ahima denotes blood, especially in covenant, sacrifice, cleansing, bodily life, and accounts of violent death.

The term most often occurs in clauses about covenant, sacrifice, cleansing, redemption, and access, particularly with Christ’s blood and with sacrificial blood. It also denotes blood as a bodily reality, in expressions such as “flesh and blood,” birth, drinking, and blood issuing from a wound; other passages connect it with shed life, responsibility for death, food abstention, or portentous imagery.

1. Covenant and sacrificial blood · dominant

   The singular noun occurs in covenant and sacrificial clauses: in Hebrews 9:22 the APB renders that nearly everything is cleansed “with blood” and that forgiveness is not apart from its shedding. In Hebrews 9:12 it contrasts the blood of animals with “his own blood” in entering the holy place, while 1 John 1:7 says that the blood of Jesus cleanses from sin.

   Hebrews 9:12Hebrews 9:22Hebrews 10:19Hebrews 13:121 John 1:7Ephesians 1:7
2. Bodily blood and embodied life · common

   In bodily expressions, the singular and plural forms are joined with flesh, birth, drinking, or a physical outflow. John 19:34 reports that blood and water came out after a spear pierced a side; John 1:13 uses the genitive plural in the statement that those addressed were born not “of blood”; and 1 Corinthians 15:50 places the nominative singular beside flesh in what cannot inherit God’s kingdom.

   John 19:34John 1:13John 6:53John 6:551 Corinthians 15:50Hebrews 2:14
3. Shed life and liability for death · occasional

   The noun marks blood in statements of killing, required judgment, or responsibility. In Acts 22:20 the APB renders “the blood of your witness Stephen” as being shed while people killed him; in Acts 18:6, “Your blood be on your own heads” is spoken after opposition; and Luke 11:50 speaks of the blood of prophets that may be required of a generation.

   Acts 22:20Acts 18:6Acts 5:28Acts 20:26Luke 11:50Hebrews 12:4
4. Blood in abstention and signs · rare

   In Acts 15:20 and Acts 15:29, the genitive singular stands in instructions to abstain from blood alongside other listed matters. Acts 2:19 and Acts 2:20 use the accusative singular in a sequence of signs, including the moon turned to blood.

   Acts 15:20Acts 15:29Acts 21:25Acts 2:19Acts 2:20

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB regularly presents the noun as “blood,” including expressions such as “blood of Christ,” “flesh and blood,” and “sprinkling of blood.” It also embeds it in phrases about shedding, cleansing, abstention, and signs.