But ¹  you must not eat meat ²  with its life (that is, ³  its blood) in it. ⁴ 

biblegateway Gen 9:4

"Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it.

"But you are not to eat meat with blood in it. (Blood is life.)

biblegateway Gen 9:4

"But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.

But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

bibleoremus Gen 9:4

Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

But you must never eat flesh with its life still in it, that is the blood.

biblegateway Gen 9:4

"But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is , its blood.

But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

biblegateway Gen 9:4

But ¹  you must not eat meat ²  with its life (that is, ³  its blood) in it. ⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “only.”

² tn Or “flesh.”

³ tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.

⁴ tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ sn You must not eat meat with its life…in it. Because of the carnage produced by the flood, people might conclude that life is cheap and therefore treat it lightly. But God will not permit them to kill or even to eat anything with the lifeblood still in it, serving as a reminder of the sanctity of life.