[Natasha]

In Exodus 20 it states, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ I would assume Christians would say this means that life should be cherished and people should not be harmed. But what else should Christians believe this phrase means?

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[Redeemed-One30111]

Kill in this sense is referring to murder.

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[James20889]

It really means do not murder. You have to remember that King James translated our Bible way back in the day, and a lot doesn’t make sense because of Old English. When it was written in Hebrew the word was Murder.

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[Matt-C21997]

Well, many translations render the verb ‘murder’ instead of ‘kill.’ I’ve talked with a Hebrew-speaking Jew who assured me that ‘murder’ is actually what is prohibited, indicating that other forms of killing (such as killing animals for meat or killing an enemy in warfare) are not prohibited. However, the New Testament goes further to point out that it’s also wrong to intentionally want to harm someone. Thinking ‘I want to kill him’ and meaning it is something to be avoided, too.

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[Amanad]

Does it really say ‘Do not kill?’ I could be wrong, mind you. I’m not a Hebrew scholar, but I am a Hebrew student, and what I read was ‘Lo tiretzah’ (Do not commit murder). While I do believe God expects us to respect life, especially human life, there are certain instances where He actually commanded his people to kill. I do not believe that The Almighty would contradict himself, but I do believe that in this instance the Torah was mistranslated.

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[Jeff]

I think it means that you shall not physically kill, but also you can not ‘kill’ the feelings, or do anything that can harm a person emotionally or ‘kill their spirit.’

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[Campbell McGregor]

I have heard it said by a Jew on television: ‘This is actually a Christian mistranslation. A correct translation would be ‘Thou shalt not commit murder’, there is no connection between the 2 verbs in Hebrew’.

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[M. Weisman]

If you are refering to the 10 Commandments, I assume you are referring to the New Testament version? IN the Old Testament the Commandment is ‘Thous shal not murder’. A vast difference between ‘thou shalt not murder’ and ‘Thou shalt not kill’. An interesting difference too, could provide hours of conversation.

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[Sara]

There are a couple things going on here, the way I see it. I liked the response from the Hebrew student — good call. The Hebrew text does specify ‘murder’ rather than ‘kill’ — after all, why command animals be killed in a kosher manner if killing in itself is a sin? The second thing though is that there is an emphasis on the value of each human life in Hebrew teachings (not to leave Christian and other texts out of the picture, I’m just speaking from what I know). That is why, if you see that people are breaking into your neighbors house, you are ethically required to do what you can to help. You are also ethically required to consider the value of your own life, and if you can respond to trouble without endangering yourself (for instance calling the police), then by all means, pick up the phone. Interesting discussion.

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[Don B]

Some have taken it to mean. Thow shalt not murder as God has condoned the killing of human beings severel places in the Bible.

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[Tyler]

The entirety of the Mosaic Law was given to the Israelite nation. Jesus and Paul made it clear that this law was no longer applicable for Christians. However, it would be replaced by Jesus’ commands ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Love your God’. Jesus’ said that the entirety of the Mosaic law could be summed up in these two commands. And he was right. Can you KILL, steal, cheat, lie, etc if you love your neighbor? I appreciate your question, as it does point out the complete hypocricy of ANY who claim to be Christian yet kill- be that in war or behind any other mask.

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[Richard]

It means we should not murder.

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[Ron29653]

I can only speak for myself. I agree that life should be cherished and people shouldn’t be harmed. But, this cannot be a ‘global’ or universal truth in terms of the Commandment referred to. I read that Commandment as ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ The taking of another human life during war, or self-defense, etc., is not good, but I doubt it violates the intent of the Commandment. I hope that’s clear enough.

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[Don25596]

More recent translations of the bible changes the phrasr form ‘Thou shalt not Kill’ to ‘Thou shalt not comitte murder’. That changes the meaning a lot. Don

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[Justine R.]

The bible/torah has many metaphors around it, and I’m guessing this is one of them. I think what they mean when they say ‘Thou shalt not kill’ is basically meant as a message to respect life….like respect yourself and respect other people. This is just the way I take it though.

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