As the Oxford Companion to the Bible states : `` Since life was viewed as sacred ( Gen. 9.6 ) , no amount of blood money could be given as recompense for the loss of the life of an innocent person ; it had to be ` life for life ' '' ( Exod . As the Oxford Companion to the Bible states : `` Since life was viewed as sacred ( Genesis 9.6 ) , no amount of blood money could be given as recompense for the loss of the life of an innocent person ; it had to be ` life for life ' '' ( Exodus 21.23 ; Deuteronomy 19.21 ) '' .