A Jewish or Muslim person would find the JW blood position counterintuitive as both religions have held for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, that blood and eating laws were to be exempted in order to save a life. Judaism has long understood Leviticus 18:5 to mean that those who keep God’s decrees and laws will live by them [not die by them].[Footnote 1] The Jewish faith strictly exempts people on “the [health] danger list” from compliance with God’s laws necessary to preserve their life or health.[FN 2] This principle can be seen throughout the Jewish religion in: 1) the Talmud’s (oral tradition and judicial decisions, first written down in about 200 AD) allowing sick or pregnant people to violate the dietary laws if necessary to preserve their health or life;[FN 3] 2) exempting the sick from Yom Kippur’s fasting requirements;[FN 4] 3) the Jewish saying “pikkiah nefesh doheh Shabbot – [rescuing a] life in danger takes precedence over the Sabbath”;[FN 5] and 4) the Talmud’s account that King David was permitted to violate the Sabbath’s laws in order to help his ill child.[FN 6]
Islamic interpretation of the Biblical passages against eating blood is similar to Judaism. Many scholars theorize that the Muslim people started in the 22nd century BC when Isaac and Ishmael, Abraham’s sons, parted.[FN 7] In fact, Jehovah’s Witnesses also recognize the common history between Judaism and Islam. Interestingly, the Islamic religion also forbids eating blood[FN 9] but recognizes exceptions to food laws for those unable to comply.[FN 10]
Like the Jewish Talmud, the Islamic Sunnah in Chapter 5, verse 4 says that the prohibited food may be eaten in cases of extreme hunger, but if any is forced by hunger with no inclination to transgression, God is indeed oft-forgiving and most merciful. Thus, both Judaism and Islam permit the breaking of God’s dietary laws to save a life. Is it a coincidence that these two distinct religions, originated by the same ancestor millennia before Christ, would share similar beliefs? In answering the 1 Samuel argument, a Jew or Muslim might state that these soldiers were hungry, not ill or starving-to-death, when they broke the commandment. In either event, Jehovah God was, as Islam says (supra), “most merciful and kind” as none were sanctioned. Since both of these ancient religions contain an “in order to save a life” exception, this is not an argument that originated solely in modern times, as the Society’s may lead its reader to believe.<
Footnote [1] Leviticus 18:5 (NIV)(“Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them”); see also Tractate Yoma, Chapter VIII Mishna (pregnant women allowed to smell non-kosher meats and even eat unclean meats if not satisfied), and Daniel Eisenburg, M.D., Mandate to Heal: What is the Role of the Physician in Jewish Law?, (stating the Mitzvot principle of living, not dying by Kosher Laws). available at http://www.aish.com/societyWork/work/The_Mandate_to_Heal.asp.
[2] Rabbi Dr. Immanuel Jakobovits, JEWISH MEDICAL ETHICS – A COMPARATIVE AND HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE TO MEDICINE AND ITS PRACTICE 45 (Block Publishing Company 1959) (Preservation of human life takes precedence over God’s laws with the exception of idolatry, murder, and incest).
[3] Id. at 88-89. see also Tractate Yoma, Chapter VIII Mishna (pregnant women allowed to smell non-kosher meats and even eat unclean meats if not satisfied).
[4] Daniel Eisenburg, M.D., Mandate to Heal: What is the Role of the Physician in Jewish Law?, available at http://www.aish.com/societyWork/work/The_Mandate_to_Heal.asp.
[5] Daniel Eisenburg, M.D., Mandate to Heal: What is the Role of the Physician in Jewish Law?, available at http://www.aish.com/societyWork/work/The_Mandate_to_Heal.asp.
[6] Rabbi Dr. Immanuel Jakobovits, JEWISH MEDICAL ETHICS – A COMPARATIVE AND HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE TO MEDICINE AND ITS PRACTICE 45 (Block Publishing Company 1959) (Preservation of human life takes precedence over God’s laws with the exception of idolatry, murder, and incest).
[7] Genesis 21:13 (NIV) (“I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring”) and Genesis 19:18 (NIV) (“Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”).
[9] The Holy Quron, S.5 A.3, 278-279, (Printing rights reserved for King Fahd Holy Qur-an Printing Complex) ( “Forbidden to you (for food) Are: dead meat, blood, The flesh of swine, and that On which has been invoked The name of other than Allah, That which hath been Killed by stangling, Or a violent blow, Or by headlong fall, Or being gored to death; That which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; Unless you were able to slaughter it (in due form) That which has been sacrificed on stone (alters); (Forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling With arrows; that is impiety.”).
[10]The Holy Quron, (Printing rights reserved for King Fahd Holy Qur-an Printing Complex) (“O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you As it was prescribed To those before you, That ye may (learn) Self-restraint. (Fasting) for a fixed Number of days; But if any of you is ill, Or on a journey, The prescribed number (Should be made up) From days later. For those who can do it.”).
