“War Of Words”

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

     Does the exact Hebrew translation say in the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not kill”?  Or does it say something along the lines of “Thou shall not murder”?  Obviously, Moses was a great military leader (along with Joshua, David, Gideon, etc.).  I'm a soldier, and I get asked this question.  I don't know how to answer it.

Sincerely,
On The Defense

Dear On The Defense,

The Hebrew word used for ‘kill’ in the Ten Commandments literally means ‘murder’.  There is a difference between killing someone in self-defense and pre-meditated, intentional murder of another human being.  The Bible has plenty of examples of faithful people going to war (David killed Goliath in battle – 1 Sam 17:49-50).  The Bible is also full of examples of capital punishment for certain crimes (Num 15:35).  Num 35:15-16 makes a distinction between accidentally killing someone and premeditated murder.  A police officer may have to kill someone while serving the community, but that isn’t murder.  The same is true with a soldier.

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