Aphorisms and Idioms: Blood is Thicker Than Water

Y
our mom might have used this saying to explain why you have to take your little brother when you go to the movies with your buddies. Well, you can tell your mom that this 3,000 year-old adage doesn’t mean that at all. On second thought, it might be a good idea to keep that information to yourself, at least until you’re grown. But, Mom aside, what does it really mean?

These days we tend to interpret “blood” to mean bloodline, but that hasn’t always been the case. The full version of this wisdom is “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”[1] This understanding is frequently applied to the bond formed by soldiers who have fought on the battlefield together being stronger than a relationship you may have with someone simply because you’re siblings.[2]

But it also has to do with ancient blood rites found in every quarter of the globe. Some of these rituals, such as circumcision in the Abrahamic tradition, form a covenant with God. Others, like the clasping of lacerated hands as seen in Norseland sagas, form a “covenant of blood-friendship,” a relationship considered to be the most enduring and sacred of compacts.[3] The Araucanian people of South America are among a number of cultures that used animal sacrifice to enter into “blood-friendship.”[4]

Whatever part of the world we’re talking about, those in a covenant of blood-friendship were expected to not only give up their own lives for each other, they were also supposed to relinquish any other life they hold dear.  So yeah, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, in a serious sort of way. And there’s a whole lot more at stake than just having to take your little brother to the movies.

#Aphorisms unplugged

Endnotes:

[1] Halliwell, Nikki. Etymology Series: Part One-History of Proverbs.
[2] Jack, Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep. (New York: Penguin, 2005), 95.
[3] Trumbull, H. C. The Blood Covenant. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1885), 5, 42.
[4] Trumbull The Blood Covenant, 334; Smith, Edmond Reul. The Araucanians or notes of a tour among the Indian tribes of Southern Chili. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1855), 261-2.

Image:

Museo nazionale romano di palazzo Altemps.
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grande_Ludovisi_Altemps_Inv8574.jpg