Genesis 9:3-5

Genesis 9:3-5New International Version (NIV)

³ Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

⁴ “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. ⁵ And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

The context here are commands given to Noah and his covenant with Noah. Noah is told to multiply the human race on the earth, and that the animals of the earth will be subject to humanity. There is a responsibility here and authority here in this covenant.

V3- I believe that Adam & Eve were vegetarians in the Garden of Eden. There was no need to kill and eat animals. That changed when sin entered the human/divine relationship. And here with Noah God is expanding the once only vegetarian diet to be now supplemented with meat, but there are restrictions here also imposed by God:

V4- Blood was considered to be synonymous with life. When Cain killed his brother Abel God came to Cain and said “your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground”. When the “blood” was spilled it was considered taking the “life”.  Animal blood must be drained from the animal before eating it.

Many ancient civilizations had practices of drinking blood in their religious ceremonies, and in thoughts that this practice brought fertility. This is forbidden by God in the covenant that He is making with Noah. Since God is the creator of life, this life source (blood) should not be consumed by us. This would also guard against the concern for needless killing, since once an animal was killed then the blood would be drained and then the animal would be consumed/used for clothing/tools/etc.

V5- The focus shifts from killing animals to killing another human being. The “life blood” (or blood that gives life) should not be shed at all, let alone consumed. God will “demand an accounting” for killing another human, in essence that a murderer is accountable to God first and foremost, but that a penalty is required and that is the life of the one who murders (killing in cold-blood).

V6- This is due to the high demand that God places on human life as we are made in His image.