Kill or Murder?
Part of the e-mail from I.:
> In this, I'm just going to talk about David. The Commandment that we
>had talked of before, "You shall not murder." (Exodus 20: 13, NAS) Some
>text will translate the word as kill. But the Hebrew word used here means
>murder. What does this tell us? Murder is wrong. But we knew that.
Part of the e-mail from Sa.:
>Although many versions of the Bible interpret Ex 20:13 as "Thou shalt
>not KILL" it may more properly be rendered "Thou shalt not do murder",
>as several modern versions of the Bible, more scholarly than the KJV
>note. The Bible has nothing against capital punishment or war, which
>cuts down dramatically on the number of inconsistencies.
Part of my reply:
Interesting! Several of the versions that say "kill" is the correct word are
the King James,
the Revised Standard, the New American Bible, the American Standard Bible,
the Jerusalem Bible and the Lamsa Version. On the other hand, the New English Bible,
the New American Standard Bible, the New International, the New World Translation,
Today's English Version and the Masoretic Text opt for the word "murder". The
word is
of crucial importance. Soldiers would avoid combat and police would not be inclined to
draw their weapons if they felt killing was a violation of God's law. On the other hand,
if the commandment is only for murder, than a wide assortment of lethal activities would
be permissible. In large part this accounts for the fact that newer versions of the bible
are
increasingly selecting "murder" rather than "kill" as the word of
choice. Political expediency
rather than objective scholarship has become more dominant.
What do you make of the following words by Jesus:
Lu 6:27
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
(If killing is allowed, is "killing" your enemies loving them?)
I suggest the chances are on the side of the word "kill" rather than
"murder", although it
depends entirely on the opinion of the person you are talking to. The Hebrew word for
"kill" in Exodus 20:13 is "ratsach" meaning slay, murder, kill or be
put to death --
take your choice. Just twenty-one verses after "Thou shalt not kill" is Ex 21:12
He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. In Hebrew the
word for smiteth is "nakah" which means smite, kill, slay, beat, wound, murder
--
again, take your choice!
As in many biblical cases the Bible is not clear on this issue! In my study of the Bible
I have found it is vague or contradictory on many important issues. You can interpret
bible verses or choose verses that will agree with how your feel about almost any topic --
part of the reason there are so many splinter groups in Christianity. This is one of the
reasons I reject the Bible as a message from a possible God of the universe.
End of e-mail
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