"Thou shalt not kill" vs "You shall not murder...

One of the most-misused verses in the King james bible is that little four-word verse Exodus 20:13, "Thou shalt not KILL."(Also at Deut.5:17.) The Hebrew word rendered 'kill' is 'ratsach', which can mean murder or kill for other reasons. However, most of the time this word appears in the Hebrew, it's in relation to murder. Every time the word 'kill' appears in the KJV before Ex.20:13, it's translated from other Hebrew words.

What's ironic about the 'kill' rendering is that in the very next chapter, God decrees the death penalty for a variety of offenses.

This verse has been misused for decades by opponents of capital punishment, and by many wishing to avoid military service, using religion as an excuse.(Yes, I realize many such people have genuine religious convictions, but are they CORRECT? Remember, David, the man after God's own heart, was a man of WAR.)It is used by animal-rights wackos as well.

I believe a better rendering would've been, "Thou shalt not MURDER." God Himself ordered more than one execution, such as that of Achan & his family, and that of the unnamed Israeli in the wilderness who was gathering wood on the Sabbath.

And in Matthew 19:18, the KJV renders jesus words thus: "He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,"

The Greek word here is 'phoneuo', which means,'to murder'. It is not used to denote killing for other reasons such as in battle, self-defense, accidentally, or in a sanctioned execution.

I'm not wanting to begin a capital punishment argument here; I'm just making the point of the extreme misuse of a small verse in the KJV.

 

It's hard to love someone who's shooting at your family or you. God allows you every right of defense.

 

Straightandnarrow:Where do you find support for this in the New Testament?

Dr. Bob has already answered while I was away.

Now, lemme ask...Where does Jesus tell the soldier not to serve his country by killing its enemies if necessary? His dealings with Romans were largely with soldiers during His ministry before His crucifixion.

Where does He tell the policeman not to enforce the law by killing a perp if necessary. And where does He tell us not to defend our families or innocent victims?

Did Jesus use force against people? If we could interview the merchants He physically ejected or chased outta the Temple, they'd tell you He used quite a bit of force. These merchants had no idea who He was.

Get serious. You're not gonna stand by and let a murder occur if you have the ability to stop it. That would be a sin.

While a cop, I shot a man who'd shot at me. he died about a month later because he failed to properly care for his wound.(A.45 slug in the hip) When discussing this after I was saved, one preacher said I was fully justified in shooting him, while another said it was my fault he died although HE laid around in jail making his wound bleed every day so he'd hafta go to the imfirmary, giving him the chance to look for an escape attempt.

The dude had been surprised by fellow officers while pulling a stickup. He had shot at them, completely disregarding the innocent customers and employees' safety. He ran out the back door, saw me and shot at me(I was beside a steel dumpster, which I quickly stepped behind when I saw him point his gun.) He shot at another officer who had stepped behind another dumpster. I popped around the corner & fired 3 rounds, one of which struck him in the R-hip, breaking it, knocking him down, prompting his surrender.(My other 2 shots missed.) Looking at life with no parole as a 3-time loser, he was desperate to escape.

Do I feel sorry I had to shoot him? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Would I do it over now that I'm a Christian? ABSOLUTELY YES!

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH...

The context will tell us when 'kill' means 'murder', but since both words were used in 1604, wouldn't have it been simpler for the gb & AV translators to have said "murder" where applicable? In most of the other literature I've read in the English of the 1300s-1600s, the authors generally use 'kill' for animals or the accidental death of a human, & 'slay' for killing in battle, execution, or for animals. 'Murder' is always for the unlawful killing of another person, as is 'wrongly slew' or similar.