King James Bible Dictionary

1. As food, prohibited in Genesis 9:4, where the use of animal food is first allowed. Comp. Deuteronomy 12:23; Leviticus 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14. The injunction to abstain from blood is renewed in the decree of the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:29). It has been held by some, and we think correctly, that this law of prohibition was only ceremonial and temporary; while others regard it as still binding on all. Blood was eaten by the Israelites after the battle of Gilboa (1 Samuel 14:32-34).

2. The blood of sacrifices was caught by the priest in a basin, and then sprinkled seven times on the altar; that of the passover on the doorposts and lintels of the houses (Exodus 12; Leviticus 4:5-7; 16:14-19). At the giving of the law (Exodus 24:8) the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the people as well as on the altar, and thus the people were consecrated to God, or entered into covenant with him, hence the blood of the covenant (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:19, 20; 10:29; 13:20).

3. Human blood. The murderer was to be punished (Genesis 9:5). The blood of the murdered "crieth for vengeance" (Genesis 4:10). The "avenger of blood" was the nearest relative of the murdered, and he was required to avenge his death (Numbers 35:24, 27). No satisfaction could be made for the guilt of murder (Numbers 35:31).

4. Blood used metaphorically to denote race (Acts 17:26), and as a symbol of slaughter (Isaiah 34:3). To "wash the feet in blood" means to gain a great victory (Psalms 58:10). Wine, from its red colour, is called "the blood of the grape" (Genesis 49:11). Blood and water issued from our Saviour's side when it was pierced by the Roman soldier (John 19:34). This has led pathologists to the conclusion that the proper cause of Christ's death was rupture of the heart. (Comp. Psalms 69:20.)

Is the life
Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:11; Leviticus 17:14; Leviticus 19:16; Deuteronomy 12:23; Matthew 27:4; Matthew 27:24

Forbidden to be used as food
Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 3:17; Leviticus 7:26-27; Leviticus 17:10-14; Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:16; Deuteronomy 12:23; Deuteronomy 15:23; Ezekiel 33:25; Acts 15:20; Acts 15:29; Acts 21:25

Plague of
Exodus 7:17-25; Psalms 78:44; Psalms 105:29

Sacrificial

Without shedding of, no remission
Hebrews 9:22

Sprinkled on altar and people
Exodus 24:6-8; Ezekiel 43:18; Ezekiel 43:20

Sprinkled on door posts
Exodus 12:7-23; Hebrews 11:28

Of sin offering

Sprinkled seven times before the vail
Leviticus 4:5-6; Leviticus 4:17

Sprinkled on horns of the altar of sweet incense, and at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering
Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 4:7; Leviticus 4:18; Leviticus 4:25; Leviticus 4:30; Leviticus 5:9; Leviticus 9:9; Leviticus 9:12

Of bullock of sin offering, put on the horns of the altar
Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 8:15

Poured at the bottom of the altar
Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 8:15
Offerings

Of trespass offering

Sprinkled on the altar
Leviticus 7:2
Offerings

Of burnt offering

Sprinkled round about, and upon the altar
Exodus 29:16; Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:11; Leviticus 1:15; Leviticus 8:19; Deuteronomy 12:27

Used for cleansing of leprosy
Leviticus 14:6-7; Leviticus 14:17; Leviticus 14:28; Leviticus 14:51-52
Offerings

Of peace offering

Sprinkled about the altar
Leviticus 3:2; Leviticus 3:8; Leviticus 3:13; Leviticus 9:18

Blood of the ram of consecration put on tip of right ear, thumb, and great toe of, and sprinkled upon, Aaron and his sons
Exodus 29:20-21; Leviticus 8:23-24; Leviticus 8:30
Offerings

Of atonement

Sprinkled on mercy seat
Leviticus 16:14-15; Leviticus 16:18-19; Leviticus 16:27; Leviticus 17:11
Offerings

Blood of the Covenant

General references
Exodus 24:5-8; Zech 9:11; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:18-19; Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 10:29; Hebrews 13:20
Offerings

Figurative:

