Anxiety and Guilt Over Spilled Blood

9000-year handprints.

Las Cuevas de las Manos on Rio Pinturas, in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. 

Alice C. Linsley

From the dawn of time humans recognized that life is in the blood. They saw offspring born of water and the blood. They knew that the loss of blood could bring death. Killing animals in the hunt meant life for the community. They sought ways to ensure that their dead entered life beyond the grave, especially their rulers who could intercede for them before the Deity. This explains the universal phenomena of burial of high-status individuals in red ocher powder, a symbolic blood covering, a practice that lasted for more than 100,000 years.

Anthropological and archaeological evidence indicates that early human populations experienced anxiety about bloodshed. They observed that blood loss from injuries could lead to death. Blood was visible when flowing from a wound or during childbirth, so blood was conceived as the substance of life. 

The shedding of blood appears to have been a moral issue of the first magnitude. Hunters and warriors were responsible for their acts of bloodshed. Blood appeared to animate and taking that vital power from another living creature could bring a curse upon those responsible for the shedding of blood. Doubtless, there was an element of anxiety about blood. Blood anxiety required the ministrations of priests and shamans. 

Blood anxiety: In every primitive society that has been studied by anthropologists there is a belief that there is power in blood and that this power is potentially dangerous. This anxiety about shed blood is widely diffused, evidence that it is very ancient. The need for relief of blood anxiety and blood guilt is one explanation for the development of the office of priest.

Among the early Hebrew bloodshed that resulted in death brough guilt to the killer. This is expressed in Genesis 4:10-11 where the Lord said to Cain, "What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand."

Pontius Pilate, having been warned by his wife, attempted to relieve himself of blood guilt when he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." (Matt. 27:24)

In response, the Jewish rabble-rousers who demanded Jesus' crucifixion declared, "His blood be on us and on our children!" They foolishly accepted guilt for Jesus' blood upon themselves and their children. This testifies to their seared consciences. They disdained their own tradition in which bloodguilt attaches for generations (II Kings 9:26) and can extend to the one's city (Jer. 26:5), nation (Deut. 21:8), and land (Deut. 24:4).

The biblical concept of bloodguilt derives from the belief that deeds generate consequences and that sin, in particular, is a danger to the sinner. The term for bearing bloodguilt damo bo, or damo bero'sho, meant "his blood in him/on his head" (Josh. 2:19; Ezek. 33:5), and in cases of legal execution the formula mot yumat damav bo (Lev. 20:9-16) means that the blood of the guilty remains on his own person and does not attach to his executioners.

Bloodshed: The first moral law

The Bible addresses the shedding of blood from beginning to end. In Genesis, God takes the life of animals to clothe the man and the woman in the hides. God becomes the first tahash (tanner).

Abel's blood cries to God from the ground with an implicit demand for justice.

Genesis 9:4-6 says, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in His image did God make man."

In the sacrificial system of the Israelites, atonement for sin requires blood sacrifice. This was the work of the sacrificing priests who themselves had to be purified by ritual washing before and after the sacrifices (Exodus 29).

Among ancient peoples, religious laws governed every aspect of the community’s life. The laws found in Leviticus and in the ancient Vedic Brahmanas are examples. Here we read instructions for how lepers are to be put outside the community and restored to the community after they are healed. Many of the laws govern family relations, forbidding incest and adultery. Others establish rules for the proper treatment of slaves, foreigners, widows, and orphans.

The code of Ur-Nammu from the reign of King Shulgi dates to 2095-2047 BC. It originally held 57 laws which covered family and inheritance law, rights of slaves and laborers, and agricultural and commercial tariffs. This code prescribes compensation for wrongs, as in this example: "If a man knocks out the eye of another man, he shall weigh out one-half a mina of silver." 

