Bible Strands
Psalms 106:38
They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the gathered worshipers while reviewing Israel’s post-Exodus history, specifically recounting their descent into Canaanite religious practices. This moment in the poem summarizes the nation’s collective apostasy during the conquest period.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּשְׁפְּכוּ (va.yishpechu) translates literally as “they shed,” paired with נָקִי (naqi), meaning “innocent,” to describe the victims. The clause concludes with זִבְּחוּ (zibchu), “they sacrificed,” identifying the ritual act performed on these children.
The thread — This pattern of land pollution through bloodshed echoes Numbers 35:33 and Deuteronomy 21:9, which warn that shedding innocent blood defiles the land. It also aligns with the historical account in 2 Kings 21:16, where Manasseh’s mass sacrifice fills Jerusalem with innocent blood.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that ritual violence against the vulnerable directly corrupts the community and its environment. It requires the reader to reject any justification for sacrificing human life in religious practice.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
Cross-references
- Numbers 35:33 Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
- Deuteronomy 21:9 So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.
- 2 Kings 21:16 Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Isaiah 26:21 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
- 2 Kings 24:4 and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.
- Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Isaiah 24:5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
- Jeremiah 2:34 Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
- Ezekiel 7:23 Forge the chain, for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence.
- Ezekiel 22:3 and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself,