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Bible Dictionaries
Avenger of Blood
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Avenger of Blood. It was, and even still is, a common practice among nations of patriarchal habits, that the nearest of kin should, as a matter of duty, avenge the death of a murdered relative. The law of Moses was very precise in its directions on the subject of retaliation. 1. The wilful murderer was to be put to death without the right of redemption. The nearest relative of the deceased became the authorized avenger of blood. Numbers 35:19. 2. The law of retaliation was not to extend beyond the immediate offender. Deuteronomy 24:16; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chronicles 25:4; Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:20. 3. The shedder of blood could fly to one of six Levitical cities, appointed as cities of refuge, and be safe, until proved guilty of wilful murder. Numbers 35:22-25; Deuteronomy 19:4-6.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Avenger of Blood'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/a/avenger-of-blood.html. 1893.
