BrothersOfTheBook.com

Murder vs Killing

Numbers 34-36

I am always amazed at the widespread ignorance of the Bible.  I can’t tell you how many people who have never or at most rarely read the Bible have argued with me about what is in the Bible.  Now I am no Biblical scholar but I have read through the Bible from cover to cover a few times, I have studied the Bible, and I have taught the Bible.  Evidently, people who don’t read the Bible can know more about it than those who do.

A case in point, one day a fellow stated to me that there was never an excuse for killing.  He said this in context of condemning the death penalty.  He knew I was a Christian and I could tell he was daring me to disagree with him.  People of his world view tend to think that Christians are hypocrites for opposing abortion but defending the death penalty.  I’m pretty sure he didn’t see himself as a hypocrite for opposing the death penalty but defending abortion.

He attempted to corner me by saying that “even the Bible says ‘thou shall not kill’”.  I could not let the misstatement on the Word of God go unchallenged so I calmly replied that the Bible doesn’t actually say “thou shall not kill” though some translations have rendered the Hebrew word that way.  The Hebrew word used in this case actually is better translated “thou shall not murder” which clearly makes a distinction between the death of the guilty and the death of the innocent.

This fellow and another of his acquaintance were up in arms.  His acquaintance had actually had some seminary training and challenged me on this.  He said “Now wait a minute, you have access to the original Hebrew and can definitively say what the original word meant?”  He meant this as a way to shoot down what he viewed as arrogance on my part.  I’m afraid I have been accused of arrogance in my life.  I have no doubt that I can indeed be arrogant from time to time.  When I know something to be true the tone in which I respond to those who argue with me with out the facts can in fact be arrogant.  This is one of my many faults.  Of course, my debating partners seemed a bit arrogant to me as well.

The individual who was challenging me was pretty sure he had cornered me so it was almost comical to see his face when I responded “yes”.  The conversation quickly changed to the charge of hypocrisy for supporting the death penalty and apposing abortion; you see, I had facts and knowledge on my side and that can be very inconvenient for those who have chosen a position based simply on ideology and emotion.

From that point on I attempted to keep my responses limited and to guide the conversation in another direction.  It was clear that open minds were not present and there was nothing to be gained in a shouting match.  The Bible says something about not casting pearls before swine; though I can hardly consider my words to be pearls.  I later sent these two gentlemen an e-mail with an explanation of the murder vs kill position with the appropriate Hebrew words so they could see for themselves.  I never got a response to these e-mails.

In today’s reading we see that God is making a distinction between the intentional death of an innocent person and the accidental death of an innocent person.  He orders that there will be “sanctuary cities” to which a person who accidentally kills someone can run to avoid vengeance by the dead persons loved-ones.  They will still be judged by the congregation but they are free from immediate vengeance.  God has a perfect sense of justice.  Right is right and wrong is wrong.  Modern notions of compassion are rarely just or compassionate.  They usually lead to more injustice, pain, and suffering.

God is love.  Love is not found in the perversion of justice.  Choices, actions have consequences.  Forgiveness does not eliminate consequences.  I’m reminded of the story of the fellow who jumped off the roof of a skyscraper intent on ending his life.  As he is falling he realizes he’s made a mistake and he prays to God to forgive him and to save him.  SPLAT!  Upon reaching Heaven the guy meets God and he says “God, I prayed for forgiveness and that you would save me but I still died!”  To which God responded “I heard you my child and I forgave you and saved you, but you did jumped off a building.”

I’ll leave it at that today.  If you are interested in reading my treatise on murder vs kill I’ve pasted it below.  As far as being Godly men, I would like to suggest that we must guard against confusing compassion and justice.  Our families need us to be compassionate and fair but compassion does not mean there are not consequences.  If we allow our children to avoid responsibility for their actions there will be greater trouble in their lives as adults.  You may be showing a false compassion now but condemning them to a miserable life later.  Don’t let a perverse world define compassion for you.  God is our example.

Have a blessed day guys!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS AND KILL VS MURDER

The 10 Commandments – “Thou shall not kill” – Does this mean you should kill nothing (no exceptions) or does it mean one shall not commit murder?

Murder is understood to mean the killing of an innocent individual.  For example, if someone attacks me with deadly force and in the process of defending myself I kill that individual I will not be found guilty of murder in our justice system.  If, however, that individual had not attacked me but I had killed them I would be guilty of murder.  In the first example the person killed is not innocent for he attacked me, in the second he is innocent as I had no justifiable cause to kill him.  Thus, our legal system differentiates between murder and killing.  The Bible does this as well.

