Reference: Murder
American
The designed and malevolent taking of human life, was by the original appointment of God, a crime to be punished by death. Cain, the first murderer, recognized it as such, Ge 4:14. The ground for the death penalty for murder is the eminent dignity and sacredness of man as a child of God, Ge 9:5-6. Like the Sabbath and marriage, it is a primeval and universal institution for mankind, and all nations have so recognized it, Ac 28:4. The Mosaic code reenacted it, Le 24:17; and while providing for the unintentional homicide a safe retreat, declares that deliberate murder must be punished by death, from which neither the city of refuge nor the altar of God could shield the criminal, Ex 21:12-14; Nu 35:9-34; De 19:1-13; 1Ki 2:5-6,28-34. Death was usually inflicted by stoning, upon the testimony of at least two witnesses, Nu 35:30. If a corpse were found in the open fields, and the murderer could not be discovered, the town nearest to the spot was obliged to purge itself by a solemn ceremony, lest it should become liable to the judgments of God, De 21:1-9. In various ways God is represented as specially abhorring this crime, and securing its punishment, De 32:43; 2Sa 21:1; Ps 9:12; 55:23; Ho 1:4; Re 22:15. Our Savior instructs us that one may be guilty, in the sight of God, of murder in the heart, without any overt act, Mt 5:21-22; 1Jo 3:15. Nothing is said especially in the law respecting self-murder, and only the cases of Saul, Ahithophel, and Judas are described in the Bible, 1Sa 31:4; 2Sa 17:23; Ac 1:18. Of all murders, that of the soul is incomparably the most awful, Joh 8:44, and many plunge not only themselves but also others into the second death.
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Behold, thou have driven me out this day from the face of the ground, and I shall be hid from thy face, and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. And it shall come to pass, that whoever finds me shall slay me.
And surely your blood, [the blood] of your lives, I will require. At the hand of every beast I will require it. And at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God he made man.
He who smites a man, so that he dies, shall surely be put to death. And if a man does not lay in wait, but God delivers [him] into his hand, then I will appoint for thee a place where he shall flee. read more. And if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor, to kill him with guile, thou shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
And he who smites any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
And LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, read more. then ye shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. And the cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. And the cities which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities ye shall give in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. For the sons of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, these six cities shall be for refuge, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he smote him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. And if he thrust him from hatred, or hurled at him, laying in wait, so that he died, or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died, he who smote him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without laying in wait, or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, nor sought his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge where he fled. And he shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, and the avenger of blood find him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession. And these things shall be for a statute [and] ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person so that he dies.
Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person so that he dies. Moreover ye shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. read more. And ye shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. So ye shall not pollute the land in which ye are, for blood, it pollutes the land. And no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. And thou shall not defile the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, LORD, dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel.
When LORD thy God shall cut off the nations, whose land LORD thy God gives thee, and thou succeed them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses, thou shall set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which LORD thy God gives thee to possess it. read more. Thou shall prepare for thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which LORD thy God causes thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee there. And this is the case of the manslayer, who shall flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor unawares, and did not hate him in time past, as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the helve, and lands upon his neighbor, so that he dies, he shall flee to on Lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he did not hate him in time past. Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shall set apart three cities for thee. And if LORD thy God enlarge thy border, as he has sworn to thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give to thy fathers, if thou shall keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways, then shall thou add three more cities for thee, besides these three, that innocent blood not be shed in the midst of thy land, which LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and rises up against him, and smites him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shall put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
If a man is found slain in the land which LORD thy God gives thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it not be known who has smitten him, then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain, read more. and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke, and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for LORD thy God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of LORD, and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel whom thou have redeemed, and allow no innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shall thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee when thou shall do that which is right in the eyes of LORD.
Rejoice, O ye Gentiles, [with] his people. For he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will recompense those who hate him, and will make expiation for his land, for his people.
and when those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),
Then Saul said to his armor bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not, for he was very afraid. Therefore Saul took his s
For he who makes inquiry for blood remembers them. He does not forget the cry of the poor.
But thou, O God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in thee.
And LORD said to him, Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
Ye have heard that it was said to them in old times, Thou shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to the judgment. But I say to you, that every man who is angry at his brother without cause will be liable to the judgment, and whoever speaks an insult to his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says, Foolish man, will be liable to
Ye are from the father, the devil, and ye want to do the desires of your father. He was a man-killer from the beginning, and he has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his
(Indeed therefore this man obtained a field from the reward of his unrighteousness, and having become headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
And when the foreigners saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to each other, Certainly this man is a murderer, whom, though saved from the sea, Justice did not allow to live.
Outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every man who loves and makes a lie.
