“Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed”

The expression “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed” is invoked by Green in his closing argument as a biblical precedent for capital punishment. Its role in the courtroom is not merely devotional: Green makes it the final scriptural authority in an argument meant to support the maximum penalty for the defendants.

Biblical citation in the closing argument

Green cites the maxim as Genesis Nine, Verse Six, after referring to the commandment against killing and a passage in Exodus prescribing death for a person who kills. He presents the Genesis verse as a further answer to the defense’s use of the Bible against capital punishment, completing a deliberate sequence of scriptural citations.

Rhetorical role

After fumbling and appearing to lose his place in the Bible, Green recalls the verse from memory. The moment gives the citation a staged quality, but its argumentative function is direct: it lets him claim that the principle of blood for blood persists within scripture. He then says there is nothing to gain by arguing the Bible and turns to state law, making the verse a bridge from religious authority to the legal case for execution.