Exodus 20:13

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT, Exodus 20:13.

13. Thou shalt not kill Better, thou shalt not commit murder . This first commandment of the second table corresponds noticeably with the first of the previous table, as a reference to Genesis 9:6, will serve to show: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made he man . ” The murderer, therefore, is regarded as one who wickedly destroys God’s image in man, and so most basely assaults God himself . Suicide is, accordingly, prohibited by this commandment . The Hebrew legislation everywhere enhances the sacredness of human life . All the precepts in Exodus 21:12-30, aim to guard life from violence . If any man by carelessness or neglect occasioned the death of another, he brought blood-guiltiness upon his house . Deuteronomy 22:8. A murder by an unknown hand would pollute the very land in which it was committed until suitable expiation were made. Deuteronomy 21:1-9. Our Lord took up this law for special treatment, and taught that he who cherished anger against his neighbour was guilty before God of the spirit of murder. Matthew 5:21-24. John also enlarges on this same profound idea . 1Jn 2:9-11 ; 1 John 3:12-15. As the not having any other God instead of Jehovah is at the basis of the laws of the first table, so the not hating one’s neighbour is at the basis of all those of the second. Hence the two great positive commands, inclusive of all others: first, thou shalt love God with all thy heart; and, second, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. According to Numbers 35:31, no satisfaction was allowable for the life of a murderer but the extreme penalty of the law. No commutation and no pardon could be granted to one clearly convicted of murder. The shallow sentimentalism of modern life has in numerous places cried out against this law, and sought to class it with barbarities which ought to be set aside. Also some learned and thoughtful men, holding the notion that civil government is merely a “social compact,” or that the object of penalty is solely to prevent crime, and is not based upon moral desert, have advocated the abolition of capital punishment. But it is shown that where another punishment has been substituted for the death penalty, capital crime has increased, and states which have tried the experiment have found it a failure, and have restored the severer law. Those who oppose the death penalty for murder often exhibit far more sympathy for the criminal than for his victims. The biblical doctrine is clear and decisive: (1.) He who takes a human life forfeits his own, and so deserves death. (2.) The common safety and public good demand that the just penalty be speedily executed. (3.) The New Testament, far from conflicting with the Old on this point, confirms it by representing the civil magistrate as God’s minister, bearing the sword to be a terror to evildoers, and to execute wrath upon them. Romans 13:1-6. The words of our Lord, often quoted as inconsistent with capital punishment, have no reference whatever to the execution of righteous laws upon the guilty, but to man’s personal and private relations . To explain such precepts as those of Matthew 5:38-45, as indicating the true methods of civil government is preposterous in the extreme, and, if thus practically applied, would overthrow all righteous government and law. Equally absurd is it to appeal to Romans 12:17-21; for if the officers of law and justice should proceed with murderers, thieves, and other criminals as there enjoined, it would be a direct encouragement for all sorts of evil doers to multiply their nefarious deeds. All these fallacies of exegesis arise from confounding private and personal relations with the administration of public justice. With one who is incapable of making and holding these distinctions in mind, it would be idle to argue the question of capital or any other punishment by the State.