New Living Translation
Genesis 9:4
4But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.
Genesis 9:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
- New International Version (NIV)“But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Context of Genesis 9:4
2All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. 3I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. 5“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. 6If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.
Read all of Genesis 9Genesis 9:4 word by word
אַךְ־בָּשָׂ֕ר בְּנַפְשׁ֥וֹ דָמ֖וֹ לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽלוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 9:4
- Leviticus 3:17“You must never eat any fat or blood. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation, wherever you live.”
- Leviticus 7:26No matter where you live, you must never consume the blood of any bird or animal.
- Leviticus 17:10“And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you eats or drinks blood in any form, I will turn against that person and cut him off from the community of your people,
- Leviticus 19:26“Do not eat meat that has not been drained of its blood. “Do not practice fortune-telling or witchcraft.
- Deuteronomy 12:16But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.
- Deuteronomy 14:21“You must not eat anything that has died a natural death. You may give it to a foreigner living in your town, or you may sell it to a stranger. But do not eat it yourselves, for you are set apart as holy to the Lord your God. “You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Deuteronomy 15:23But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.
- 1 Samuel 14:34Then go out among the troops and tell them, ‘Bring the cattle, sheep, and goats here to me. Kill them here, and drain the blood before you eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.’” So that night all the troops brought their animals and slaughtered them there.
- Acts 15:20Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.
- 1 Timothy 4:4Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.
Commentaries on Genesis 9:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood - Though animal food was granted, yet the blood was most solemnly forbidden, because it was the life of the beast, and this life was to be offered to God as an atonement for sin. Hence the blood was ever held sacred, because it was the grand instrument of expiation, and because it was typical of that blood by which we enter into the holiest. 1. Before the deluge it was not eaten, because animal food was…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-7Verses 1-7 - The Blessing of Noah 2. מורא môrā' “fear, reverence, awful deed.” חת chat “dread, breaking of the courage.” Noah is saved from the deluge. His life is twice given to him by God. He had found grace in the sight of the Lord, and now he and his family have been graciously accepted when they approached the Lord with burnt-offerings. In him, therefore, the race of man is to be begun anew. Accordingly, as at the beginning, the Lord proceeds to…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-7Verses 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 God's, and we must only give…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4God gives an important restriction. Blood represents life (it stands for life), so it had to be drained from an animal before its meat could be eaten (see Leviticus 3:17; 7:26–27; 17:10–14; Deuteronomy 12:16, 23). The Law of Moses also forbade eating animals that died naturally, because their blood had not been drained (Deuteronomy 14:21). God provided animal blood to atone for human sin (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. But flesh ... the blood ... shall ye not eat--The sole intention of this prohibition was to prevent these excesses of cannibal ferocity in eating flesh of living animals, to which men in the earlier ages of the world were liable.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 9:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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