Today in our society we sometimes use the English word kill where the word murder would be more appropriate.  For example many feel that O. J. Simpson killed his ex-wife.  If in fact he had, he would actually be guilty of murder, not simply killing.  A soldier, on the other hand, may kill an enemy combatant and yet he is not guilty of murder.  While we seem to use the word kill where murder would be more appropriate we all seem to understand the distinction.  This is true in the Bible as well.

The 10 Commandments actually appear in the Bible in a couple of places; Numbers and Deuteronomy.  Below I have shown the use of the word “KILL” in two different contexts.  The first is in the commandment in question; Deuteronomy 5:17 “Thou shalt not kill” and the second in Deuteronomy 13:9 “But thou shalt surely kill him;” where God is commanding the killing of anyone who violates the first commandment by enticing others to worship other gods.

These verses are taken from the King James Version of 1611.  Please feel free to grab your own translation and read these verses and those proceeding and following so as to have the context of each word and verse in mind as you consider the distinction.

It is important to know that other Bible translations like the New King James Version actually use the word murder in Deuteronomy 5:17.  These translations do not take the King James Version and change words arbitrarily to reflect a political outlook but go back to the original Hebrew and translate with more modern English usage for the sake of readability for a modern readership.  Thus words like “thou” and “shalt” in the King James are rendered “you” and “shall” in the New King James.

Below I show the two different verses along with the notation of its location in the “Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon” followed by the entry in the Lexicon (i.e. H7523).  The lexicon shows the original Hebrew word in Hebrew and then in the English rendering of that word.  It then goes on to show how many times the Hebrew word is used in different contexts within the Bible.

Below both examples is a list of more concise definitions of different words used in the Bible related to the word kill.  This list is taken from the “New Strong’s Guide to Bible Words”.  I have highlighted the words in question in yellow.

What you will see is the Hebrew word translated as kill in the King James Version of “Thou shalt not kill” is “ratsach” which is typically translated as “murder” where as the word “harag” which is used where God commands an individual to be put to death is typically translated “kill” or “slaughter”.

Deut 5:17

“Thou shalt not kill.” KJV

H7523

(From 10 Commandments)

7523 ????? [ratsach /raw·tsakh/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 2208; GK 8357; 47 occurrences; AV translates as “slayer” 16 times, “murderer” 14 times, “kill” five times, “murder” three times, “slain” three times, “manslayer” twice, “killing” once, “slayer + 310” once, “slayeth” once, and “death” once. 1 to murder, slay, kill. 1a (Qal) to murder, slay. 1a1 premeditated. 1a2 accidental. 1a3 as avenger. 1a4 slayer (intentional) (participle). 1b (Niphal) to be slain. 1c (Piel). 1c1 to murder, assassinate. 1c2 murderer, assassin (participle)(subst). 1d (Pual) to be killed.

Deut 13:9

“But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.” KJV

H2026

2026 ????? [harag /haw·rag/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 514; GK 2222; 167 occurrences; AB translates as “slay” 100 times, “kill” 24 times, “kill …” three times, “murderer” twice, “destroyed” once, “murder” once, “out of hand” once, “made” once, “put” once, “slain” 31 times, “slayer” once, and “surely” once. 1 to kill, slay, murder, destroy, murderer, slayer, out of hand. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to kill, slay. 1a2 to destroy, ruin. 1b (Niphal) to be killed. 1c (Pual) to be killed, be slain.

KILL (From: “New Strong’s Guide to Bible Words”)

2026 haÆra (17), to kill, slaughter

2076 zaÆbac (3), to (sacrificially) slaughter

2491 chaÆlaÆ (2), pierced to death, one slain

2873 t\aÆba (1), to kill, butcher

4191 muÆwt (24), to die; to kill

5221 naÆkaÆ (4), to strike, kill

5362 naÆqap (1), to strike; to surround

7523 raÆtsac (4), to murder

7819 shaÆcha (22), to slaughter; butcher

337 anaireá (6), to abolish, murder

615 apoákteái (28), to kill outright; to destroy

1315 diacheáirizoám (1), to lay hands upon

2380 thuoµ (3), to kill; to butcher; to sacrifice

4969 sphazoµ (1), to slaughter or to maim

5407 phoáneá (8), to commit murder