Thanks to Chad for writing about the sixth commandment for us! I always enjoy reading my siblings thoughts, views, or input on...well, most anything. ;)
At first glance, this would seem to be a really simple commandment to explain. However, there is so much more to the sixth commandment. A search on it will bring up almost 150,000 results. So many things having to do with this commandment have been debated for centuries; the main one being—should it be “Thou shalt not kill” or “Thou shalt not murder?” This is the question we are going to examine here.
The original in Hebrew is lo tirtsah, if you wanted to say “do not kill” you would use lo taharog.
Quick note here, The King James translators chose to use kill because tirtsah is occasionally used to mean kill, but far more often it is used to mean murder, which is its correct meaning according to Hebrew scholars. One of the many things I like about the King James is the fact that it isn’t a commentary but a translation, so to keep it as much a translation (not opinion) as they could, it was translated “kill” not “murder.”
When dealing with a verse that “can” be interpreted different ways, it is best to apply both interpretations to scripture and see which one fits best with the rest of scripture. If kill is applied, the Bible becomes a confusing and contradictory mess. I would also ask, why wasn’t God as clear as possible on such an important commandment and use lo taharog?
I am going to include a quote from Doctor Andrew Bolt here:
“In light of the extreme violence often advocated and sanctioned in the Old Testament, to make the claim that Exodus 20:13 forbids “killing” would require extraordinary and unbelievable hermeneutical gymnastics. Indeed, we have not even considered the many explicit references to the divinely approved executions of various sinners (e.g. witches, homosexuals, etc….see Exodus 22:18, Lev. 20:13, etc…) also found in the Old Testament.”
There are so many examples in scripture we could go to, but I would like to point out just a couple.
First of all, there are more than 100 passages where God Himself expressly commands people to kill other people. There are also men like Elijah, the man of God, who killed 450 prophets of Baal along with two captains and their fifties.
Second, In the Old Testament, under inspiration, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:3a “A time to kill, and a time to heal;” and in 3:8b “A time of war, and a time of peace.” These do not fit a God who wants all His children to be pacifists. Also, Solomon was not considered a (bloody) man by God and God had him build the temple. But Solomon did order a number of people killed.
Third, there are some who say that the wars Israel fought to possess the land were somehow different. They also say that when people are in God’s will and obeying His commands, they will never have to take another’s life --like some of the righteous kings in Judah where God fought for them and they did not have to take a life.
But I would like to point to a war of self-defense where the people are completely in God’s will and have His permission, blessing, and command to kill others -- even though He said He would fight for them.
I Chronicles 14:2 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for His people Israel's sake.
I Chronicles 14:8-17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt Thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim. And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.
And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the LORD, He said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines. And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
There are many more such examples and passages we could look at in the Bible, but I think it is safe to say, if God did not permit killing at any time, for any reason, He could, and would have made it plain.
It is true that God never intended for us to kill one another for any reason, but He did not intend on sin being in the world either. The same could be said of animals killing other animals and humans.
As with all of God’s commands, the emphasis of this one is upon motive. The only difference between a death caused by murder, from one caused by killing, is motive. Hatred and greed will produce murders; and unavoidable circumstances, killings. In fact, it is possible for a soldier to murder another even if they meet on the battlefield--each being a part of opposing armies--if the soldier’s motive for killing the other is a personal one.
Motive is everything. Paul says “if ye would judge yourselves ye should not be judged”. God will reward our acts of righteousness that are produced from a clean heart (clean motives), and He will surely judge us for acts, even those that are justifiable by battlefield necessity, that are done with impure motives.
In conclusion, I agree with the King James translators in using kill, because they did not want to risk narrowing the scope of Scripture. Not all languages translate so easily, and they wanted to give the full rang of meaning behind the Hebrew root word. Most modern translations have moved to “murder” and, while I do not disagree with them per se in meaning, I think it is best to leave it as “kill” and let Scripture be interpreted by Scripture.
