Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Whoso sheddeth man's blood. The Hebrew verb denotes not to commit homicide, but to kill from premeditation or malice (cf. Genesis 37:22; Ezekiel 14:19). The verb being in the participial form, is to be taken in the widest sense, as denoting every murderer of whatever condition.
By man shall his blood be shed. "By man" is emphatic, and therefore is placed in the beginning of the clause. The Septuagint and the Vulgate omit this word entirely. An attempt has been made, by a learned writer against capital punishment, to translate the passage, 'whoso sheddeth man's blood among men, his blood shall be shed,' thus considering the words as containing not a command, but a warning-a denunciation against the taking away of human life (1 Thessalonians 4:6). But our translators have properly rendered the Hebrew preposition by-all the best versions render it in the same way; and the most eminent scholars consider it as used here to denote the agent by whom the blood is shed, and the authority to take the life of the murderer is given by God to those, whether patriarchal or regal persons, who possess the character of public or recognized magistrates. That this law was designed to be universal, is evident from the reason annexed, which is applicable to all ages and parts of the world.
For in the image of God made he man. The human nature reflects the divine image-ruthlessly to mutilate or destroy that image, as a murderer in effect does, is to commit a daring outrage against the majesty of the Creator. It is true, that in a moral and spiritual point of view, that image has been injured by the fall, but it is not lost. At least, what theologians call the natural image of God, consisting of reason and intelligence, remains in man still, otherwise what is the use of subjoining it here as the ground of the preceding command? (cf. James 3:9.) In this view a high value is attached to the life of every person, even the poorest and humblest, and an awful criminality is involved in the destruction of it.