Islam
"We decreed to the Children of Israel that if anyone kills a person--unless in retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land--it is as if he kills all mankid, while if any saves a life it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind." (Qur'an, The Feast [Al-Ma'ida sura], verse 32)

Judaism
"Only one single man [Adam] was created in the world, to teach that, if any man has caused a single soul to perish, Scripture imputes it to him as though he had caused the whole world to perish, and if any man saves alive a single soul, Scripture imputes it to him as though he had saved the whole world."  (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4.5)

Buddhism
"If a child of Buddha himself kills, or goads someone else to kill, or provides with or suggests means for killing, or praises the act of killing or, on seeing someone commit the act, expresses approval for what that person has done, or kills by way of incantations, or is the cause, occasion, means, or instrument of the act of inducing a death, he will be shut out of the community." (Mahayana Brahajala [Brahma Net] Sutra)

Hinduism
"What is virtuous conduct? It is never destroying life, for killing leads to every other sin." (Tirukural, Verse 321)

A Universal Law?

The Sixth Commandment is likely the most well known of the ten most creative and life-giving words that God ever spoke to Israel.  When people are asked to name one universal, moral law--to cite a single rule that holds true for all religions, ethical systems, and cultures, and at all times--the response is usually the same.  Everyone knows it is wrong to kill! But that's as far as the agreement goes, and already it over-simplifies and covers up some angry conflicts and deep divisions.

Consider the case of Scott Roeder, convicted of murder for killing George Tiller, a doctor who operated a clinic that performed late-term abortions and other medical services.  Roeder shot Dr. Tiller in the foyer of a church and claimed that he killed Tiller to prevent him from "killing more babies."  (Mark Guarino, "Scott Roeder convicted of murder in abortion doctor’s killing," Christian Science Monitor, January 29, 2010, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0129/Scott-Roeder-convicted-of-murder-in-abortion-doctor-s-killing)  There are people who think that Roeder was justified in his action and also those who affirm the work of Dr. Tiller.

Or consider the case of juvenile offenders and those with moderate mental retardation, who until 2005 and 2002 respectively were subject to the death penalty in the United States.  72 offenders who were juveniles when their crimes were committed were on death row when the Supreme Court ruling came down.  Obviously, there are some states and some juries who as recently as five years ago thought the taking of their lives justified.

Is the Sixth Commandment a prohibition of war?  Of capital punishment?  Of abortion?  Of self-defense? Of euthanasia? Is it a command to be a vegetarian?

Is it Killin'? OR Is it Murder?

One thing that complicates our understanding of this "Sixth Word" is the question of translation.  How are we to translate the Hebrew verb used in the commandment (ratsach)?  Most modern versions of the Bible translate this word using the narrower definition, "murder," rather than the broader term used by the King James Version, "kill."  What difference does it make?  Before we take up the various uses of the Hebrew word in the Old Testament, it may be helpful to distinguish between the meanings of the two English words.  Murder means "to kill (a human being) unlawfully and with premeditated malice" (Merriam Webster).  In other words, murder is a special instance of killing that includes aggravating factors.  By this definition, murder includes an intent to kill.  Accidental deaths would not count, because they do not involve malice.  Self-defense, war, and the death penalty would not count because they are legal, or state-sanctioned, forms of taking a life.  Although legal definitions of first and second degree murder vary somewhat from state to state, almost all states include in their definition of murder some unpremeditated killings that take place while engaged in high-risk illegal activities (during an armed robbery, for example).  It is highly probable that death may occur in the committing of such a crime, so such a death, though it may not have been directly intended and premeditated, is murder.  But most common sense definitions reserve the word murder for premeditated, intentional, malicious, lawless killing. 

The question remains, using these distinct definitions, whether the word that is used in the Old Testament means to kill or to murder.  Numbers 35:1-34, which contains by far the greatest number of occurrences of the Hebrew verb ratsach, is helpful in this regard.  In this chapter God instructs Moses and the people of Israel to set up six "cities of refuge" in the Promised Land, where people who have killed someone may flee for safety from the "kinsman avenger" (go'el haddam, 35:19).  A person who has killed someone is instructed to flee to and to remain in a city of refuge until a trial can determine his guilt or innocence and appropriate punishment (35:12).  If the person proves innocent of what we would call murder (in other words, if he is guilty only of manslaughter), the community must continue to protect him in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest (35:24-25).  After the death of the high priest who was in office at the time of the killing, the person guilty of manslaughter may safely return home (35:28).  If the person is guilty of what we call murder, he is to receive the death penalty. (35:31)  It is clear in this chapter that the Hebrew word ratsach is being used both for what we would call murder (e.g., 35:16-21) and for un-malicious, unpremeditated, unintentional killing (35:11, 22-25).  The word ratsach is even used for the lawful execution of a person who has committed manslaughter (35:27) or murder (35:30).

