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.
You'd think YHWH would be able to speak in a coherent manner, i.e. using words that didn't require parsing to comprehend.... Verse 4 is straight-ahead, but things get confusing in verse 5:
And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.
This seems to imply that Noah's (man's) blood, if spilled, will require some ACCOUNTING, i.e. a justification or explanation as to WHY it was spilled. Does 'for your lifeblood' refer to an act leading to death, or is it simply referring to loss of blood?
If not leading to death, surely such demanded justification would include donating blood to save another life (as Jews interpret the scripture)?
I will demand an accounting from every animal.
"From" or "For"?
If "from", then is God saying that an animal that kills another animal must have a justifiable reason? Or an animal that kills a human must have a good reason? Certainly that seems outrageous (unless survival is an acceptable reason). The latter is supported by Levitical laws (the bull that kills a human is to be put to death, and possibly even the owner, under certain circumstances).
And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
Again, this is slightly different, in that it specifies a loss of life, not just bloodshed (which includes injury, as well as death).
This is where researching the original Hebrew words used is critical....
BTW, the next verse (Gen 9:6) is significant, as it's the one where God grants man His Divine Authority to implement a judicial system, for the first time in the Bible.