Genesis 9:5,6

GENESIS—NOTE ON Genesis 9:5 From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Any animal or person that takes a human life will be held accountable by God (see Exodus 20:13; Exodus 21:28). Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. Human life is to be valued so highly because God made man in his own image. To murder another human being is to murder what is most like God, and is thus like an attack on God himself. Many see this as permitting the death penalty for murder—with the understanding that the person’s guilt has been established beyond any reasonable doubt (thus the requirement of two or three witnesses, Deuteronomy 19:15). A further requirement is that such a death sentence must always be carried out by the established authorities (see Deuteronomy 19:15; Romans 13:1).