dam denotes bodily blood, especially as shed in killing, handled in sacrifice, or prohibited as food.

The sampled verses most often use the term for blood shed in killing and the resulting guilt or liability; they also show literal blood in wounds and death, blood handled at an altar, blood prohibited as food, and water described by comparison as red like blood.

1. Bloodshed in killing and its liability · dominant

   In 1 Kings 2:31 the construct plural form occurs in the command to remove blood that Joab shed without cause, while 2 Kings 21:16 describes innocent blood filling Jerusalem through Manasseh's shedding. In 2 Samuel 4:11 the construct form stands in the demand that a righteous man's blood be required from the killers' hand; 1 Kings 2:37 places a man's blood on his own head when he crosses the stated boundary.

   1 Kings 2:312 Kings 21:162 Samuel 4:111 Kings 2:371 Samuel 19:52 Kings 9:26
2. Visible bodily blood from injury or death · common

   In 1 Kings 18:28 the singular absolute form occurs as the self-cutting continues until blood pours upon the worshippers. In 1 Kings 22:35 the construct form is associated with blood running from the king's wound into his chariot, and 2 Kings 9:33 places her blood on the wall and horses after her fall.

   1 Kings 18:281 Kings 22:351 Kings 22:382 Kings 9:332 Samuel 20:122 Samuel 1:22
3. Blood handled in offerings at the altar · common

   In 2 Chronicles 29:22, several singular forms occur as priests take blood from slaughtered animals and sprinkle it on the altar. The construct form in 2 Chronicles 29:24 is applied to the altar in the offering described there, and Deuteronomy 12:27 distinguishes presenting the meat and blood of burnt offerings from pouring the blood of sacrifices at the altar.

   2 Chronicles 29:222 Chronicles 29:242 Chronicles 30:162 Kings 16:132 Kings 16:15Deuteronomy 12:27
4. Blood not to be eaten with meat · occasional

   The singular absolute form in 1 Samuel 14:32 occurs when people slaughter animals and eat with the blood, which the following verse calls sinning against the LORD. Deuteronomy 12:16 instructs that it be poured on the ground like water, and Deuteronomy 12:23 gives the reason in the clause that blood is the soul and must not be eaten with flesh.

   1 Samuel 14:321 Samuel 14:331 Samuel 14:34Deuteronomy 12:16Deuteronomy 12:23Deuteronomy 15:23
5. A comparison for red-looking water · rare

   In 2 Kings 3:22 the singular absolute form appears in the description of water seen as red as blood. In 2 Kings 3:23, the observers identify that appearance as blood and infer that the kings have slain one another.

   2 Kings 3:222 Kings 3:23

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses the APB commonly presents the term as “blood,” including blood that is shed, sprinkled, poured out, eaten, or seen as red in appearance. In expressions of killing and liability, wording such as “innocent blood,” “blood... on his own head,” and “blood... from your hand” reflects the clauses.