THE LIFE OF THE BODY, Chapter 2 of B L O O D
A T O N E M E N T by
 OGDEN KRAUT

Blood is frequently spoken of in the scriptures as being synonymous with life. In the Old Testament it is referred to 203 times in connection with death, and 103 times in regard to sacrifices. Hence, the term blood is religiously regarded as the means of life or death–an atonement or punishment.

From Old Testament usage the predominant association of blood is with death rather than life, and the “life of the flesh” (Lev. 17:11) can mean life yielded up in death just as readily as life set free for surrender to God. The sacrificial rituals consistently pointed to the seriousness of sin, and the shedding of blood in sacrifice was prescribed as an acceptable substitute for the life of the sinner and an act of atonement by which he could be restored to fellowship with God. (Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 1:627)

In the New Testament there are 25 examples, apart from the atonement of Christ, which indicate humans sacrificing their blood–blood often having reference to the “earthly” or the sinful; whereas water is referred to as the means of “cleansing” or baptism. In specific cases where water could not cleanse through baptism, then blood was offered as an atonement, or in some cases shed as a punishment for sins.

Blood was also considered as the element in the body that carried the corruptions of the body, which is one of the reasons for the law in ancient Israel that the body, or flesh, could be eaten, but not the blood.