Many ancient laws concern purity. It is clear from biblical and extra-biblical texts that blood both pollutes and covers pollution. The largest question is how was this conceived by the early Hebrew ruler-priests? Non-Hebrew appeared to sacrifice animals to hungry gods. The Hebrew, on the other hand, did not believe that God is hungry. Consider Psalm 50. Here the LORD says, "I will accept no bull from your house, nor he-goat from your folds..." and "If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world and all that is in it is mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" (vv. 9-13)

Among the early Hebrew (c. 5000-2000 BC) animal sacrifice was performed only in cases of extremely grave offenses. Cattle and sheep were their source of wealth, so they did not sacrifice them often.

For the Hebrew ruler-priest caste animal sacrifice was an act of atonement; an extraordinary and unique perspective in the ancient world. The ruler-priest Job is said to have made atonement for the sins of his entire household daily. If this is true, Job, the Horite Hebrew, was a very rich man. It is safe to assume that the sacrifices were offered with prayer.

Of special interest is a Hittite ritual for purifying a house where a person has perjured himself, or has shed blood, or someone has made a threat or spoken a curse, or someone having shed blood or having committed perjury has entered, or someone has practiced sorcery, or bloodshed has occurred in the house.

The Hittites were related to the biblical Hebrew. These peoples share common ancestry. Heth was an ancestor of the Hittites (Gen. 10:15). He was one of Ham's grandsons, and the lines of Ham and Shem intermarried (endogamy). The Hittites of Canaan recognized Abraham the Hebrew as a high-ranking kinsman (Gen. 23:5).

 

Related reading: Blood, Animal Sacrifice, and the Hope of Immortality; The Oldest Known Religion; Blood Guilt and Christ's Priesthood; The History of Blood; Sun Symbolism and Blood Guilt; On Blood and the Impulse to Immortality

The Six Cities of Refuge

 

Alice C. Linsley

The Bible speaks of cities of refuge. They are Bezer, Golan, Hebron, Kedesh, Ramoth, and Shechem. Of the 48 settlements assigned to the Levites, only these 6 were to provide refuge for the person who was found innocent of killing another human. 

The cities of refuge were home to priestly clans, which suggests that the person seeking refuge was examined by men trained in the law who also could offer sacrifice and ritual cleansing of blood guilt. The blood that fell to the ground polluted the place. It cries out to God (Gen. 4:10). The one who murders deserves death, but God alone knows to work perfect justice. Cain’s killing of his brother brought him banishment. Perhaps the idea of a city of refuge begins with the city Cain established (Gen. 4:17).

Killing another human imposed blood guilt on the killer, even if the killing were accidental or unintentional. Blood was viewed has having power. Warriors became polluted after combat and sought ritual cleansing to relieve them of blood guilt. This is what Melchizedek did for Abraham after the battle of the kings. Melchizedek, the Jebusite ruler-priest of Jerusalem, also ministered to his Horite kinsman Abraham by providing bread and wine (Gen. 14:18).

People who accidentally kill another human need the ministry of a priest because priests are trained to hear confessions, pronounce absolution, and can offer the Eucharist with special intention for the deceased and the living victim. In our time, no such provision is made for the innocent who kill or for returning warriors.

Precedent for Refuge Cities

It is likely that the custom of sanctuary cities predates the time of Moses. Abel Beth Maacah appears to have been a city of refuge and its areas  F, O and B date to the Middle Bronze Age (2200-1570 BC). Sheba fled there to escape capture by David’s men (2 Sam. 20:14-22). It was a city of great antiquity, and before the time of Moses it was known as a place where serious disputes were resolved (2 Samuel 2:18). About the city, “They used to say in the old days, ‘Let them inquire at Abel’; and so they would settle a matter.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Abel Beth Maacah appears to have been influenced by the Phoenicians and the Arameans. In 2017, a small faience head of a bearded man was found there that is Phoenician in style. Also Tel Abel Beth Maacah is in close proximity to the Phoenician coast. The city’s location allows passage north to Ijon (Tell ed-Dibbin) in Lebanon’s Marj Ayyun Valley, and west to Tyre and Sidon. It was also the gateway to the Arameans. 

