Exodus 20:13

"Thou shalt not kill." (KJV)

This verse kept me separated from Bible and Christ for a long time. My problem was that this verse is self-contradictory. It did not make sense to me for God to give an unqualified command to not kill.

The problem is in the language. Current translations make this command much easier for us to understand:

"You shall not murder." (NIV & NASB)

"Do not murder." (NLT)

What's the difference? Why the change in translation? What was my problem with "Thou shalt not kill."?

What was my problem?

When I was in college in the 70's I meditated on the command, "Thou shalt not kill." I had friends who were vegetarians because they felt they were commanded not to kill animals. I read about people who would not kill flies or ants because of this command. But, I thought, what about killing mosquitoes that carried disease? If our killing something was unconditionally wrong, than we should not kill mosquitoes. But that would result in thousands dying from disease. Could I justify this by saying, "I didn't kill those people. I obeyed God and did not kill anything, so it's not my fault."

Then I thought, even vegetarians kill the plants they eat. Is that wrong also? So maybe I shouldn't eat. But in that case I'd be killing myself. There was no way out. An unqualified command to not kill, did not make sense to me. The Bible did not make sense to me, so I rejected it (for a while).

Current translations give this verse as "You shall not murder." Why the change?

The King James Version was translated 400 years ago. We no longer use the same English as they did then. The meaning of words have changed significantly (see an article I wrote about the KJV). If we look at the original Hebrew language we find there are different words for intentional and unintentional killing. The Hebrew word used in Exodus 20:13 is "ratsach", which always means intentional killing another person without cause. (Unless a different meaning is given by the context.) In the English we use today we define intentionally killing another person without cause as "murder". So this is the proper word to use.

Exodus 20:13 is not a broad general command not to kill. It is a specific command to not intentionally kill another person without a cause.

What does this mean?

It means Exodus 20:13 is not a command to be a vegetarian.

It means we may kill mosquitoes and save the lives of thousands of people.

It means the death penalty is Biblical.

It also means that we can break this command without actually killing someone. (See Matthew 5:21-22)