Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 9:4

"But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." — Genesis 9:4 (ASV)

But flesh... — The words are remarkable. Only flesh in its soul, its blood, you shall not eat. The Authorised Version is probably right in taking blood as in apposition to soul, which word means here the principle of animation, or that which causes an animal to live.

This is God’s special gift, for He alone can bestow upon that aggregation of solids and fluids which we call a body the secret principle of life. Of this hidden life the blood is the representative. And while humans are permitted to have the body for food, it being the mere vessel that contains this life, the gift itself must go back to God, and the blood as its symbol must be treated with reverence.