must not consume blood, as the life (or soul) of the creature is in its blood. This restriction underscores the sanctity of life, even animal life, and sets a moral boundary for human consumption. It emphasizes that while the flesh may be eaten, the life force itself belongs to God. This command foreshadows later Mosaic law and highlights a principle of reverence for life that transcends mere dietary rules, instructing humanity to recognize God’s sovereignty over life.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

But flesh with the life-blood in it you may not take for food.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

only flesh in its life--its blood--ye do not eat.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

Only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat.

Context

This verse immediately qualifies the newly granted permission to eat meat. It serves as a vital safeguard, introducing a moral and theological boundary to the otherwise broad dietary allowance. This prohibition provides a direct segue into the next verse, which extends the principle of respecting life to human life specifically, establishing a foundational premise for the institution of capital punishment and the value God places on life.

v.3Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you; as the green herb have I given you all.

v.4This passage

v.5And 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.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Deuteronomy 15:23

    Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it out upon the ground as water.

  • Leviticus 7:26

    And ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of bird or of beast, in any of your dwellings.

  • Acts 15:29

    that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well.

  • Leviticus 3:17

    It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood.

  • Leviticus 19:26

    Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantments, nor practise augury.

  • Deuteronomy 12:16

    Only ye shall not eat the blood; thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water.

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