The phrase dām nāqî, “innocent blood,” refers to the blood of someone
wrongfully killed; shedding such blood incurs bloodguilt (Dt. 19:10) and must
be expiated. This does not include killing in battle, a just death sentence,
blood vengeance, the blood of an intruder, or the like. Bloody deeds were
categorized variously, and distinctions were made as to the guilt incurred (Dt.
19:1–13; Josh. 20:1ff.). When innocent blood is shed, bloodguilt (dāmîm) rests on the culprit (Dt. 19:10)
or the culprit’s entire family (2 S. 14:9), or even the whole land (Ps. 106:38)
and nation (cf. Josh. 2:19). The nation and the land are particularly affected
when an unknown culprit (Dt. 21:8) or the king (2 K. 24:3f.) has shed innocent
blood. When blood vengeance (or some other form of the death penalty) was
exacted, the blood of the culprit “purged” from Israel the blood of the
innocent victim with its fateful power (Dt. 19:13). If the culprit remained
unknown, an expiatory rite had to be performed (Dt. 21:8f.).
In the legal texts Dt. 19:10, 13;
21:8f.; 27:25, nāqî means “innocent”;
it can be used of any person, and its specific force is determined by the case
at hand. In Dt. 19:10 someone who has inadvertently killed a person is not
subject to blood vengeance: that would be shedding innocent blood; 27:25, where
bribery precipitates the shedding of innocent blood, condemns primarily
clandestine acts rather than those that are a matter of record. The word is
also used in this sense in Jer. 7:6; Isa. 59:7 (probably referring to the
helpless).
Certain classes of persons are
described as innocent:
1. Those unjustly condemned to
death, an act that is often a royal transgression: Ps. 94:21; 106:38 (emended:
“Reference is made to the bloody verdicts and judicial murders which an unjust
judicial system conjured up.… Because of the later gloss … v. 38 was
interpreted incorrectly together with v. 37”); 2 K. 21:16; 24:4 (charged to
Manasseh); Jer. 22:3 (Deuteronomistic), 17 (possibly Deuteronomistic). Since
the king is addressed in the Jeremiah texts, both the context and the reference
to 2 K. 21:16 suggest judicial murders or murders left unpunished.
2. Sacrificed children (Ps.
106:38 MT). This is probably a secondary interpretation: “A gloss to דם נקי has been interpolated here. It clearly breaks up the meter and
interprets דם נקי incorrectly.” Without the gloss, the text
refers to bloody verdicts. In Jer. 19:4 the interpretation of neqîyîm as children remains
uncertain; it depends on the meaning of hammāqôm
hazzeh. If the latter phrase refers to Tophet, “the reference is not to 2
K. 21:16 but to child sacrifices, for which the kings led the way by setting
bad examples (2 K. 16:3; 21:6).” If hammāqôm
means Jerusalem, as it does elsewhere, the “blood of innocent victims” probably
refers again to evils in the administration of justice, for which a king would
once more be responsible. Possibly Jer. 19:4 comprehends both cases.
. . .
Private individuals like David,
persecuted by Saul (1 S. 19:5); Jeremiah, threatened by the authorities (Jer.
26:15); and Jonah, thrown overboard (Jon. 1:14). On the interpretation of dām nāqî in Jon. 1:14, see Hans Walter
Wolff:
Here formal Israelite legal
terminology has been taken over; cf. the wording of Deut. 21:8; Jer. 26:15.…
“Innocent blood” always refers to the (shedding of the) blood of a slain person
or of someone who is about to be slain (cf. Deut. 21:8)—in this case, that is
to say, Jonah’s blood, not the blood of the sailors.… Uncertainty can only
arise because it is called “innocent.” For Jonah has finally, in v. 12, himself
admitted his guilt, which has been known to the sailors ever since the lots
were cast (v. 7).… This being so, נקיא can only refer to the behavior of the men
with regard to (the shedding of) Jonah’s blood. What worries them is that the
nature of the slaying which Jonah expects, according to v. 12, is not a
punishment that accords with his guilt—that is to say, they are afraid that
Yahweh might expect a different kind of expiation, rather than that they should
throw Jonah into the sea. In this case Yahweh would lay an irresponsible
shedding of blood to their charge, as guilt (irresponsible because not really
appropriate to Jonah’s guilt). דם נקיא therefore means
“unjustly shed blood.”