Of victories
Psalms 58:10

Of oppression and cruelty
Habakkuk 2:12

Of destruction
Ezekiel 35:6

Of guilt
Leviticus 20:9; 2 Samuel 1:16; Ezekiel 18:13

Of judgments
Ezekiel 16:38; Revelation 16:6

Of sacrifices, typical of the atoning blood of Christ
Hebrews 9:6-28

Of Christ

General references
Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; John 6:53-56; John 19:34; Acts 20:28; Romans 3:24-25; Romans 5:9; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:25; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:13; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:14; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 9:12-14; Hebrews 10:19-20; Hebrews 10:29; Hebrews 12:24; Hebrews 13:12; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7; 1 John 5:6; 1 John 5:8; Revelation 1:5-6; Revelation 5:9; Revelation 7:14; Revelation 12:11
Atonement; Jesus, The Christ, Mission of; Jesus, The Christ, Sufferings of

To blood is ascribed in Scripture the mysterious sacredness which belongs to life, and God reserved it to himself when allowing man the dominion over and the use of the lower animals for food. Thus reserved, it acquires a double power: (1) that of sacrificial atonement; and (2) that of becoming a curse when wantonly shed, unless duly expiated. (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26; 17:11-13)

BLOOD, noun

1. The fluid which circulates through the arteries and veins of the human body, and of other animals, which is essential to the preservation of life. This fluid is generally red. If the blood of an animal is not red, such animal is called exsanguious, or white-blooded; the blood being white, or white tinged with blue.

2. Kindred; relation by natural descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity.

God hath made of one blood all nations of the earth. Acts 17:26.

3. Royal lineage; blood royal; as a prince of the blood

4. Honorable birth; high extraction; as a gentleman of blood

5. Life.

Shall I not require his blood at your hands? 2 Samuel 4:11.

6. Slaughter; murder, or bloodshedding.

I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. Hosea 1.

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground. Genesis 4:10.

7. Guilt, and punishment.

Your blood be upon your own heads. Acts 18:6.

8. Fleshly nature; ; the carnal part of man; as opposed to spiritual nature, or divine life.

Who were born, not of flesh and blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:13.

9. Man, or human wisdom, or reason.

Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:17.

10. A sacramental symbol of the blood of Christ.

This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28.

11. The death and sufferings of Christ.

Being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him. Romans 5:3.

12. The price of blood; that which is obtained by shedding blood and seizing goods.

Wo to him that buildeth a town with blood Habakkuk 2:8. Acts 1.

13. Temper of mind; state of the passions; but in this sense, accompanied with cold or warm, or other qualifying word. Thus to commit an act in cold blood is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated; to warm or head the blood is to excite the passions.

14. A hot spark; a man of fire or spirit; a rake.

15. The juice of any thing, especially if red; as, 'the blood of grapes.' Genesis 4:109.

Whole blood In law, a kinsman of the whole blood is one who descends from the same couple of ancestors; of the half blood one who descends from either of them singly, by a second marriage.

BLOOD, verb transitive To let blood; to bleed by opening a vein.

1. To stain with blood

2. To enter; to inure to blood; as a hound.

3. To heat the blood; to exasperate. [Unusual.]

He who avenged the blood of one who had been killed. The nearest relative of the deceased became the authorized avenger of blood. (Numbers 35:19) The law of retaliation was not to extend beyond the immediate offender. (24:16; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chronicles 25:4; Jeremiah 31:29,30; Ezekiel 18:20)

BLOOD-BESPOT'TED, adjective Spotted with blood.

BLOOD-BOLTERED, adjective [blood and bolter.] Sprinkled with blood. [Not used.]

BLOOD-CONSU'MING, adjective Wasting the blood.

BLOOD'ED, participle passive Bled; stained with blood; inured to blood.

BLOOD'-FLOWER, noun [blood and flower.] Haemanthus, a genus of plants, natives of the Cape of Good Hope.

BLOOD-FROZEN, adjective Having the blood chilled.

BLOOD'GUILTINESS, noun [blood and guilt.] The guilt or crime of shedding blood. Psalms 51:14.

BLOOD-HOT, adjective [blood and hot.] As warm as blood in its natural temperature.

BLOOD-HOUND, noun [blood and hound.] A species of canis or dog, with long, smooth and pendulous ears, remarkable for the acuteness of its smell, and employed to recover game which had escaped wounded from the hunter, by tracing the lost animal by the blood it had spilt; whence the name of the dog.

