A couple of our members have asked about a seeming contradiction in the text -- or, perhaps, in the will of God itself. On the one hand, He includes "Thou shalt not kill" within the law. On the other hand, He also commands a fair amount of killing in the stories.
The first observation to be made is a grammatical one. The old King James Version has an advantage over our more contemporary English translations in that it preserves the distinction between the singular and plural forms of "you." The original Hebrew and Greek languages, in which the Bible was written, have different forms for singular and plural "you." Contemporary English does not, however. If I say, "You shall not kill," it is not immediately apparent whether I am addressing you as an individual or as a group. In the King James Version, however, the language is more clear. "Thou" is singular and "ye" is plural.
Even though the Ten Commandments are given to the nation of Israel as a whole, they are phrased as individual commandments. We recognize the familiar sound of "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not." "You (singular) shall have no other gods, you (personally) shall not covet, you (as an individual) shall not kill," and so on. This format is meaningful for all of the commandments, but it may be especially helpful in understanding the commandment about killing.
The prohibition on killing is singular, you see. The individual is not permitted to take matters into his own hands and take another person's life. The community, on the other hand, is vested by God's law with a certain obligation to take life, and that obligation takes two forms.
First, there is capital punishment in the Old Testament Law. The death penalty is invoked far more often in the Old Testament Law than what we are accustomed to in our society. Indeed, the first seven of the Ten Commandments are all capital offenses in the Law -- e.g., practicing idolatry, working on the Sabbath, striking or cursing your parent, commitment adultery were all punishable by death. Capital punishment was the community's obligation as part of the maintenance of purity and justice within the land. (We will explore in more detail later the significance and implementation of capital punishment in the Old Testament Law.)
Second, there are the wars that Israel fights, which of course include a great deal of killing. To a certain extent, wars come with the territory when the covenant people of God are a nation. Because they are a nation, you see, they have borders and they have enemies. And, consequently, they have wars. In addition to that, however, there is the more significant factor that God uses Israel as an agent of His judgment against other nations. In other words, it is not merely that the Lord is on Israel's side against any enemy; it is His expressed will that Israel's army serve as an instrument of His righteous judgment against wicked peoples. This should not, incidentally, be seen as a kind of ethnic favoritism or nationalism. Later in Old Testament history, for example, the Assyrians and the Babylonians are recognized as agents of God's judgment against God's own people, just as Israel had been against the Canaanites and others.
In these instances, then, we observe that the command to kill is plural, while the command not to kill is singular. The central issue, you see, is not merely the sanctity of life, but the sanctities of life. In other words, it's not only that life is sacred, but rather that life is full of sacred things. Because life itself is sacred, it needs to be protected and treated with care. But carelessness with other things that are also sacred could rightly cost a person his or her life.
The first observation to be made is a grammatical one. The old King James Version has an advantage over our more contemporary English translations in that it preserves the distinction between the singular and plural forms of "you." The original Hebrew and Greek languages, in which the Bible was written, have different forms for singular and plural "you." Contemporary English does not, however. If I say, "You shall not kill," it is not immediately apparent whether I am addressing you as an individual or as a group. In the King James Version, however, the language is more clear. "Thou" is singular and "ye" is plural.
Even though the Ten Commandments are given to the nation of Israel as a whole, they are phrased as individual commandments. We recognize the familiar sound of "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not." "You (singular) shall have no other gods, you (personally) shall not covet, you (as an individual) shall not kill," and so on. This format is meaningful for all of the commandments, but it may be especially helpful in understanding the commandment about killing.
The prohibition on killing is singular, you see. The individual is not permitted to take matters into his own hands and take another person's life. The community, on the other hand, is vested by God's law with a certain obligation to take life, and that obligation takes two forms.
First, there is capital punishment in the Old Testament Law. The death penalty is invoked far more often in the Old Testament Law than what we are accustomed to in our society. Indeed, the first seven of the Ten Commandments are all capital offenses in the Law -- e.g., practicing idolatry, working on the Sabbath, striking or cursing your parent, commitment adultery were all punishable by death. Capital punishment was the community's obligation as part of the maintenance of purity and justice within the land. (We will explore in more detail later the significance and implementation of capital punishment in the Old Testament Law.)
Second, there are the wars that Israel fights, which of course include a great deal of killing. To a certain extent, wars come with the territory when the covenant people of God are a nation. Because they are a nation, you see, they have borders and they have enemies. And, consequently, they have wars. In addition to that, however, there is the more significant factor that God uses Israel as an agent of His judgment against other nations. In other words, it is not merely that the Lord is on Israel's side against any enemy; it is His expressed will that Israel's army serve as an instrument of His righteous judgment against wicked peoples. This should not, incidentally, be seen as a kind of ethnic favoritism or nationalism. Later in Old Testament history, for example, the Assyrians and the Babylonians are recognized as agents of God's judgment against God's own people, just as Israel had been against the Canaanites and others.
In these instances, then, we observe that the command to kill is plural, while the command not to kill is singular. The central issue, you see, is not merely the sanctity of life, but the sanctities of life. In other words, it's not only that life is sacred, but rather that life is full of sacred things. Because life itself is sacred, it needs to be protected and treated with care. But carelessness with other things that are also sacred could rightly cost a person his or her life.