Bible Lexicons

αἷμα, (τος, τό, blood, whether of men or of animals:

1.

a. simply and generally: John 19:34; Revelation 8:7; Revelation 11:6; Revelation 16:3f, 6{b} (on which passages cf. Exodus 7:20ff); ; ῤύσις αἵματος, Mark 5:25 ((πηγή αἵματος Mark 5:29)); Luke 8:43f; θρόμβοι αἵματος, Luke 22:44 (L brackets WH reject the passage). So also in passages where the eating of blood (and of bloody flesh) is forbidden, Acts 15:20, 29; Acts 21:25; cf. Leviticus 3:17; Leviticus 7:16 (26); ; see Knobel on Leviticus 7:26f; (Kalisch on Leviticus, Preliminary Essay § 1); Ruckert, Abendmahl, p. 94.

b. As it was anciently believed that the blood is the seat of the life (Leviticus 17:11; (cf. Delitzsch, Biblical Psychol, pp. 238-247 (English translation, p. 281ff))), the phrase σάρξ καί αἷμα (וְדָם בָּשָׂר, a common phrase in rabbinical writers), or in inverse order αἷμα καί σάρξ, denotes man's living body compounded of flesh and blood, 1 Corinthians 15:50; Hebrews 2:14, and so hints at the contrast between man and God (or even the more exalted creatures, Ephesians 6:12) as to suggest his feebleness, Ephesians 6:12 (Sir. 14:18), which is conspicuous as respects the knowledge of divine things, Galatians 1:16; Matthew 16:17.

c. Since the first germs of animal life are thought to be in the blood (Wis. 7:2; Eustathius ad Iliad 6, 211 (ii. 104, 2) τό δέ αἵματος ἀντί τοῦ σπέρματος φασίν οἱ σαφοὶ, ὡς τοῦ σπέρματος ὕλην τό αἷμα ἔχοντος), the word serves to denote generation and origin (in the classics also): John 1:13 (on the plural cf. Winer's Grammar, 177 (166)); Acts 17:26 (R G).

d. It is used of those things which by their redness resemble blood: αἷμα σταφυλῆς the juice of the grape ('the blood of grapes,' Genesis 49:11; Deuteronomy 32:14), Sir. 39:26 Sir. 50:15; 1 Macc. 6:34, etc.; Achilles Tatius 2:2; reference to this is made in Revelation 14:18-20. εἰς αἷμα, of the moon, Acts 2:20 (Joel 2:31 ()), equivalent to ὡς αἷμα Revelation 6:12.

2. bloodshed or to be shed by violence (very often also in the classics);

a.: Luke 13:1 (the meaning is, whom Pilate had ordered to be massacred while they were sacrificing, so that their blood mingled with the blood (yet cf. Winer's Grammar, 623 (579)) of the victims); αἷμα ἀθοῷν (or δίκαιον Tr marginal reading WH text) the blood of an innocent (or righteous) man viz. to be shed, Matthew 27:4; έ᾿κχειν and ἐκχύνειν αἷμα (דָּם שָׁפַך, Genesis 9:6; Isaiah 59:7, etc.) to shed blood, slay, Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:50; Acts 22:20; Romans 3:15; Revelation 16:6 (here Tdf. αἵματα); hence, αἷμα is used for the bloody death itself: Matthew 23:30, 35; Matthew 27:24; Luke 11:51; Acts (, yet, cf. i d. above;) Acts 20:26; Revelation 17:6; μέχρις αἵματος unto blood, i. e., so as to undergo a bloody death, Hebrews 12:4 (τόν αἴτιον τῆς ... μέχρις αἵματος στάσεως, Heliodorus 7, 8); τιμή αἵματος 'price of blood' i. e. price received for murder, Matthew 27:6; ἀγρός αἵματος field bought with the price of blood, Matthew 27:8, equivalent to χωρίον αἵματος, Acts 1:19 — unless in this latter passage we prefer the explanation, which agrees better with the context, 'the field dyed with the blood of Judas'; the guilt and punishment of bloodshed, in the following Hebraistic expressions: ἐν αὐτῇ αἵματα (Rec. αἷμα (so L Tr WH)) ὑρέθη, i. e., it was discovered that she was guilty of murders, Revelation 18:24 (cf. πόλις αἱμάτων, Ezekiel 24:6); τό αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς (namely, ἐλθέτω) let the penalty of the bloodshed fall on us, Matthew 27:25; τό αἷμα ὑμῶν ἐπί τήν κεφαλήν ὑμῶν (namely, ἐλθέτω) let the guilt of your destruction be reckoned to your own account, Acts 18:6 (cf. 2 Samuel 1:16; Joshua 2:19, etc.); ἐπάγειν τό αἷμα τίνος ἐπί τινα, to cause the punishment of a murder to be visited upon anyone, Acts 5:28; ἐκζήτειν τό αἷμα τίνος ἀπό τίνος (פ מִיַד פ דַּם בִּקֵשׁ, 2 Samuel 4:11; Ezekiel 3:18, 20; Ezekiel 33:8), to exact of anyone the penalty for another's death, Luke 11:50; the same idea is expressed by ἐκδίκειν τό αἷμα τίνος, Revelation 6:10; Revelation 19:2.

b. It is used specially of the blood of sacrificial victims having a purifying or expiating power (Leviticus 17:11): Hebrews 9:7, 12f, 18-22, 25; Hebrews 10:4; Hebrews 11:28; Hebrews 13:11.

c. Frequent mention is made in the N. T. of the blood of Christ (αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, 1 Corinthians 10:16; τοῦ κυρίου, ; τοῦ ἀρνίου, Revelation 7:14; Revelation 12:11, cf. ) shed on the cross (αἷμα τοῦ σταυροῦ, Colossians 1:20) for the salvation of many, Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24, cf. Luke 22:20; the pledge of redemption, Ephesians 1:7 (ἀπολύτρωσις διά τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ; so too in Colossians 1:14 Rec.); 1 Peter 1:19 (see ἀγοράζω, 2 b.); having expiatory efficacy, Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:12; by which believers are purified and are cleansed from the guilt of sin, Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 12:24; (); 1 John 1:7 (cf. 1 John 5:6, 8); Revelation 1:5; Revelation 7:14; 1 Peter 1:2; are rendered acceptable to God, Romans 5:9, and find access into the heavenly sanctuary, Hebrews 10:19; by which the Gentiles are brought to God and the blessings of his kingdom, Ephesians 2:13, and in general all rational beings on earth and in heaven are reconciled to God, Colossians 1:20; with which Christ purchased for himself the church, Acts 20:28, and gathered it for God, Revelation 5:9. Moreover, since Christ's dying blood served to establish new religious institutions and a new relationship between men and God, it is likened also to a federative or covenant sacrifice: τό αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης, the blood by the shedding of which the covenant should be ratified, Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24, or has been ratified, Hebrews 10:29; Hebrews 13:20 (cf. Hebrews 9:20); add, 1 Corinthians 11:25; Luke 22:20 (WH reject this passage) (in both which the meaning is, 'this cup containing wine, an emblem of blood, is rendered by the shedding of my blood an emblem of the new covenant'), 1 Corinthians 11:27; (cf. Cicero, pro Sestio 10, 24foedus sanguine meo ictum sanciri, Livy 23, 8sanguine Hannibalis sanciam Romanum foedus. πίνειν τό αἷμα αὐτοῦ (i. e. of Christ), to appropriate the saving results of Christ's death, John 6:53f, 56. (Westcott, Epistles of John, p. 34f.)