Innocent blood is mentioned in a
variety of contexts: legal regulations (Dt. 19:10, 13; 21:8f.; 27:25),
narrative texts (1 S. 19:5: Saul seeks to kill David; 2 K. 21:16; 24:4: royal
annals; Jon. 1:14), prophetic indictments (against the people: Jer. 2:34; 19:4
[Deuteronomistic]; cf. Isa. 59:7; against Jehoiakim: 22:17 [Deuteronomistic];
against foreign nations: Joel 4:19[3:19]), laments and poetic reviews of
history (Ps. 94:21; 106:38), admonitions (Jer. 22:3 [Deuteronomistic]; cf. 7:6
[Deuteronomistic]), and threats (Jer. 26:15).
The phrase “innocent blood”
appears in two basic forms: dam (han)nāqî,
“(the) blood of the/an innocent person,” and dām nāqî, “innocent blood.” The concept may have belonged to the
language from early on (Dt. 19:10), but it did not become frequent until the
period of Deuteronomy and Jeremiah. It becomes a stereotyped term in the legal
traditions of Deuteronomy and appears at the same time (more fluidly) in
Jeremiah (2:34; 26:15). It then becomes a commonplace as a Deuteronomic and
Deuteronomistic concept. Both 2 K. 24:4 and 21:16 are Deuteronomistic; except
for 2:34; 27:25, so are the texts in Jeremiah: 7:6; 19:4; 22:3; 22:17. Ps.
94:21; 106:38 are postexilic (cf. the Deuteronomistic structure of Ps. 106).
The usage was borrowed in the late texts Isa. 59:7; Joel 4:19(18); Jon. 1:14;
Prov. 6:17. Still problematic is 1 S. 19:5. The other occurrences in
Deuteronomy (19:10, 13; 27:25; 21:8f.) are in the context of the ritual for
expiating a murder at the hands of an unknown assailant; here dām nāqî is a legal term that has
nothing to do with the Levitical cult (the phrase does not occur in Leviticus).
The blood of the innocent is
protected by Yahweh’s commandment (Dt. 19:1–3; cf. Jer. 22:3). To shed such
blood is therefore a heinous offense (Isa. 59:7; Ps. 94:21; 106:38; Prov. 6:17;
etc.), which Yahweh will not pardon (2 K. 24:4). He declares his judgment
against such transgressions (Jer. 19:4 against Israel [cf. Ps. 106:38]; Joel
4:19[3:19] against Egypt and Edom; Jer. 22:17f. and 2 K. 24:3f. against the
king). He hates “hands that shed innocent blood” (Prov. 6:17); he repays them
for their iniquity and wipes them out (Ps. 94:21ff.). Therefore people beseech
him not to take account of innocent blood (Jon. 1:14; Dt. 21:8f.).
Parallel to nāqî we find ṣaddîq,
“righteous” (Ex. 23:7; Ps. 94:21; Job 22:19; 27:17); yāšār, “upright” (Job 4:7; 17:8); ʿānî, “poor” (Ps. 10:8f.); and tām,
“blameless.” Antonyms are: rāšāʿ,
“wicked” (Ex. 23:7; Job 9:22f.; 22:18f.); ḥānēp,
“godless” (Job 17:8); and ʿeḇeḏ,
“servant” (Gen. 44:10). In 2 S. 14:9 we find the expression ʿālay heʿāwōn weʿal-bêṯ ʾāḇî.
(G. Warmuth, “נָקָה,” in TDOT 9:558-59, 560-61)
