Genesis 9 · Verse 5

Genesis 9:5

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 man’s brother will I require the life of man.
Genesis 9:5, King James Version

Genesis 9:5 in other translations

BSBAnd surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
WEBI will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man.
ASVAnd 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.
YLT‘And only your blood for your lives do I require; from the hand of every living thing I require it, and from the hand of man, from the hand of every man's brother I require the life of man;
DARBYAnd indeed your blood, the blood of your lives, will I require: at the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of Man, at the hand of each the blood of his brother, will I require the life of Man.
BBEAnd for your blood, which is your life, will I take payment; from every beast I will take it, and from every man will I take payment for the blood of his brother-man.
WebsterAnd 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 man's brother will I require the life of man.

What does Genesis 9:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. surely your blood of your lives will I require--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.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 Surely your blood - will I require; at the hand of every beast - 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 חיה chaiyah, "beast," the Samaritan reads Yod Kaph chai, "living," any "living creature or person;" this makes a very good sense, and equally forbids cruelty either to men or brutes.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 9:4-7

The main reason of forbidding the eating of blood, doubtless was because the shedding of blood in sacrifices was to keep the worshippers in mind of the great atonement; yet it seems intended also to check cruelty, lest men, being used to shed and feed upon the blood of animals, should grow unfeeling to them, and be less shocked at the idea of shedding human blood. Man must not take away his own life. Our lives are…

Read the full comment on Genesis 9:4-7 →

Genesis 9:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאַ֨ךְve.'Akhand neverthelessH389
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
דִּמְכֶ֤םdim.Khemblood of yourH1818
לְנַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶם֙le.naf.sho.tei.Khemof lives youH5315
אֶדְרֹ֔שׁ'ed.RoshI will seekH1875
מִיַּ֥דmi.Yadfrom [the] hand ofH3027
כָּל\־kol-everyH3605
חַיָּ֖הchai.YahanimalH2416
אֶדְרְשֶׁ֑נּוּ'ed.re.She.nuI will seek itH1875
וּמִיַּ֣דu.mi.Yadand from [the] hand ofH3027
הָֽאָדָ֗םha.'a.Dam<the> humankindH120
מִיַּד֙mi.Yadfrom [the] hand ofH3027
אִ֣ישׁ'isheachH376
אָחִ֔יו'a.Chivbrother hisH251
אֶדְרֹ֖שׁ'ed.RoshI will seekH1875
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
נֶ֥פֶשׁNe.fesh[the] life ofH5315
הָֽאָדָֽם\׃Ha.'a.Dam<the> humankindH120

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 9:5

  • Exodus 21:28-29

    If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit. But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.

  • Exodus 21:12

    He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

  • Genesis 4:9-10

    And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

  • Psalms 9:12

    When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

  • Numbers 35:31-33

    Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

  • Matthew 23:35

    That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

  • Deuteronomy 21:1-9

    If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley: …

  • Exodus 20:13

    Thou shalt not kill.

  • Leviticus 19:16

    Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
every.
Ex 21:12,28,29
and at.
4:9,10; Le 19:16; Nu 35:31-33; De 21:1-9; Ps 9:12; Mt 23:35
brother.
Ac 17:26

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 9:4

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

  • Genesis 9:5

    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 man’s brother will I require the life of man.

  • Genesis 9:6

    Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Read all of Genesis 9

Genesis 9:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque ciertamente demandaré la sangre de vuestras vidas; de mano de todo animal la demandaré, y de mano del hombre; de mano del varón su hermano demandaré la vida del hombre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et certes je redemanderai le sang de vos vies; de la main de tout animal je le redemanderai, et de la main de l’homme; de la main de chacun, de son frère, je redemanderai la vie de l’homme.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und wahrlich, euer Blut, nach euren Seelen, werde ich fordern; von jedem Tiere werde ich es fordern, und von der Hand des Menschen, von der Hand eines jeden, seines Bruders, werde ich die Seele des Menschen fordern.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Sanguinem enim animarum vestrarum requiram de manu cunctarum bestiarum: et de manu hominis, de manu viri, et fratris ejus requiram animam hominis.