The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1852-05-07
TmE DEATH PExgETy.
.ThOu shall no. kIII.r--Erodu. x. d.

has been made the great barrier 10 right
full progress as well as TO desolaing in
novalion, Il is made the pillar AND sup
por, Of tho gallows in defiance of the
command given on Mount Sinai, which
| have quotedus tho motto Of this section
Of the subject. Bu, the erea, principles
Of Bible morality, rightly and jntelligenlly
understood, can never correctly be urged
in favor Of any system repugnant 10
humanity, for God who is the author Of
| the Bible also made man in his own like
ness and image, which though il has been
dis6gurod, has never wholly been OBJ
liberated. : io5
The Covenant with Nonh is The main
passage Of Bible doctrine upon which
this practice Of The inficiion Of Death,
without imminent public necessity is
based, and which is relied on, strangely
enough, 10 prove the right Of society TO
kill, and TO sci the.command subsequently,
given on MI. Sinai aside. la relation 10
this covenant Professor Clis1es Antho 4,
1.-THE accomplished American Classical
linguist and scholar, says:
"rhe true understanding ofthls impor-
tant passage is to be sougbtin the original
Hebrew text, and in comparison of its
terms with the adjacent context. Such
an examination will be folnd TO reverse
directly the sense in which il is usually
received, and 10 show that our common
English version is clear u,iStranslation,
founded on an ambiguity in the original,
which ambiguity has been decided by
The frs: trarslators, and so left ever since,
by the light, or rather by tho darkness,
of their own preconceivod views on the
subject views derived from the estab
lislied l,arbarian practice Of their time.
The word IN the Hebrew, (sho: phaichj
which is here rend sxe I'wIloso shedde,h,
lis simply the present Fp,rticple 'shed-
deih,' in which, in tie, Hebrew as in The
English, there is no Distinction Of gen.
der. And The word which is rendered
shls,' (damo), there being no neuler in
rI,a, language, may with equal right be
re ndered 'ils.' The whole passage is
therefore fully as well susceptible of the
irapsation, 'whdisoerer sheddeth mans
blood. by man shall Cor may (as blood be
shed, las of that which hos been given
to il, from no other reasolraIEan the pre-
Iudice ofa'foregope conclusion Seer
alof the most able commentators on Tie
Scriptures give the words virtually the
same interpretation, and That prufpunc
and learned critic, Michaels, of Gotlip
gen, ia his Commentaries on the Laws o
Moses, (ch. iy. So, art. 274) says ex
prcssly: the sixth verse, must be render
ed, not whosoeper. hui, whatsoever shed
deih human blood
The proprieiy Of this correction of on
common English version of the passage
in preston will nppearvery clear, wher
we collate in with both the preceding
and the following words. In the preced
ing verse, after having alluded 10 tina
mystic sancliiy oi blood, as containin!
the essential principle OF animal life
which we afterwards find SO strikingly L
J pervade the Mosaic system, the GOV
enant proceeds: agaq pe
And surelyy onrblood ofyour liveswil
require; attic hand of euery beast ,oil
I require il, and at the hand Of man, a
: the hand OF every mans brother will
; require theIifa ofmin. s
.WIioso (whatsoever) sheddeth man
blood, by man shall his (its) blond b
shed; for in the image Of God made h
man.
Tie very reason here given for The pro
llibtion Of he shedding If the blood .
man, is the detacement fthe image of til
Creator, in the human form diDine.' Doe
: this high and sacred principle lose II
. force 0: It's application, because The erin
] ir:al may Einseifhave been guilty Of
! previous outrage upon its sanctity? Ca
ihat afford any justification for repelitiLl
!. Of The same outrage upon the same 'imag
Of CODY Where is the authority for an
such assumption? The DISTINCTION her
Z drawn is plain. The beast that sheddei
mans blood, by man may its blood b
shed; but when mans blood is shed b
mans brother, II will require il at hi
hapd-by penalties, into the nature 9
which it is not for US to attempt 10 pene-
tia.e." as2f "a 3a93
! Thatthe language Of the Noahic Co,
tenant is Of doubtful Interpretation, 10 sa
the least, may be further gathered fror
the dsferen, views it has gwen rise tc
Dr.. Benjamin Rush,.in an essay, read q
1.-The house Of BENZ. franklin, March, Stl
1857, says: \
: 81 suspect tho attachment TO deaib z
punishment for murder, il sS-
wiss,,st tt't'aseff ~ ,,nfr'