Blood Vengeance: A Comparative Analysis

An examination of the evidence clearly demonstrates that Barnes had identified two major distinctions between biblical law and southern law concerning slave homicide. It would seem, then, that Barnes had dealt a fatal blow to southerner’s use of Exodus 21:20 and ultimately the Bible to sanction slavery as they practiced it. However, an important question needs to be answered in order to determine the validity of Barnes’ argument that the systems of biblical slavery and southern slavery were incongruent. In short, to whom was Exodus 21:20 referring? Did Exodus 21:20 apply to just the murder of Hebrew slaves or to non-Hebrew slaves as well? Since African slaves were likened to non-Hebrew slaves in the South, it must be demonstrated that Exodus

In several of the Middle Assyrian Laws, one finds clear expressions of the practice of blood vengeance at work in ancient Assyrian society. For example, in law A10 of the Middle Assyrian Laws dated 1076 BCE it states the

However, did Israel partake in the practice of blood vengeance? The answer is yes. Within the Bible, there exists clear evidence to indicate that not only were the ancient Israelites familiar with the practice of blood vengeance, but that they partook in it as well. Numbers 35:16-21 represents the clearest expression of blood vengeance within the Old Testament. In these verses, the “avenger of blood” is responsible for putting the murderer to death. The verses read as follows: “But anyone who strikes another with an iron object, and death ensues, is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death…The avenger of blood is the one who shall put the murderer to death, when they meet, the avenger of blood shall execute the sentence.” Thus, like the Hittites and the Assyrians, evidence shows that Israel partook in the legal administration of justice through the practice of blood vengeance. In this case, the “avenger of blood” is a close relative of the murderer that the community grants permission to avenge the death of the person slain by the murderer. Exodus 21:12 also makes reference to the practice of blood vengeance calling for the death of those who strike a