" It is the Sixth Commandment that God hands down to Moses according to the Old Testament. Upon reading the Sixth Commandment, it sounds straightforward, perhaps the clearest of the Ten Commandments. But as the Old Testament continues, it emerges that the Sixth Commandment is not as straightforward as it first appears. In fact there are several exceptions to the law, "you shall not kill" illustrated throughout the scripture. In light of the exceptions to the Sixth Commandment as written thousands of years ago into the Old Testament, it is interesting to examine some of the more controversial modern day issues through the lens of the Old Testament and consider how the Sixth Commandment might apply to those issues today. .
According to the Old Testament, the Lord called Moses up to the top of Mount Sinai, and handed down the two tablets that contained the Ten Commandments. Moses was charged with sharing the Ten Commandments with the people as God meant for the commandments to be followed by the people as law. The Sixth Commandment reads, "You shall not kill" (Exodus, 20.13). .
This law seems clear and succinct: do not kill - it is wrong. However, it soon becomes clear in reading on in the Old Testament that there are many different types of killing and not all killing is necessarily wrong, in fact there are times when it is justified to kill. .
The following chapter in the Old Testament outlines all of the different circumstances in which killing is the prescribed punishment. For example, Exodus21.12 declares, "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death", and Exodus 21.15 states, "Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death" essentially advocating for capital punishment in the cases of murder and abuse. In Exodus21.23 perhaps one of the most familiar passages justifying killing is found, " then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, wound for wound, stripe for stripe".
