Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill”. Strangely enough this is a commandment despite all the punishments that require death in the New Testament and the Old Testament. How can thou not kill when thou is commanded to kill at the same time? This hypocrisy should be pointed out if the ten commandments are posted in schools, court rooms and buildings of legislation. The confusion of this commandment would surely bring capitol punishment into question.
7th. Commandment, Exodus 20:14 “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. Old Testament punishment - Leviticus 20:10 “And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death”.
2007-01-28 09:20:03 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You made it that far before recognizing contradictions?
2007-01-28 09:23:25 · answer #1 · answered by neil s 7 · 3⤊ 4⤋
If you look at the whole Bible, the Bible also says there is a time to kill. If someone takes an innocent person's life, then justice must be served with the guilty person's life. The Bible has a continual theme from the Old Testament through the New Testament. There must be blood shed for the atonement of sins. I don't see a contradiction.
2007-01-28 09:33:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Let me see if I can help. I'm assuming that you're talking about the times when the Israelites fought the nations around them and killed hundreds of thousands. That's a fair question. The difference is that murder involves selfish motives one way or the other ... even if the selfishness is merely to satisfy our own need for revenge. In the cases of warfare in ancient times, they were done to eliminate a horrid people who, among other things, practices child sacrices and killed children by the 10's of thousands. That is a historical fact. Archeologists who have found the sites of those ancient lands have wondered why God didn't eliminate them sooner.
The second part: God has a right to establish laws for his creation and to establish the punishment for breaking those laws. Humans have often been the instruments of his judgments, as in the case of the wars I mentioned above.
Don't humans have laws against murder AND capital punishment.
2007-01-28 09:33:39 · answer #3 · answered by Q&A Queen 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The 6th to 9th commandments were designed to build a cohesive society in and ancient Israel. Each was based on the value that God placed on people. The 6th commandment, you shall not murder, did not forbid all taking of the life, for the Law itself included provisions for capital punishment ( 21:15-17, 23 ) as well as warfare ( 17:8-16 ). The deliberate murder of another person ( outside the legitimate provisions of capital punishment or war ) flagrantly violated the sanctity of life.
The 7h commandment suggest that capital punishment was accepted for adultery for God regarded the sanctity of marriage as a sacred trust similar to the sanctity of life ( v 13 ).
2007-01-28 09:25:21 · answer #4 · answered by SeeTheLight 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
exodus 20 :13 the correct translation from the hebrew is thou shalt not murder!(wich is a suptle difference from kill!)
In those days a mans wife was his property (much as in islam today)
2007-01-28 09:27:44 · answer #5 · answered by revdauphinee 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the Hebrew word used in Exodus 20:13 meant "murder". There is a different between killing someone for a crime or defending yourself. Killing may be an act of self-defense or judicial punishment, but murder is something committed in the heat of anger.
2007-01-28 09:36:02 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The difference here has to do with the premeditated intentions of the heart which lead one to murder someone for personal gain or revenge as opposed to execution for crimes committed that were seen as worthy of death for their violation of Mosaic Law.
There is a difference between death as a punishment and death that grows from an evil propensity of the heart.
2007-01-28 09:34:22 · answer #7 · answered by messenger 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The God who gave us this life is the only one who can decide when we are to die. In that case he has decided the sin of adultery was worthy of death. It is you to whom he speaks not himself. Interestingly enough when The lord Jesus was faced with just this question himself he said, let him who has not sinned cast the first stone. Then sent the woman home and told her to sin no more. It is the same with the laws today the maximum is often given but seldom used. Only in extreme cases was the the penalty of death to be used, the sinner was to have the opportunity for repentance.
2007-01-28 09:41:45 · answer #8 · answered by saintrose 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Scripture deals with this issue in the book of Romans. God has put governments in authority and we are told to submit to their authority. If we do not, God say we should fear their "sword". A sword was a weapon used to take the life of another. So I believe that God allows governments to use capital punishment IF THEY CHOOSE. I think you will find throughout scripture that there are certain things that are acceptable for governments and authorities to do that are not necessarily acceptable for individuals to do. This is a very similar concept to governmental justice vs. vigilante "justice". God has reserved the decision for the appropriateness of using killing for justice to authorities that He has put in place. The individual has no business making that decision, though.
Rom 13:1-5
13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
NIV
2007-01-28 09:48:53 · answer #9 · answered by yagman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you are serious about religion read everything you can before you decide it would probably be A good idea not to conform to any one religion they have all been warped and perverted,personally I don't know what to believe the bible is full of contraditions probably because it was written by so many different people, what they really needed was a good proof reader
2007-01-28 09:35:55 · answer #10 · answered by treeman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The commandment to kill is to be sure that one does not kill in order to advance his own selfish gain. When God orders killing, it is to overcome evil.
The punishments listed in the OT were harsh. Jesus's work on the cross has put forgiveness and mercy in the forefront, so we are not seeing punishments that harsh.
2007-01-28 09:31:34 · answer #11 · answered by Bob T 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