What the Bible Says About Killing – Exodus 20:13 Murder

It’s one of the most famous lines ever written. Just four words: “Thou shalt not kill.” For billions, it’s a moral bedrock—simple, direct, and powerful. Yet, if you’ve spent any real time reading the Bible, you know that simple command can get complicated. Fast. We read Exodus 20:13 and find ourselves nodding along. Of course. But then, a few pages later, God is commanding the death penalty. We open the book of Joshua and find God sanctioning war.

That feels like a massive contradiction.

This puzzle has tied believers and critics in knots for centuries. It’s a question I’ve wrestled with myself, trying to square the simple command with parts of Scripture that seem to order the very thing it forbids. It forces us to stop and ask a better question. We have to understand what the Bible says about killing in its complete context, not just a single, isolated verse. Is it really a blanket ban on taking any life, under any circumstance? Or is there more to the story? The answer, it turns out, is hiding in plain sight in the original Hebrew and the unwavering biblical themes of justice and the sanctity of life.

This isn’t just some dusty theological debate. Getting this right changes how we think about self-defense, capital punishment, war, and the breathtaking value God places on a human life.

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Key Takeaways

• The Hebrew Word Changes Everything: The command in Exodus 20:13 uses the Hebrew word ratsach. This isn’t a general term for killing; it specifically means “murder”—the malicious, premeditated, or unlawful killing of another person.
• The Bible Makes Distinctions: Scripture clearly separates unlawful murder (ratsach) from other forms of killing. Things like state-sanctioned capital punishment, just warfare, or accidental death are treated as entirely different categories with their own moral rules.
• It’s All About God’s Image: Why is murder so profoundly wrong? Because every human is made in the image of God (Imago Dei). To murder someone is to shatter a living, breathing reflection of the Creator.
• Jesus Goes for the Heart: In the New Testament, Jesus takes the command even deeper. He teaches that the act of murder is just the final stage of a sin that begins in the heart with unchecked anger, contempt, and hatred.
• The Goal is Pro-Life, Not Just Anti-Murder: The ultimate biblical ethic isn’t just about not taking a life unlawfully. It’s about actively protecting, honoring, and loving others, which is how we truly uphold the sanctity of life.

So, Does ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ Mean All Killing is Wrong?

Let’s tackle the biggest hurdle first. If we take the classic English translation—“Thou shalt not kill”—at face value, we run into problems immediately. Every soldier, every police officer, every person who acts in self-defense would be in direct violation of God’s law. That reading forces the Bible to fight with itself, creating a contradiction that’s impossible to solve.

But what if the problem isn’t the Bible? What if it’s the translation?

The answer isn’t found in the English words we know so well, but in the original Hebrew text.

What’s the Real Meaning of the Hebrew Word?

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, a language filled with sharp, precise words. When Moses wrote down the Ten Commandments, the word God inspired for Exodus 20:13 wasn’t a catch-all term for any kind of killing. The word is ratsach (רָצַח). The Hebrew language has several other words for killing or slaying, but ratsach carries a specific legal and moral weight. It points to the unauthorized, unlawful taking of a human life. Think assassination, a revenge killing, or any malicious, premeditated act of violence.

A much more accurate translation of Exodus 20:13 is, “You shall not murder.”

It’s a simple change, but it means everything. Modern Bible translations like the NIV, ESV, and CSB have made this correction. But the majestic old King James Version used “Thou shalt not kill,” and that phrasing is etched into our culture. The distinction, however, is the key. The command isn’t a total ban on all killing. It’s a specific, absolute ban on the crime of murder.

Why Does This Translation Difference Matter So Much?

Grasping that the commandment is about murder unlocks the rest of the Bible on this topic. Suddenly, the contradictions don’t look so contradictory anymore. When God sets up capital punishment for murderers back in Genesis 9:6, He isn’t breaking His own rule. He is creating a just and severe penalty for the specific crime of murder. The state, acting as an agent of God’s justice, isn’t committing ratsach when it performs a lawful execution.

I can’t tell you the relief I felt when this finally clicked. For years, I’d carried this nagging anxiety about the violence in the Old Testament; it just felt off. Realizing the precision of the word ratsach was like putting on the right pair of glasses. Everything snapped into focus. The Bible wasn’t contradicting itself at all. It was making a clear and consistent legal distinction between unlawful killing (murder) and the lawful, though always tragic, taking of a life to protect the innocent or administer justice. This framework is what we need to make sense of all the hard passages to come.

If Murder is Forbidden, Why Does God Command Killing Elsewhere?