It is known that the Phoenicians provided shrines and sacred precincts as refuges for fugitives. The Horite Hebrew among the Arameans also probably provided refuge sites, especially since all 6 refuge cities of Israel can be traced back to the Horite Hebrew ruler-priest caste which was dispersed from the Nile to Mesopotamia.

Bezer was of the Horite Hebrew clan of Merari, son of Levi, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of the Aramean ruler-priest Nahor the Elder (Gen 11:22-32). Na-Hor means "One devoted to Horus." Early Bronze Age (3100-1200 BC) finds have been uncovered here, including a wall in Field W2 and a 4-room house in Field C.

Bezer later came under the control of the Moabite King Mesha who rebuilt the city as stated on the Mesha Inscription (Line 27). The Moabites descended from Nahor and Terah also. In the eighth century, Bezer came under control of the Ammonites. The Moabites and Ammonites were kin. Both peoples trace ancestry to Nahor the Elder. Moab and Ammon were the sons of Lot, the son of Haran, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor.

Golan was a city of Bashan under Og (Deut. 4:43; Num. 21:33; Josh 20:8), whose clan belonged to the three-clan confederation of Horites: Og, Gog and Magog. 

Hebron was at the northern boundary of Abraham's territory and Abraham was Horite Hebrew. Hebron was called Kiriath-Arba. Arba was the father of Anak, one of the "mighty men of old" (Gen. 6). Arba or Arbu may have been a fugitive, like Cain. The term arbu in ancient Akkadian means fugitive or runaway. 

Kadesh was under the Gershon branch of Levites (Josh 21:32). Gershon was a son of Levi, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor. 

Ramoth (Deut.4:43; Josh 20:8, Josh 21:38) belonged to Gad, Jacob's seventh son (1 Kings 4:13). There appears to have been close relations with Bashan and with Jair, son of Manasseh, son of Jospeh, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor. The king's official in Ramoth had authority over the land of Argob in Bashan and the towns of Jair (Yair) in Gilead. Jair judged Israel for 22 years. His inheritance was in Gilead through the line of Machir, the son of Manasseh.

Jair is a Horite Hebrew name associated with the Horite Hebrew settlement of Bethlehem (1 Chron. 4:4; 1 Chron. 2:51). After David became king, he brought the ark "from the house of Abinadab, that was in Gibeah” to Jerusalem (II Sam. 6:1-12). However, for three months the ark rested in David’s hometown of Bethlehem on the property of Obed-Edom and it was guarded by Jair of Bethlehem.

Shechem was a place of worship for Abraham and Jacob, both of whom built altars there. Genesis 34:2 specifies Shechem as a Hivite or Horite settlement. E.A. Speiser called attention to Hurrian/Horite personal names associated with Shechem and with other areas whose inhabitants the Bible calls Hivites. He noted the juxtaposition of the Hurrian Jebusites and the Hivites in various biblical references and he concluded that “Hivite” was a biblical term for Horite/Hurrian. Speiser supported his identification of the biblical Hivites with the Horite/Hurrians by reference to Genesis 36:2 and 36:20, where the terms Hivite and Horite are used interchangeably. In Genesis 36:2, Zibeon is called a Hivite, and in Genesis 36:20 Zibeon is identified as a Horite descendent of Seir. 

Other examples of the interchange of the terms Hivite and Horite may be found by comparing the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint. The Septuagint reads "Horites" for the "Hivite" of the Masoretic Text in Genesis 34:2 and Joshua 9:7.

Conclusion

A detailed look at the history of the 6 cities of refuge suggests that they were under the authority of the Horite Hebrew ruler-priests and the establishment of refuge at shrine cities should be credited to this very ancient caste of royal priests.

Related reading: Who Were The Horite Hebrew?; The Faith of the Early Hebrew Delivered to Us; Hebrew Priests in Aram, Edom, Moab and Judah; What Fugitives Faced in the Cities of Refuge

Blood Guilt and Christ's Priesthood

Alice C. Linsley

Based on their experience and observation, early humans came to think of blood as the substance of life. Life required blood. This is what stands behind Leviticus 17:11: "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life."