Deuteronomy 4:42 also supports the notion that ratsach means more than murder.  The definition includes anyone who kills "without knowing" and "without hate."  It is for such cases as these, as we have already seen, that the "cities of refuge" exist in Israel (Deuteronomy 19:3-6).  The same use of the word is also apparent in Joshua 20:3-6.  God gave to Israel cities of "no killing" to protect life and to stop the chain of violence that ensues when violent wrongs are avenged violently.  These cities, blessed by the grace of God in Israel's memory, are Hebron, Libnah, Shechem, Gezer, Golan, Be-eshterah, Kedesh, Hammoth-dor, Kartan, Ramoth Gilead, and Mahanaim (Joshua 21).

Of course, murder is also a form of killing, the ultimate form--and for that reason, perhaps the commandment can appropriately be translated, "Thou shalt not murder."  As with the other commandments we have encountered, this commandment offers a kind of shorthand summary (an epitome), the intent of which is to create abundant life in us, in our relationship with God, and in our relationship with one another.  As we have seen with the commandments that came before, this commandment is not a free-floating, generalized rule.  This commandment is among the "Ten Words" that God speaks to Israel and to Moses because the LORD wants a special relationship with people.  It is because "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage," that the Sixth Commandment is given.  The life and breath of all people belong to this God, and as Hauerwas and Willimon say, "Stealing from a God who is 'jealous' is a risky act" (p. 80).  The attention in the first four commandments was directly focused on the preservation of our relationship with God.  That focus continues in the last six commandments, but with a twist.  Because of the relationship that has been established between God and us, God wants us to relate to one another and give to one another the same quality of love that we have already received from God.   We have been freed from a death-dealing lord, and God wants us to extend that life-giving freed-ness to others!

Before we leave the subject of murder altogether, however, we should review some of the more notable occurrences of murder in the Hebrew Bible.  There is, of course, the first instance of murder in human history, a fratricide fueled by jealousy, the murder of Abel by Cain.  (Though the Hebrew term for murder here is harag.)  The connection of killing to the other prohibitions in the second tablet of the Ten Commandments is often quite pronounced, especially as relates to motive, and especially with regard to coveting.  The question of the status of victim and killer is also an important criterion in the Bible.  One need think only of two especially heinous miscarriages of justice by kings: David's arrangement to make Uriah the Hittite a victim of battle (2 Samuel 11:15) to cover up David's adultery and Ahab's (or Jezebel's) false charges against Naboth, having Naboth condemned and stoned to death so that Ahab could steal Naboth's vineyard.  These murders especially are condemned because they are examples of the rich, strong, and powerful taking advantage of "the widow, the orphan, the stranger." (See Nathan's oracle to David in 2 Samuel 12; see also Psalm 94:6.)

What did Jesus say?


As we have come to expect, Jesus broadens and deepens the claim of the commandment.  Instead of embracing the cultural expectation of tribal societies that requires an "avenging kinsman" to extract retribution for wrongs, Jesus demands reconciliation.  Jesus provides the supreme example of extending love to others.  He had every right to "call down fire" on his enemies, but instead he gave his own life for them.  Jesus concludes his comments about murder by returning to the question of our relationship with God.  It is not enough for us not to hate our brother; we must also act in ways that bring about reconciliation with a brother who hates us.  Jesus insists that we become for one another "cities of refuge" or, better yet, locations of forgiveness.  Forgive, Jesus says, so that you will be forgiven.  As our high priest, he has died so that we may go free.  Instead of harming others, even in self-defense or justifiable ways, Jesus reminds us that giving a place in our hearts to anger and insults is like juggling with stones, someone is likely to get hurt.   It may be manslaughter, but that makes it no less a violation of God's life-giving "Sixth Word."  Keeping the commandments means loving my neighbor as myself (Matthew 19:16-19).  It requires me to seek the things that give life to my neighbor, even at grave risk to my own life (Matthew 10:39)--not to seek my own life at the risk of my neighbor's.