This is where things get real. Once we establish the commandment is about murder, we can look at the other instances of killing in the Bible. These aren’t exceptions to the rule. They are entirely different categories of action, guided by different principles. The Bible isn’t saying, “Don’t murder, unless I say so.” It’s defining murder and then addressing things like capital punishment, warfare, and self-defense on their own terms.

Let’s be honest, these are heavy topics. We’re talking about life and death, and the Bible doesn’t shy away from their weight.

What About Capital Punishment in the Old Testament?

Way before the Ten Commandments, God laid down the foundation for capital justice. Right after the flood, God says to Noah, “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind” (Genesis 9:6).

This is a bedrock principle. The punishment for murder is death. And the reason? The immense value of the life that was stolen. Because people are made in God’s image, murdering someone is the ultimate rebellion against the Creator. In that context, capital punishment wasn’t a contradiction of life’s value but the strongest possible affirmation of it. It sends the message that the victim’s life was so precious that the killer has forfeited their own right to live. The law was a deterrent, yes, but it was also a powerful declaration: human life is sacred.

How Do We Understand the Wars in the Book of Joshua?

For many people today, the commands for Israel to wipe out the Canaanite nations are the hardest passages to read in the entire Old Testament. It seems to fly in the face of a God of love. There’s no easy, one-sentence answer, but the historical and theological context is vital.

First, these commands were for a specific people, at a specific time, for a specific purpose. They were not a universal green light for holy war. God was using Israel as his instrument of judgment against societies the Bible describes as deeply and violently corrupt—rife with idolatry and even child sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:29-31). The conquest of Canaan is framed as a one-time act of divine judgment in history, not a blueprint for the future. It wasn’t a license for God’s people to wage war whenever they saw fit.

Can Self-Defense Be Justified Biblically?

The Bible also makes room for the practical reality of protecting your life and your family. Exodus 22:2-3 gives us a clear scenario: if a homeowner kills a thief who breaks in at night, they are not guilty of bloodshed. But if the same thing happens during the day, they are guilty.

Why the difference? At night, you can’t know the intruder’s intent. Are they there just to steal, or to kill? The law allows for lethal force because the threat is unknown and immediate. In the daylight, however, the situation is clearer. There are other options besides killing. The principle is straightforward: lethal force is allowed when necessary to protect innocent life from an immediate threat, but it’s a last resort, not a first option.

I had a moment that brought this home for me. Walking to my car late one night, a man jumped out from an alley and started coming at me, shouting aggressively. My heart hammered against my ribs. I felt that primal surge of adrenaline, the instinct to do whatever it took to protect myself. Thankfully, he turned away at the last second. But for a few terrifying seconds, I understood the weight of these ancient laws. They aren’t abstract ideas. They’re grounded in the high-stakes reality of preserving life.

How Did Jesus Change Our Understanding of Murder?

When Jesus comes along, he doesn’t throw out the Old Testament law. He fulfills it by revealing its true, deepest meaning. He showed that the physical act was just the ugly end of a story that starts much, much earlier.

It starts with our thoughts. This shift is one of the most radical parts of his entire ministry.

What Did Jesus Say in the Sermon on the Mount?

In his most famous sermon, Jesus looks the sixth commandment right in the eye. He says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:21-22).

Think about that. Jesus connects a criminal act, murder, with a private emotion: anger. He says that contempt for another person, calling them a fool, puts you on the same dangerous path. He’s saying the spiritual sickness that leads one person to pull a trigger is present in the heart of another who just seethes with contempt. He isn’t just trimming the weeds; he’s ripping them out by the root.

Is Anger Really the Same as Murder?

No, Jesus isn’t saying that a flash of anger is morally identical to the act of murder. Society’s consequences are vastly different, and the law reflects that. What he’s teaching is that in God’s courtroom, the sin begins in the heart. Simmering anger and deep-seated contempt for someone is, in essence, spiritual murder. It’s the desire to devalue, dismiss, and destroy another person in our hearts, even if our hands stay clean.

This teaching turns the spotlight on us. It’s easy to say, “Well, I’m no murderer.” We check that box and move on. But Jesus won’t let us. He demands we inspect our hearts.

• Have we let bitterness grow?
• Do we secretly hold people in contempt?
• Do we dehumanize those we disagree with?

Jesus makes it clear that obeying this command isn’t just about what we do or don’t do. It’s about who we are becoming.

How Does John Connect Hatred and Murder?

The Apostle John, one of Jesus’ inner circle, puts it even more bluntly. He writes, “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him” (1 John 3:15).