The earliest humans noted that animals and humans bled when wounded. If a human bled out, he/she died. The spirit left them. There was anxiety that the one who killed would be haunted by that spirit. This is why humans felt anxiety about shedding blood. They regarded blood as having supernatural power. You will recall that the blood of Abel cried to the Creator from the ground.

There is evidence in Genesis that a very early designation for the human was the word blood. Adam is likely derived from ha-dam, meaning "the blood."

The one who shed the blood of another human carried blood guilt. They knew it deep inside and it troubled them. They needed a mediator to stand between them and the Creator to restore them by ritual absolution of the blood guilt. This is the likely origin of the priesthood. You will recall that after combat, Abraham received the ministry of the ruler-priest Melchizedek. This ritual most certainly involved water purification, but it definitely involved bread and wine. Here we have the signs of the two great sacraments given by Christ to his church: Baptism and Eucharist.

Cain, Nimrod, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David were men with blood on their hands. Cain killed Abel. Nimrod was a mighty hunter and a kingdom builder who forged his territory through conquest. Abraham killed in combat. Moses took the life of an Egyptian slave driver. David killed Goliath and arranged for the death of Uriah, Bathsheba's husband. The Bible does not sanitize the lives of these men. They bore blood guilt and they acutely felt the necessity of priestly absolution.

Hebrews 10:4 says, "It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." The Horite ruler priests of Onn and Nekhen would have understood this. They recognized that the blood sacrifice had to be offered again and again. It did not serve once and for all, as does the blood of the Lamb of God. They lived in expectation of the reveling of the Lamb of God, and John the Baptist announced His appearing: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)

The Horim who lived in Palestine tended sheep because the terrain is less hospitable to cattle that the wide grasslands of the wet Sahara. So the Christ is called "Lamb' of God. However, their Nilo-Saharan ancestors were cattle herders, and for them the image of the divine sacrifice was the "Calf" of God. This is the meaning behind the account of the Golden Horus Calf fabricated by Aaron (Ex. 32).

The calf is suggestive of Horus as a child. Horus' anthropomorphic form is either as a adult male who is the patron of kings, or as a boy wearing the sidelock typical of royal Egyptian youth. As a youth he represents the heir to the kingdom who is innocent of blood guilt. He represents both purity and power to subdue. Horus as a child is often shown on cippi dominating crocodiles and serpents. Consider this in light of the Woman, the Child, and the Dragon in Revelation 12. Consider also the red cow of Numbers 19 that stands as a perpetual symbol of Israel's need for cleansing. The cow is sacrificed and burned outside the camp and the ashes used for "water of lustration." (Num. 19:9) Consider this: Jesus, as with his ancestors Adam, Esau, David, and the Horites of Edom, had a distinctive red skin tone. He was sacrificed outside the camp, and through His blood we are washed clean.

Among Abraham's Nilo-Saharan ancestors, the Calf's mother was called Hathor. Her animal totem was the long-horned cow and she was depicted with a crown of horns in which the sun rests, as a sign of her divine appointment. This is fulfilled in Mary. The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35)

Hathor appears on monument walls at Dendera holding her calf child in a manger.

The Proto-Gospel involves other details that have been specifically fulfilled in Mary and Jesus. One is the ancient Horite belief that Horus would rise on the third day. This was ritualized by the priests blessing grain sowed in the fields on the third day after 2 days of mourning the death of Horus at the hands of his own brother. This is what stand behind Jesus explanation to his disciples about HIS impending death: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24)

Related reading: Who is Jesus?; Fundamentalism and Syncretism in Hebrew History; Boats and Cows of the Proto-Saharans; Adam Was a Red Man; The Edomites and the Color Red; Blood and Binary Distinctions; Ethical Concerns of Archaic Communities