In biblical usage, blood is essentially synonymous with life, as God establishes in Genesis 9:3-4, where He declares that every moving thing that lives shall be food, but flesh with its life, that is its blood, shall not be eaten. This principle, reiterated after Noah emerged from the ark, underscores that blood symbolizes life. In Leviticus 17:11, God states that the life of the flesh is in the blood, and in Leviticus 17:14, He affirms that blood is the life of all flesh, sustaining its existence. Even after biological death, as seen in Deuteronomy 12:23, God instructs not to eat the blood, for it remains the life of the animal, serving as a record of the life that is no more. God commands respect for the blood of animals because He values life, revealing that blood holds significance even after death, as it speaks to Him and can pollute the land through violence, requiring justice for atonement.