There it is. No wiggle room. Hatred is murder of the heart. It is the polar opposite of the love that is supposed to be the defining mark of a Christian. John’s point is that God’s love and human hatred cannot coexist in the same heart. This gets to the core of Jesus’ ethic. Following him isn’t about just changing our behavior. It’s about having our hearts transformed.

What’s the Core Principle Behind All of This?

So, why? Why is murder such an unspeakable crime? Why does Jesus connect it to anger and hate? The Bible gives one, consistent answer that sits beneath all these laws: the sacred, built-in value of a human life. This isn’t just a nice thought. It’s a core doctrine that goes all the way back to the first page of the Bible.

This principle, the Imago Dei, is the foundation for everything.

Why is Human Life So Sacred in the Bible?

Genesis 1:27 is one of the most important sentences ever written: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” This is the Imago Dei—the Image of God. We are unique. Unlike anything else in creation, humanity was designed to be a living, walking, breathing representation of God in the world.

This means every single person, from the unborn child to the elderly man on his deathbed, has a dignity and value that can’t be taken away. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they can do, or what they believe. To murder a human being isn’t just to stop a beating heart; it is to demolish an image-bearer of God. It is an assault on God himself. As a scholar from the Yale Divinity School would affirm, this concept of the Imago Dei is the very root of Western ideas about human rights and dignity.

Does This Apply to All People?

Without exception. The Image of God is stamped on every member of the human race. This changes everything. It means our political rivals have value. It means the person who cut us off in traffic has value. It means our deepest enemies, the people who have wounded us most, have value.

I once had a bitter dispute with a business partner. I was convinced he had cheated me, and I was consumed by anger. In my head, I tore him to shreds. I turned him into a villain, a caricature. It took a long time and a lot of prayer for me to see my own sin in it. I had to repent of the “murder” I was committing in my own heart.

I had to force myself to remember that this man, whatever he had done, was still made in God’s image. That didn’t make his actions right, but it totally changed my posture. It moved me from a place of hatred to a place where I could actually seek a just resolution. That is the power of the Imago Dei.

How Should Christians Approach Complex Issues Like War and Law Enforcement Today?

Bringing these ancient principles into our messy modern world takes wisdom and a whole lot of humility. The Bible isn’t an instruction manual with a checklist for every possible scenario. Instead, it gives us a moral framework to think through tough issues like modern war and policing.

Good, faithful people can look at this framework and come to different conclusions.

Does the Bible Give a Clear Answer on Modern Warfare?

While the Old Testament has these unique instances of “holy war,” it gives no nation today a blank check to do the same. For centuries, Christian thinkers have wrestled with this, leading to what is often called the Just War Theory. This is a set of moral criteria used to determine if going to war can be justified. It includes things like:

• Just Cause: War must be a response to a grave evil, like stopping a genocide.
• Right Intention: The goal must be to restore peace, not for revenge or gain.
• Last Resort: Every other peaceful option has to be tried and failed.
• Proportionality: The good that the war can achieve must outweigh the terrible harm it will cause.
• Civilian Immunity: Every possible effort must be made to avoid harming non-combatants.

Christians land in different places, from full pacifism to a firm belief in just war principles. There are no easy answers here, only a call to recognize the immense gravity of war.

What About a Christian Serving as a Police Officer or Soldier?

In Romans 13, the Apostle Paul calls the governing authorities “God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” This gives a strong foundation for a Christian to serve honorably in law enforcement or the military. These roles are a part of the government’s God-given duty to protect the innocent and maintain order.

But this isn’t a license for injustice. A Christian in uniform is still accountable to God’s higher law. They must do their job with integrity, restraint, and a deep respect for human life. They have to see the Imago Dei even in the people they must oppose. It’s a profoundly difficult calling that demands incredible character, balancing justice and mercy, order and love.

The Heart of the Matter

So, what’s the final word? What the Bible says about killing is simpler, and yet deeper, than we often imagine. The command itself is absolute: “You shall not murder.” You must not maliciously take the life of an innocent, fellow image-bearer of God. That moral line is drawn in the sand.

But the Bible is not a fairy tale. It’s a book for the real world, a fallen world where evil exists, and the innocent need defending. It carefully distinguishes between the crime of murder and the tragic, but sometimes necessary, use of force to uphold justice.

In the end, though, Jesus pulls our gaze back from the actions of our hands to the attitude of our hearts. The true spirit of the command isn’t just about not killing. It’s about becoming people who actively love, forgive, and work for the good of others—even our enemies. It is a call to look at every person we see and recognize in them the sacred, precious, and undeniable image of the God who made us all.

FAQ – What the Bible Says About Killing