"Thou Shalt not kill"

[SuzanneM52]

The 6th Commandment tells us not to kill.....yet there is SO much killing in the Old Testament! One thing that God hates is the shedding of innocent blood yet you KNOW there must have been little babies and animals even. that were slaughtered simply because they got in the way.

 

[knux3k]

I think that God means murder; there are multiple translations; and it means killing/murdering humans. I say murder because you cant accidentaly murder someone; but you can kill.

 

[crossnote]

Perhaps killing is reserved for God and to those He delegates the authority to do so. In the commandment an individual is not to take it upon himself to kill/murder another.

 

[DoctorJosh]

The 6th Commandment tells us not to kill.....yet there is SO much killing in the Old Testament! One thing that God hates is the shedding of innocent blood yet you KNOW there must have been little babies and animals even. that were slaughtered simply because they got in the way.

You are right, it is sad. Today it has become to kill for your country and make war to defend your country, but there is nothing about defending God or making Peace as God says to do. Love your Neighbor, but instead people kill their neighbor. The wars in the old testament show clearly that God does not like war, those who even were thinking they were following God were punished, even sent to their own death because they lived by the sword and they died by the sword.

When Noah was attacked, God used an evil man to kill the other evil man, though the evil man who protected Noah and his sons was just better then the other, but he still died in the flood. God's vengeance perhaps. Noah and his sons survived.

There are also times when an entire Nation was so evil that God did allow the good armies to destroy them. God did say He would not destroy man after the flood anymore, so man would destroy man.
God may use such good people to defend what is right, that those who stand up for God and God's word will be victorious, even though I am sure God feels saddened by the killing and shedding of blood.

Why Governments send out troops to kill millions of others, even innocent people, use weapons of mass destruction upon entire masses of innocent people, have assassination lists for others and even for their own citizens is because that Government has no Christian values and has ignored God's Laws. It is important to vote in Christian leaders who will live by God's Laws.

God wiped out the entire earth once by a flood, just because there was so much war, evil and violence. The entire world turned against God and ignored God to live only by their own desires and they lived evil lives of war, gay sex, rape and violence.

That sodom was destroyed because it was a gay city, men were raped by other men on the streets, women were violated daily, and even when the angels went there the gays tried to have sex with the angels and the angels blinded the gay men. Sounds like the world today? Just about, in a few more years it will be.

Does God allow self defense? Of course, even the angels defended themselves. To kill? No. Mame or disable, even cut off an arm or leg, but try not to kill in self defense. Shoot them in the leg kind of thing.

To kill innocent children in the womb, I am sure God is angry and furious beyond anything I can imagine and I sure wouldn't want to be the one who gets punished for those crimes against God. It doesn't matter if it is rape that made her pregnant. The difference between rape and loving sex is only consent. The process of making a baby is the same. God says do not kill, but people do it anyway to exchange one sin against them for a bigger one against God.

It is sad. I Pray God comes soon. It breaks my heart to see this world the way it was before the flood. God is coming and He is angry. God Bless. Praise be the Lord Jesus! Bring us Justice to this world and take us home.

 

[GaryP]

The OT is over, I would instead focus on today. Look at the Father in Heaven
and go to Him if you desire. I do not think that you are going to Kill.
Do not worry abouit the past or what others are doing. Look at Him who has
sent His Son and Set you Free.

 

[crossnote]

OBTW, there is much more killing in the NT. Read the Book of Revelation.
And the most unjust killing in human history happened in the NT when a frenzied mob crucified the only True Holy Innocent Son of God.

 

[Sketcher]

Killing is not always murder. God isn't self-contradictory; he didn't say not to do something and then turn around and go do that thing. Murder requires malice and contempt for the laws of God; execution is just doing what needs to be done to punish murder and other deserving crimes. There are different Hebrew words for "execute" and "murder."

 

[heymikey80]

There's also that form of killing Jesus referred to in the New Testament. mt 5:21-26

Are spiritual forms of killing better than physical? It's something I've been musing on for quite some time.

Many ancient cultures recorded in the Bible were very violent cultures. We generally don't recognize it, because their violence is not repeatedly reported. Followers of Molech were involved in infant sacrifice. Old Testament Israel was amazingly nonviolent in comparison with other ancient cultures.

 

[sbbqb7n16]

The 6th Commandment tells us not to kill.....

Common mistranslation - as found in the King James version.

It should be "You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13)

See the original Hebrew here: Exodus 20 (Blue Letter Bible: KJV - King James Version)

And for a detailed look at the word "murder/kill" see either the link in Sketcher's post, or click here: Blue Letter Bible - Lexicon

רָצַח
1) to murder, slay, kill

a) (Qal) to murder, slay

1) premeditated
2) accidental
3) as avenger
4) slayer (intentional) (participle)
​

b) (Niphal) to be slain
c) (Piel)

1) to murder, assassinate
2) murderer, assassin (participle)(subst)
​

d) (Pual) to be killed

​

The Qal, Niphal, Piel, and Pual are names of different tenses in Hebrew (there are like 8 or 9).

The tenses mean (in order) "he murdered", "he was murdered", "he violently murdered", and "he was violently murdered."

The tense used in the 10 commandments is Qal, meaning that we are not to murder, excessively violently or otherwise.



