The taking of another human being’s life illegally. Protection from killing is a central part of God’s covenantal blessing to Noah after the Flood; God will seek blood for a human being’s blood, whether the latter is shed by an animal or another human being (
Gen 9:4-6), for human beings were created in God’s image. In the Decalogue, God prohibits killing (
Exod 20:13;
Deut 5:17), the sanction here too being understood as divine. Causing death by direct physical contact in principle rendered the killer liable to death (
Exod 21:12). The possibility of asylum was available in cases of accident (
Exod 21:13;
Deut 19:15), but not in cases of premeditation, such as ambush (
Exod 21:13) or previous hatred (
Exod 21:14;
Deut 4:42;
Deut 19:4;
Deut 19:6;
Deut 19:11;
Josh 20:5;
Num 35:20). Homicide in the course of a sudden quarrel was viewed as comparable to accidental homicide (
Num 35:22-23). In the NT, Jesus reiterates the prohibition against murder (
Matt 19:18), whose source is Satan (
John 8:44). Indeed, to hate another human being is reckoned by Jesus as equivalent to murder (
Matt 5:21-22;
1John 3:15).
Gen 9:4-6
4Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.5For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it ... View more
Exod 20:13
13You shall not murder.
Deut 5:17
17You shall not murder.
Exod 21:12
The Law concerning Violence
12Whoever strikes a person mortally shall be put to death.
Exod 21:13
13If it was not premeditated, but came about by an act of God, then I will appoint for you a place to which the killer may flee.
Deut 19:15
Law concerning Witnesses
15A single witness shall not suffice to convict a person of any crime or wrongdoing in connection with any offense that may be committe ... View more
Exod 21:13
13If it was not premeditated, but came about by an act of God, then I will appoint for you a place to which the killer may flee.
Exod 21:14
14But if someone willfully attacks and kills another by treachery, you shall take the killer from my altar for execution.
Deut 4:42
42to which a homicide could flee, someone who unintentionally kills another person, the two not having been at enmity before; the homicide could flee to one of ... View more
Deut 19:4
4Now this is the case of a homicide who might flee there and live, that is, someone who has killed another person unintentionally when the two had not been at e ... View more
Deut 19:6
6But if the distance is too great, the avenger of blood in hot anger might pursue and overtake and put the killer to death, although a death sentence was not de ... View more
Deut 19:11
11But if someone at enmity with another lies in wait and attacks and takes the life of that person, and flees into one of these cities,
Josh 20:5
5And if the avenger of blood is in pursuit, they shall not give up the slayer, because the neighbor was killed by mistake, there having been no enmity between t ... View more
Num 35:20
20Likewise, if someone pushes another from hatred, or hurls something at another, lying in wait, and death ensues,
Num 35:22-23
22But if someone pushes another suddenly without enmity, or hurls any object without lying in wait,23or, while handling any stone that could cause death, uninte ... View more
Matt 19:18
18He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness;
John 8:44
44You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because ... View more
Matt 5:21-22
Concerning Anger
21“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’22But I ... View more
1John 3:15
15All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them.
