“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
6. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood “Qui effuderit sanguinem hominis in homine.” He who shall have shed the blood of man in man. The clause in man which is here added, has the force of amplification. Some expound it, ‘Before witnesses.’ Others refer it to what follows, namely, ‘that by man his blood should be shed.’ This is the interpretation of the English version. But all these interpretations are forced.
We read, in the close of the foregoing chapter, the very kind things which God said in his heart, concerning the remnant of mankind which was now left to be the seed of a new world. Now here we have these kind things spoken to them.
Commenting on Genesis 9:1-7
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed,.... That is, he that is guilty of wilful murder shall surely be put to death by the order of the civil magistrate; so the Targum of Jonathan,"by witnesses the judges shall condemn him to death,''that is, the fact being clearly proved by witnesses, the judges shall condemn"him to death,''that is, the fact being clearly...