BLOOD'ILY, adverb In a bloody manner; cruelly; with a disposition to shed blood.

BLOOD'INESS, noun The state of being bloody; disposition to shed blood.

BLOOD'ING, participle present tense Letting blood; staining with blood; inuring to blood, as a hound.

BLOOD'LESS, adjective Without blood; dead.

1. Without shedding of blood or slaughter; as a bloodless victory.

2. Without spirit or activity.

BLOOD-LET, verb transitive To bleed; to let blood.

BLOOD'-LETTER, noun One who lets blood, as in diseases; a phlebotomist.

BLOOD'LETTING, noun [blood and let.] The act of letting blood, or bleeding by opening a vein.

BLOOD'PUDDING, noun [blood and pudding.] A pudding made with blood and other materials.

BLOOD'-RED, noun Red as blood.

BLOOD'-ROOT, noun A plant so named from its color; a species of sanguinaria, called also puccoon, turmeric and red root.

BLOOD'SHED, noun [blood and shed.] The shedding or spilling of blood; slaughter; waste of life; the crime of shedding blood.

BLOOD'SHEDDER, noun One who sheds blood; a murderer.

BLOOD'SHEDDING, noun The shedding of blood; the crime of shedding blood.

BLOOD'SHOT, adjective [blood and shoot.] Red and inflamed by a turgid state of the blood vessels, as in diseases of the eye.

BLOOD'SNAKE, noun A species of snake, the haemorrhus.

BLOOD'-SPAVIN, noun [blood and spavin.] A dilatation of the vein that runs along the inside of the hock of a horse, forming a soft swelling.

BLOOD'-STAINED, adjective Stained with blood; also, guilty of murder.

BLOOD'STONE, noun [blood and stone.] A stone, imagined, if worn as an amulet, to be a good preventive of bleeding at the nose. [See Hematite.]

BLOOD'-SUCKER, noun [blood and suck.] Any animal that sucks blood, as a leech, a fly, etc. A cruel man; a murderer.

BLOOD'-SUCKING, adjective That sucks or draws blood.

BLOOD'-THIRSTY, adjective [blood and thirst.] Desirous to shed blood; murderous.

BLOOD'-VESSEL, noun [blood and vessel.] Any vessel in which blood circulates in an animal body; an artery or a vein.

BLOOD'-WARM, adjective Warm as blood; luke warm.

BLOOD'-WITE, noun [blood and wite, a fine or penalty.]

In ancient law, a fine or amercement, paid as a composition for the shedding of blood.

BLOOD'-WOOD, noun [blood and wood.] A name given to log-wood, from its color.

BLOOD'-WORT, noun [blood and wort.] A plant, a species of Rumex.

BLOOD'Y, adjective Stained with blood.

1. Cruel; murderous; given to the shedding of blood; or having a cruel, savage disposition; applied to animals.

2. Attended with bloodshed; marked by cruelty; applied to things; as a bloody battle.

BLOOD'Y, verb transitive To stain with blood.

BLOODY', adverb Very; as bloody sick, bloody drunk. [This is very vulgar.]

The sign and token of our Lord's great agony (Luke 22:44).

BLOOD'Y-EYED, adjective Having bloody or cruel eyes.

BLOOD'Y-FACED, adjective Having a bloody face or appearance.

BLOOD'Y-FLUX, noun [blood and flux.] The dysentery, a disease in which the discharges from the bowels have a mixture of blood.

BLOOD'Y-HAND, noun [blood and hand.] A hand stained with the blood of a deer, which, in the old forest laws of England, was sufficient evidence of a man's trespass in the forest against venison.

BLOOD'Y-HUNTING, adjective Hunting for blood.

BLOOD'Y-MINDED, adjective [blood and mind.] Having a cruel, ferocious disposition; barbarous; inclined to shed blood.

BLOOD'Y-RED, adjective Having the color blood.

BLOODY-SCEP'TERED, adjective Having a scepter obtained by blood or slaughter.

BLOOD'Y-SWEAT, noun [blood and sweat.] A sweat, accompanied by a discharge of blood; also a disease, called sweating sickness, which formerly prevailed in England and other countries.