Matthew Poole and continuators on Genesis 9:6

6. Whoso sheddeth mans blood , by man ▪ shall his blood be shed : For in the image of God made he man .

Willfully and unwarrantably. For there is a double exception to this Law, 1. Of casual Murder, expressed Numb. 35▪ 31. Deut. 19. 4. 2. Of death inflicted by the hand of the Magistrate for crimes deserving it, mentioned in the following words, and elsewhere.

(i. e.)▪ By the hand of man, namely the Magistrate, Rom. 13. 4. Who is hereby impowered and required upon pain of my highest displeasure to inflict this punishment. See Exod. 21. 12. Levit. 24. 17. Matth. 26. 57. [illegible: 1 word], For that Man, i. e. For that mans▪ sake, whose blood he hath shed, which cries for vengeance.

So that Murder is not only an offence against man, but also an injury to God, and a contempt of that image of God which all men are obliged to reverence and maintain, and especially Magistrates, who being my Vice-gerents and Servants, are therefore under a particular obligation to punish those who d[illegible: 1+ letters]face and destroy it.

Marginal references: Matth. 26. 52. Revel. 13. 10.; Or, the blood of man in man.; Chap. 1. 2[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