What Does Deuteronomy 15:23 Mean in the King James?
Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
One verb joins blood returned to the earth with breath poured across all flesh: what flows out can carry life, violence, or gift.
THE MEANING
This verse holds blood outside ordinary consumption: it is poured onto the ground as water. What flows through a creature returns to the living world around you, where it remains more than appetite can claim.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that whatever can sustain the body is automatically ours to consume; the blood is treated as belonging to a wider order of life.
THE ROOT
תִּשְׁפְּכֶנּוּ
tishpekhennu
GROWS FROM
שׁ־פ־ך
sh-p-kh
To pour out or spill.
The same root directs blood onto the ground, names the shedding of blood, and describes breath poured upon all flesh. English sometimes says “shed” and sometimes “pour,” while Hebrew keeps the verb-family audible across blood, breath, and the heart’s outpouring.
ALSO GROWS
shofekh dam: “One who sheds blood”: שֹׁפֵךְ (shofekh, one who pours out) with דָּם (dam, blood).
שֹׁפֵךְ דָּם
Genesis 9:6 uses this form of the root for blood being shed, connecting the verse’s pouring image with the consequences of bloodshed.
eshpokh et-ruhi: “I will pour out my breath”: רוּחַ (ruach, breath).
אֶשְׁפּוֹךְ אֶת־רוּחִי
Joel 2:28 uses the same root for breath poured upon all flesh, revealing that this verb extends beyond blood to life shared outward.
eshpĕkhu lefanav levavkhem: “Pour out your heart before him”: לֵבָב (levav, heart).
אֶשְׁפְּכוּ לְפָנָיו לְבַבְכֶם
Psalm 62:8 uses the root for the heart’s outpouring, extending its image from bodily flow to what is laid open.
THE PATTERN
The verb שָׁפַךְ (shaphakh, pour out or spill) names what flows outward from within, blood, breath, and heart.
Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.THE THREAD
Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.Genesis uses the same pour-out verb for shedding blood and places the human within the image of God. Here that verb directs blood to the ground as water, bringing the language of bloodshed into the boundary around life.
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