Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1858-05-26

which is the very common sense of the
word in the Old Testament-th entire
passage together is perfectly plain as
a prohibition of mans taking the life of
man for any cause whatever, and that
God would hold responsible whatever
should shed the blood of man: whether
1t were beast, or murderer, or the aven-
ger Of blood: and so is perfectly harmo-
NOUS with the will as expressed in the
case of Cain, with his Law as given
from Sinia, "Thou shalt not kill,' and
with the principles of the new Cove
nant which says "Avenge not your
selves, vengeance is mine." Let us
read the passage once more, being care
full to understand require in this sense:
-"And surely your blood ofyour lives
will require: at the hand of every
beast will require it, and at the hand
of man; at the hand of every mans
brother will I require the life ofman."
1t is not By the hand ofbeast of man.
and of every mans brother will l re-
quire this thing; but it is at the hand of
these will I God require the life of
man all these will hold to be guilty.
and they shall be responsible to me, and
| will avenge their crime.
If it be objected to this sense of the
passage that it makes God account
the beast which has slain man. to be
guilty, when he is not capable of know
ing guilt, it will be sufficient reply to
observe, that in the days of Moses, and
by the Laws Of Moses, beasts were
sometimes accounted guilty.
But the language of the text loses
nothing ofits force, and is equally PLAIN
as prohibition Of mans taking the life
OF man, if we consider it the very lam
guage Of God to Noah. The context.
beginning and ending with the com
mand to be fruitful and multiply, as
sures Noah and his sons that the fear
OF them and the dread of them should
be upon every beast of the earth, and
fowl Of the air, and upon every thing
that moveth upon the earth, and upon
the fishes Of the sea, and that all of
them should be to them for meat: which
involves the idea that they might vio-
late their life or slay them for that pur-
pose, without incurring guilt. Then,
in what [ should call a parenthetic
clause, it forbids them to eat the blood
of animals; and then follows the text.
proclaiming Gods greater estimate of
human life, and that 1t may not be vio-
lated with impunity:-"And surely your
blood of your lives will 1 require;"
whether it be shed by beast, by man,
or even by the avenger of blood, I will
require it, "at the hand of every beast
will L require, and at the hand of man.
&c., for which two very good rea
sons are given: 1. The tendency Of
the evil to increase when it has been
once committed-(as by the law of re-
tallatlon-a common law in those
times es)-SWhoso sheddeth mans blood
by man will his blood be she'd" and.
2. because man wore the image of his
maker, and to violate his life therefore
would be to mar the image of the Del
ty: ''for in the image of God made he
man" .
Thus, by taking the whole text to-
gether-the fifth and sixth verses,
which evidently belong together-it is
clear that no command at all is given.
and that it is the fifth verse, and not
the sixth, which contains the express
ion Of Gods will (which is his Law or
rule Of action for ,man) concerning the
taking Of human life; which will is, the
same as he has everywhere else express
ed it, that man shall not take the life of
man, for any cause whatever; and that
he will hold guilty every person who
sheds the blood Of man, from the first
murderer to the last avenger of blood.
In this view Of the subject those gov
ernments which hold the gallows as a
sacred thing, and the hangman as
necessary parsonage, have much to an
swer for. They have usurped the pre-
rogative of God, have marred the i'm
age by shedding the blood which he
has forbidden, and he is holding them
guilty, and at their hands will reeuire
it.
But If governments are guilty before
God, and held accountable for she'd
ding the blood of man, how much more
SO are the people who advocate, defend
and justify those Laws which require
the punishment of death, for laws are
but the expressed will and declaration
of the people. Fearfnlly great in the
sight of God, must be the responsible