# H1818 - dam **Strong's:** [H1818](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1818/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** dawm **Part of speech:** masculine noun **Frequency:** ~360 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible, concentrated heavily in the Pentateuch (esp. Leviticus, Exodus, Deuteronomy), the prophets (Ezekiel, Isaiah), and the Psalms. **LXX equivalent:** αἷμα (*haima*), the standard NT correspondent. **Plural form:** *damim* (דָּמִים), often denotes *bloodguilt* / *bloodshed* (the standing condition of being responsible for shed blood) rather than literal plural-blood. ## Semantic range (Brown-Driver-Briggs) 1. **Blood (literal)**, the physical fluid; the bodily life-medium. 2. **Lifeblood / life**, the vital principle of biological life, named by metonymy. [Lev 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/), "the life of the flesh is in the blood", establishes the biblical-theological identification. 3. **Bloodshed / violent death**, the act of taking life violently (esp. plural *damim*). 4. **Bloodguilt**, the moral-judicial condition resulting from unjust bloodshed; the standing legal liability that demands resolution. 5. **Sacrificial blood**, the covenant-cultic element used in the priestly atonement system; the medium through which covenant-relationship is established and maintained. 6. **Wine / red juice** (figurative, "blood of grapes," [Gen 49:11](/codex/genesis-49-11/); [Deut 32:14](/codex/deuteronomy-32-14/)), the deep-red color extension. ## Theological force, life, atonement, covenant *Dam* is one of the most theologically loaded substantives in the Hebrew Bible, serving as the central image at the intersection of three doctrines: **life**, **atonement**, and **covenant**. **The foundational text, [Leviticus 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/):** > For the life (*nephesh*) of the flesh is in the blood (*dam*), and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement (*lekhapper*) for your *nepheshot*; for it is the blood by reason of the *nephesh* that makes atonement. This single verse establishes the entire biblical sacrificial logic: 1. **The life-is-in-the-blood identification**, biological *nephesh* (life-as-living-being) is *carried* in the blood. 2. **The God-gave-it-on-the-altar provision**, YHWH grants the blood-on-altar for atonement (the priestly-cultic transaction is *given*, not human invention). 3. **The substitutionary structure**, *blood* (life-as-medium) atones *for nephesh* (life-as-self); life given for life. This is the OT-Hebrew foundation that drives every NT atonement-text. **[Hebrews 9:22](/codex/hebrews-9-22/)**, "without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness", is a direct citation of the [Lev 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/) logic. The cross becomes the consummating realization: Christ's blood (the *life-of-the-flesh*) given as the substitution for human *nephesh* (sin-incurring life), securing once-for-all the covenantal forgiveness the animal sacrifices typified. **The covenantal use of blood.** Blood seals covenants. The Sinai covenant is ratified by *blood-throwing* ([Ex 24:6-8](/codex/exodus-24-6-8/), half on the altar, half on the people, with the words "behold the blood of the covenant"). The Passover blood marks the door for the death-angel's sparing ([Ex 12:7](/codex/exodus-12-7/), [13](/codex/exodus-12-13/), [22-23](/codex/exodus-12-22-23/)). Christ's words at the Last Supper, "this is My blood of the *new covenant*" ([Mt 26:28](/codex/matthew-26-28/); [Mk 14:24](/codex/mark-14-24/); [Lk 22:20](/codex/luke-22-20/); [1 Cor 11:25](/codex/1-corinthians-11-25/)), directly invoke and consummate the [Ex 24](/codex/exodus-24/) covenant-blood pattern. **The bloodguilt / damim tradition.** Unjust shedding of *dam* incurs *damim*, bloodguilt that *demands* response. Cain's brother's blood "cries out from the ground" ([Gen 4:10](/codex/genesis-4-10/)). The cities of refuge ([Num 35](/codex/numbers-35/)) govern the *go'el ha-dam* (avenger of blood). The *damim* tradition undergirds the moral-judicial weight of murder, the prohibition on consumption of blood ([Gen 9:4](/codex/genesis-9-4/); [Lev 17:10-14](/codex/leviticus-17-10-14/); [Deut 12:16](/codex/deuteronomy-12-16/), [23-25](/codex/deuteronomy-12-23-25/)), and the broader sanctity-of-life ethic. ## Notable verses ### The foundational text - **[Leviticus 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/)**, "the life of the flesh is in the blood; I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement" - **[Leviticus 17:14](/codex/leviticus-17-14/)**, "for as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life" - **[Genesis 9:4-6](/codex/genesis-9-4-6/)**, "you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood... whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed" - **[Deuteronomy 12:23](/codex/deuteronomy-12-23/)**, "be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life" ### Sacrificial / atonement - **[Leviticus 1:5](/codex/leviticus-1-5/); 3:2; 4:5-7, 16-18**, the manipulation of sacrificial blood in the burnt / peace / sin offerings - **[Leviticus 4:25](/codex/leviticus-4-25/); 16:14-19**, the Day of Atonement; blood on the mercy seat - **[Exodus 12:7](/codex/exodus-12-7/), [13](/codex/exodus-12-13/), [22-23](/codex/exodus-12-22-23/)**, Passover blood on the doorposts ### Covenant - **[Exodus 24:6-8](/codex/exodus-24-6-8/)**, Sinai covenant ratified by blood; "behold the blood of the covenant" - **[Zechariah 9:11](/codex/zechariah-9-11/)**, "as