It cannot mean kill or the following passage makes no sense - you'll note that the Hebrew word translated "kill" in this verse (King James Version), should more accurately have been translated "sought to put him to death."

And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
Exodus 4:24 (KJV) - Exodus 4 (Blue Letter Bible: KJV - King James Version)

Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death.
Exodus 4:24 (NASB)


The word here (מוּת) is different and can imply death as a punishment: Blue Letter Bible - Lexicon

 

[singpeace]

Great question. I found this portion of an article at:
www.rationalchristianity.net/genocide.html

Why were the cities destroyed?
The primary reason was punishment for wrongdoing. The populations of the destroyed cities had long histories of grievous sins (Gen 15:16, Dt 25:17-19), which often included sacrificing their children to false gods (Dt 12:29-31). Their consciences should have told these people they were doing wrong. Had they listened and changed their ways, they would not have been destroyed. God has said that if any nation is about to be destroyed as punishment but repents, he will forgive them and not destroy them (Jer 18:7-8). In fact, this occurred in the city of Ninevah (Jonah 3:4-10).

In the cities that were given to the Israelites as their inheritance, there was a secondary reason: totally depraved cultures were destroyed so that they would not corrupt the Israelites into committing the same evil acts (Dt 7:1-4, 20:16-18). This did in fact occur: when the Israelites didn't obey God and destroy cities, they too began practicing child sacrifice (Ps 106:34-40).


What about innocent adults?
Sadly, these were few and far between. If people grow up in a culture that accepts things like murder and rape, very few will listen to their conscience and go against what everyone else says. Children learn wrong things from their parents and the surrounding culture; as they mature, they become part of the culture and perpetuate it by participating in it and passing on its teachings to their children.

However, those who were righteous were spared from the destruction. In the destruction of Jericho, Rahab and her family were spared because she feared God and chose to help the Israelites (Josh 2:1-21, 6:22-25). Before the Amalekites were destroyed, their righteous neighbors were warned to move away (1 Sam 15:5-6). God promised not to destroy Sodom if there were but ten righteous people in the city (Gen 18:22-32), and in a later judgment against Jerusalem, promised to forgive the city if one righteous person was found in it (Jer 5:1).


What about the children?
Small children did not share the guilt of their parents. The Bible describes small children as not knowing right from wrong (Is 7:15-16), and in some cases, this meant that they were spared the earthly punishment their elders received. For example, when the Israelites sinned during their wanderings in the desert, God forbid the adults from entering the promised land, but gave it to their children who were too young to be held responsible (Dt 1:34-39). The Bible also clearly teaches that one person is not held guilty for another's sin (Ezek 18). Therefore, the children who were killed would not face the same punishment in the afterlife as their parents.

Why were the children killed, if they weren't guilty? Apparently, they were considered as morally neutral, since they weren't yet old enough to be held accountable or to have done much right or wrong. While not as corrupt as their parents, they were part of the society that was judged, and shared its earthly (though not its eternal) fate. (Conversely, the family of a righteous person sometimes shared their relative's protection from earthly destruction; see Josh 6:22-25, Gen 19:12-13.) Often, when someone did something wrong and was punished while on earth, only the evildoer themselves was punished. However, when a person or a society committed massive evil, that evil was punished by the destruction of the entire family or city; in such cases, only those who had actively demonstrated their integrity could be saved (14:13-20). See also Does God punish children for their parents' sins?


Couldn't the children have died painlessly?
Why didn't God translate the children into heaven instead of having them die by the sword? Since the children lived in a world affected by sin, they faced its earthly consequences (Rom 5:12-14). Only a few righteous people were translated into heaven, namely Enoch (Gen 5:24, Heb 11:5) and Elijah (2 Ki 2:11). As noted above, since the children had not shown themselves to be righteous, they were not spared the common fate of death.

It's worth noting that being killed with a sword (perhaps beheaded) was at the time one of the quickest ways for the children to die (as opposed to suffocation/strangulation, starvation, disease or being torn apart by wild animals - see Ex 23:28-29).

 

[heron]

We aren't just making these up to justify something -- the commandment really did say murder, originally.

Imagine living in a territory that is continually invaded. A country has to defend itself. A person has to defend themself. The world will always be filled with opportunists, oppressors, robbers, and colonialists. Refusing to oppose oppressors leads to more widespread oppression.

God didn't ask us to be naive and passive -- He asked us to bring love into situations.

 

[Peripatetic]

Perhaps killing is reserved for God and to those He delegates the authority to do so. In the commandment an individual is not to take it upon himself to kill/murder another.

I agree. There is no denying that God commanded the Israelites to kill many. However, only God has the perfect judgment to determine who needed to die in OT times. As for the innocent children, I think it may have been more cruel to let them watch their parents and older siblings die by the sword, rendering them as homeless orphans. We don't know how or if those children will be judged, so dying may have been the best thing for them.

On the other hand, we should not murder because that life does not belong to us, but God.

 

[Capuano231]

If God kills it isn't immoral, if he tells a person to kill it isn't immoral. If that person kills without God telling him he has broken the 6th Commandment. God has the right to do what he wants since he is the giver of life. What gives you the right to tell your maker what is wrong and what is right?

So if God tells you to kill it is now moral for you to do so... Sounds crazy, but I believe it.. I don't find any other good reasons why God would give a commandment not to kill but then tell people to kill or kill people Himself.