You Should Not Kill: The Sixth Commandment and its Applicati

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 Ol

When reading further into the Old Testament, it seems that the Sixth Commandment is more confusing and contradictory than when it is first delivered from God to Moses. “You should not kill” sounds straightforward and clear. It is in its application to real life where it becomes complicated and layered with exceptions. As we have evolved forward in history to today, the law is similarly complex and confusing. In both the cases of capital punishment and war, it seems that killing is justified when it serves as retribution for wrongdoing (other killing). Both today and in the Old Testament, this perspective seems contradictory. As is demonstrated by the war in Iraq, killing perpetuates killing. While it is interesting to note that the Old Testament still applies to some areas of modern day thought about killing, it is also disheartening. The Old Testament was written thousands of years ago; that its tenets are still upheld, and sometimes vigorously so, is remarkable. But in the case of the Sixth Commandment and the exceptions to it, that society has not evolved further is troubling.

d 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 t

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