for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free" ### Prophetic, bloodguilt and innocent-blood - **[Genesis 4:10](/codex/genesis-4-10/)**, Abel's blood "cries out from the ground" - **[Numbers 35:33](/codex/numbers-35-33/)**, "blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it" - **[Isaiah 1:15](/codex/isaiah-1-15/)**, "your hands are full of blood" - **[Ezekiel 16:38](/codex/ezekiel-16-38/); 18:13; 22:1-13; 33:25**, bloodguilt indictments ### Servant Songs - **[Isaiah 53:7-9](/codex/isaiah-53-7-9/)**, the Servant slaughtered like a lamb (the blood-implied) ### NT activation - **[Matthew 26:28](/codex/matthew-26-28/)**, "this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins" - **[Mark 14:24](/codex/mark-14-24/); [Luke 22:20](/codex/luke-22-20/); [1 Corinthians 11:25](/codex/1-corinthians-11-25/)**, parallel covenant-blood texts - **[Romans 3:25](/codex/romans-3-25/)**, "whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood" - **[Romans 5:9](/codex/romans-5-9/)**, "having now been justified by His blood" - **[Ephesians 1:7](/codex/ephesians-1-7/)**, "in Him we have redemption through His blood" - **[Ephesians 2:13](/codex/ephesians-2-13/)**, "you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ" - **[Colossians 1:20](/codex/colossians-1-20/)**, "having made peace through the blood of His cross" - **[Hebrews 9:12](/codex/hebrews-9-12/)**, "He entered the holy place once for all by His own blood" - **[Hebrews 9.14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/)**, "how much more will the blood of Christ... cleanse your conscience" - **[Hebrews 9:22](/codex/hebrews-9-22/)**, "without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" - **[1 Peter 1:18-19](/codex/1-peter-1-18-19/)**, "you were not redeemed with perishable things... but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" - **[1 John 1.7](/codex/1-john-1-7/)**, "the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" - **[Revelation 1.5](/codex/revelation-1-5/); [Revelation 5:9](/codex/revelation-5-9/); [Revelation 7:14](/codex/revelation-7-14/); [Revelation 12:11](/codex/revelation-12-11/)**, Apocalyptic blood-of-the-Lamb tradition ## Patristic / scholarly note The [Lev 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/) → [Heb 9:22](/codex/hebrews-9-22/) line is the canonical hinge of biblical atonement theology. **[Justin Martyr](/codex/justin-martyr/)** (*Dialogue with Trypho* 13, 40-41) reads the OT sacrificial blood-laws as types of Christ's blood. **[Cyril of Alexandria](/codex/cyril-of-alexandria/)** (*On the Worship and Service in Spirit and Truth*) develops the sacrifice-typology extensively. **Athanasius** (*De Incarnatione* 9, 20-21), Christ's blood as the consummating atonement. In modern scholarship, **Leon Morris** (*The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross*, 1955; *The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance*, 1983) is the standard treatment of NT *haima* / OT *dam* atonement-vocabulary. **Joel B. Green & Mark Baker** (*Recovering the Scandal of the Cross*, 2000), engagement with the modern critiques of blood-atonement theology while preserving its biblical core. **Hans Boersma** (*Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross*, 2004), engages René Girard's anthropological critique of sacrificial blood while defending the Christian theological use. The progressive Christian critique of blood-atonement language ("cosmic child abuse") runs aground precisely on the Hebrew *dam-nephesh* identification. Without [Lev 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/)'s life-is-in-the-blood premise, the cross's "blood" language is gratuitous violence. With [Lev 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/), the blood is the *life given for life*, the substitutionary-life logic that the Trinitarian self-substitution of God consummates. Cf. [Jesus is Not a Human Sacrifice (Defeater)](/codex/jesus-is-not-a-human-sacrifice-defeater/) for the structural defeat of the pagan-comparison charge. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Central anchors: [Leviticus 17.11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/) (the foundational text), [Hebrews 9:22](/codex/hebrews-9-22/) (the NT consummation), [Genesis 9:4-6](/codex/genesis-9-4-6/) (the Noahic blood-prohibition), [Exodus 24.6-8](/codex/exodus-24-6-8/) (Sinai covenant), [Matthew 26:28](/codex/matthew-26-28/) (the [New Covenant](/codex/jeremiah-31-33/) institution), [1 Peter 1:18-19](/codex/1-peter-1-18-19/) (precious blood), [Revelation 5:9](/codex/revelation-5-9/) (eschatological blood-of-the-Lamb). ## See also - [H5315 - nephesh](/codex/h5315-nephesh/), *nephesh* (soul / life), the lexical companion in the [Lev 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/) identification - [H3722 - kaphar](/codex/h3722-kaphar/), *kaphar* (to atone / cover), what blood accomplishes - [H1285 - berith](/codex/h1285-berith/), *berith* (covenant), what blood ratifies - G0129 - haima, *haima* (blood), Greek correspondent - [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/), the doctrinal framework grounded in the blood-life-substitution logic - [Jesus is Not a Human Sacrifice (Defeater)](/codex/jesus-is-not-a-human-sacrifice-defeater/), defeats the pagan-comparison charge regarding blood - Passages: [Leviticus 17.11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/), [Hebrews 9:22](/codex/hebrews-9-22/), [Matthew 26:28](/codex/matthew-26-28/), [1 Peter 1:18-19](/codex/1-peter-1-18-19/), [Revelation 5:9](/codex/revelation-5-9/)