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Are There Vampires In The Bible? The Official Take From Christianity

You will find that Christianity has great respect for blood and honors it within the pages of the Holy Bible. When trying to determine whether there are mentions of vampires in the bible, it depends on how literal you want to take the text.

vampires in the bible

Are there vampires in the bible? There are no direct references to the vampires in the Christian Holy Bible. However, there are countless quotes referencing honoring blood and limiting consumption of blood as a follower of Christ.

These references of drinking the blood of man, fangs, and other dark art practices could very well transfer to what we know today as the common vampire lore. Let’s dive deeper into some findings and discuss in detail our thoughts.

Denouncing Blood-Drinking, Fortune Telling, Sorcery, And Black Magic

are there vampires in the holy bible

It was believed in ancient times that when someone drank the blood of their victim, they would gain all the powers harnessed within. This is why God told his people to avoid these acts as well as any dark magic – such as necromancy, spirit communication, sorcery, and symbol interpretations.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14  

“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.

vampires and christianity

A charmer, symbol interpreter, or even someone who claims to speak to the dead are people who technically go against the teachings of the Lord.

Leviticus 17:10-14 

“If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.”

It is clear that during the time that the Bible was written, it wasn’t unusual for someone to drink the blood of their victim. The fact that I was able to pull so many quotes referencing blood drinking in the Christian bible is enough to prove this.

However, could it be that during this particular time, people were just accustomed to a ritual of trying to gain strength through blood drinking? Not because they were vampires, but because they didn’t know better and science hadn’t taught them otherwise?

While it seems that this is a reference to vampires in the bible, you could also analyze the Christian text to understand that battle was fought a lot harder hundreds of years ago. More barbaric.

Related: Can Vampires Have Babies? Can A Vampire Be Made Instead of Turned?

The Bible Teaches Us To Only Drink The Blood Of Jesus

One thing is obvious within the Christian bible; blood represents life. In the Christian church, you hear, “the body and blood of Christ” as you receive the sacrament on Sunday. Jesus’ blood is given to His followers through the representation of wine. His life is passed down to us all to drink through the cup presented.

So, it is ok to drink the blood of one being – Jesus – because Jesus is the giver of life. Jesus is life. According to John 6:53-58:

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

“For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

However, when you drink the blood of man, you are taking away life and we do not have the right to do this as people. We would be breaking a commandment – one of the greatest ones.

It almost feels like vampires are derived from the opposite of good based on all that the Christian bible held to be holy and true. They drink blood because they take life. They also live off the blood which represents life. Something no normal human can or should ever do. They are also usually depicted as immoral and highly sexual.

Acts 15:29 

That you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

Deuteronomy 12:23 

Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.

1 Chronicles 11:19 

And said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

Related: What Color Eyes Do Vampires Have? A Comprehensive List

What Does The Bible Say About Vampires?

blood drinking

In the end, while there is no direct passage that references a vampire, you can clearly see that their practices are considered highly immoral. If a vampire needs to drink blood to survive and the Holy Bible is adamantly against this practice, you can summarize that the Holy Bible is against vampires.

Deuteronomy 32:17 

They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new [gods that] came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

Proverbs 30:11-18 

There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth. There are those—how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift! There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind. The leech has two daughters: Give and Give.

Leviticus 7:26-27 

Moreover, you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwelling places. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.”

Proverbs 1:11-12

Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause; Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit.

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A Closer Look At Proverbs 30:14

references to vampires

There is actually one bible proverb that – when read – feels in line with vampirism. Take a look at Proverbs 30:14:

“There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind.”

Reading this at face value, you could absolutely interpret the text to be about vampires. However, it is more about the rich mishandling the poor. Just colorful words to describe a situation that the world is still facing today.

Vampires And The Holy Bible

After researching whether or not there were direct references of vampires in the Christian Bible, it is clear that the daily practices are clearly outlined as forbidden. Over all, occult practices were heavily outlawed and blood drinking was something that was in line with death and murder. Christians were swayed against it.