Quote:
Originally posted by pan6467
Every Bible I've ever read, the 6th Commandment says "Thou shalt not kill", it doesn't say "thou shalt not murder".
One could say the Bible meant murder, BUT, you state killing and murder are different so, if that is the case, one cannot substitue murder for kill in the Bible.
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"The individual commandments 6 to 10:
6th Commandment; Verse 13: "Thou shalt not kill."
The Hebrew word "ratsach" is translated as "kill" in the King James Version, Revised Standard Version, American Standard Version, and some other translations of the Bible. However, it is difficult to apply this in practice. Killing chickens and beef cattle is legal now as it was in biblical times. Nobody today is concerned about pulling vegetables from the garden, even though it kills them. The word "ratsach" is commonly believed to describe the premeditated killing of a human. It requires that the victim be a human being. Many translations translate "ratsach" as "murder" in this verse.
This Commandment is not absolute. Not all murders are forbidden. Hebrew Scriptures specify many grounds for which this commandment is to be ignored, and a guilty party executed. Persons found guilty of temple prostitution, engaged women who are seduced by a man other than her future husband, women who practice black magic, some women who are raped in urban areas, children who cursed their parents, some non-virgin brides, Jews who collect firewood on Saturday to keep their families from freezing, persons proselytizing in favor of another religion, persons worshiping a deity other than Yahweh, strangers who entered the temple, etc; all were to be executed.
A few centuries ago, it was believed that male sperm contained large numbers of tiny babies which only required a woman's womb to grow and be born. Under that belief system, masturbation could be considered an act of mass murder. We now know that pregnancy requires conception, and that a unique DNA is formed at that time. But society has never reached a consensus on the definition of when human personhood begins. Unfortunately, the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Bible give us no guidance on this matter. Thus, it does not help us decide about when, if ever, abortions are acceptable. If the Bible had defined when the start of personhood occurs, there might not be so much conflict over abortion today.
There are tens of thousands of violations of this commandment yearly in North America. Most are done by criminals who shoot people. A few dozen murders are committed by civil servants, who are employed by the state to kill inmates on death row with premeditation. Soldiers are often called upon to murder other humans, sometimes in self-defense, and other times in order to achieve a military objective. There are other biblical passages and a great deal of theological reasoning which have provided justification for the latter two actions.
Joshua and his army violated this commandment on numerous occasional as they marched through Canaan, apparently with God's approval. They were often ordered by God to commit genocide by killing every Pagan man, woman, youth, child, and newborn who lived in various cities of Canaan.
Some pacifist Christians take this commandment very seriously. They will not violate this commandment, even during times of war. Quakers, Mennonites and others are frequently able to volunteer for alternate service during wartime in order to conform to this commandment.
Historically, many Christian groups interpreted the Commandment as if it read "Thou shalt not murder people inside your group." The Christian Church has committed genocide many times in its history, exterminating such groups as the Cathars and Knights Templar. Starting in the late 15th century and continuing for 300 years, both Protestants and Roman Catholics rounded up heretics and suspected Satan worshipers; the church executed many tens of thousands of them -- often by burning them alive. The Crusades against the Muslims are another indication of the misuse of this Commandment. In recent times, Serbian Orthodox Christians organized a major religiously-motivated genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina, largely against Muslims.
The Westminster Larger Catechism extends this commandment to include the "immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreations; provoking words, oppression, quarreling," etc. It is not clear how they expanded the meaning of this verse to such an extreme."
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10c9.htm
These seemed to be the best answer that wasn't pandering to one agenda or another (abortion, death penalty, ect). The majority of my googling did say that word is actually "murder" not kill and that the KJV bonked on this one.