According to Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Aquinas, we become murderers simply by failing to observe our neighbor's plight (Hauerwas and Willimon, p. 91):

...for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."  Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?"  Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." (Matthew 25:42-45, NRSV)

How to keep the Sixth Commandment

It is God who gives us life and breath, and even life from the dead (Acts 17:25, Romans 4:17).  There are many, many ways to take that life away.  There are many, many ways to kill.  After all, malicious office gossip isn't called "backstabbing" for nothing.  But the way to protect life, as Jesus so clearly showed us, is to give up our own lives for the lives of others (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45; John 10:11, 15:13; I Corinthians 15:36).  God's power to vivify has no limits: the enemies of life even killed the Author of Life, but God's power brought him back (Acts 3:15).  So, instead of asking how far we can go in harming others before we cross the line and break the commandment that prohibits murder, we should be asking ourselves how we can give our own lives away.  What more can I do to bring life abundant, eternal and free to my neighbors?  What can I do to enhance my neighbor's life?  Can I anticipate and intercept those things that might harm my neighbor?  Instead of engaging in activities that have a high probability of creating anger, fury, malice, wrath, bitterness, envy, greed, jealousy, fear, conceit, slander, and abusive language in our neighbors--we should be striving to act towards our neighbor in ways that result in "accidental life" instead of "accidental death."  We should live in such a way that our neighbors' lives are fuller and richer, brimming with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Some of us will say that our neighbor is a murderer and therefore deserves the death penalty, but the Apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus died so that sinners might live (Romans 5:8-10)--and Jesus himself said he came to heal the sick (to save sinners), not the well and whole.

We keep the Sixth Commandment by loving our neighbor and praying for our enemy, or, as the Apostle Paul says,


In other words, we keep the Sixth Commandment by keeping the whole of the second tablet of the Ten Commandments, by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Discussion Questions

Read Exodus 20:13 and Matthew 5:21-24

1.  Do you think God has written some of the commandments into the very fabric of society?  Is the Sixth Commandment truly universal?

2.  What does it mean to value the life of someone else?  Can you think of someone's life that you value?  Why do you value that person?  Has that person improved your life?  Can you think of someone for whom you have improved life?
 
3.  I know an older gentleman who has lived his whole adult life regretting an  accident in which a drunken pedestrian was killed.  Those who drive a car or truck handle a "loaded weapon" every day.  Should the commandment not to kill--or to protect life--influence the way we drive?  Why or why not?  What other things do we practice routinely that could result in accidental harm or death to others?

4.  Does God's command to execute murderers contradict the Sixth Commandment?  Why or why not?

5.  Is abortion murder?  In your opinion, does abortion enhance or diminish life?  What might demonstrate the sort of value God places on human life in situations where abortion is being considered?  Read Leviticus 20:10 and Numbers 5:11-30.  Do either of these texts express concern for the potential of an innocent, unborn fetus?

6.  Consider either war or suicide with relation to the Sixth Commandment.  Does the Sixth Commandment prohibit either one or both?

7.  Have you ever been angry?  Was it premeditated?  Have you ever "nursed" your anger into something more, something you acted on in a way that hurt someone?  Was it a violation of the Sixth Commandment?

8.  Does "thou shalt not kill" include the animals?  (Read Genesis 1:28-31 and Isaiah 11:6-9.)  Does God's desire for us include that we be vegetarians?  Is meat eating a result of sin?  (Read Genesis 9:3-6.)

9.  What would it mean to practice the Sixth Commandment with our Muslim neighbors?  Would the public burning of a Qur'an help or hurt them?

10.  Pay close attention to people you encounter this week.  Are any of them hurting?  Are any of them enslaved--like the people of Israel were to Pharaoh--to a life-denying master?  The keeping of the Sixth Commandment requires that we intervene in the lives of others, to restore life as God did with Israel.  One way to enhance a person's quality of life is to share the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ--literally, to share eternal life with them.  But if our neighbor's need is for food or shelter, or an encouraging word in a note or phone call, or a listening ear, let's not neglect those life-saving measures.  Let us not be murderers this week!  Instead, let's make a point to write down the name of at least one person, especially someone with whom we are in conflict, and pray for that person's life this week.

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Copyright © 2010 by Gregory L. Glover