Easton
Wilful murder was distinguished from accidental homicide, and was invariably visited with capital punishment (Nu 35:16,18,21,31; Le 24:17). This law in its principle is founded on the fact of man's having been made in the likeness of God (Ge 9:5-6; Joh 8:44; 1Jo 3:12,15). The Mosiac law prohibited any compensation for murder or the reprieve of the murderer (Ex 21:12,14; De 19:11,13; 2Sa 17:25; 20:10). Two witnesses were required in any capital case (Nu 35:19-30; De 17:6-12). If the murderer could not be discovered, the city nearest the scene of the murder was required to make expiation for the crime committed (De 21:1-9). These offences also were to be punished with death, (1) striking a parent; (2) cursing a parent; (3) kidnapping (Ex 21:15-17; De 27:16).
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And surely your blood, [the blood] of your lives, I will require. At the hand of every beast I will require it. And at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God he made man.
He who smites a man, so that he dies, shall surely be put to death.
And if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor, to kill him with guile, thou shall take him from my altar, that he may die. And he who smites his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. read more. And he who steals a man, and sells him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. And he who curses his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
And he who smites any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. read more. And if he thrust him from hatred, or hurled at him, laying in wait, so that he died, or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died, he who smote him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.
or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died, he who smote him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without laying in wait, read more. or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, nor sought his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge where he fled. And he shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, and the avenger of blood find him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession. And these things shall be for a statute [and] ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person so that he dies. Moreover ye shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he who is to die be put to death. He shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shall put away the evil from the midst of thee. read more. If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then thou shall arise, and get thee up to the plac And thou shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and thou shall inquire. And they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. And thou shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show thee from that place which LORD shall choose. And thou shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee, according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shall do. Thou shall not turn aside from the sentence, which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor And the man who does presumptuously, in not hearkening to the priest who stands to minister there before LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shall put away the evil from Israel.
But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and rises up against him, and smites him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities,
Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shall put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
If a man is found slain in the land which LORD thy God gives thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it not be known who has smitten him, then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain, read more. and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke, and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for LORD thy God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of LORD, and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel whom thou have redeemed, and allow no innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shall thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee when thou shall do that which is right in the eyes of LORD.
Cursed be he who dishonors his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Now therefore take for you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man.
and when those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),
Ye are from the father, the devil, and ye want to do the desires of your father. He was a man-killer from the beginning, and he has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his
Fausets
In the Scripture view an outrage or sacrilege (Philo, Spec. Leg. 3:15) on God's likeness in man. Ge 9:5-6, "whose sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man." His blood was so sacred that "God requires it (compare Ps 9:12) of every beast"; so the ox that gored man must be killed (Ex 21:28). God's image implies in man a personal, moral, and responsible will. To cut short his day of grace and probation is the greatest wrong to man and insult to his Maker. Cain's punishment God Himself took in hand, dooming him to a life full of fears, remorse, and guilt. His life was temporarily spared, perhaps in order not to impede the natural increase of mankind at the first. But after the flood God delegated thenceforth the murderer's punishment, which is death, to man; life must go for life, blood for blood.
Murder results from the instigation of Satan the "murderer (of Adam's and Eve's souls, and Abel's body) from the beginning" (Joh 8:44). Not only the killer but the hater is a murderer before God (1Jo 3:12,15).Even a slave's life sacrificed under the rod entailed death, or some heavy punishment as the judges should decide on the master, unless the slave survived the beating a day or two, when it was presumed the master did not intend to kill him and the loss of his slave was deemed enough punishment (Ex 21:12,20-21). A housebreaker might be killed in the act by night; but if by day he was to be sold, so sacred was life regarded (Ex 22:2-3). The cities of refuge saved the manslayer, but not the murderer, from the blood avenger. (See CITIES OF REFUGE.)
Not even Jehovah's altar could save Joab (1Ki 2:5-6,31). Bloodshed in any way, even in war, brought pollution (Nu 35:33-34; De 21:1-9; 1Ch 28:3, David; 1Ch 22:8). Striking a pregnant woman so as to cause death brought capital punishment. Two witnesses were required before anyone could be put to death for murder, a check on private revenge (Nu 35:19-30; De 17:6-12; 19:12,17). The sovereign assumed the power of executing or pardoning murderers (2Sa 1:15-16, David and the Amalekite slayer of Saul; 2Sa 13:39; 14:7-11, David in respect to Anmon and Absalom; 1Ki 2:34, Solomon and Joab).
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And surely your blood, [the blood] of your lives, I will require. At the hand of every beast I will require it. And at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God he made man.
He who smites a man, so that he dies, shall surely be put to death.
And if a man smites his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he continues a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money.
And if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted.
If the thief is found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodguiltiness for him. [A thief] shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. And if he thrust him from hatred, or hurled at him, laying in wait, so that he died, read more. or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died, he who smote him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without laying in wait, or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, nor sought his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge where he fled. And he shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, and the avenger of blood find him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession. And these things shall be for a statute [and] ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person so that he dies.
So ye shall not pollute the land in which ye are, for blood, it pollutes the land. And no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. And thou shall not defile the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, LORD, dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel.
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he who is to die be put to death. He shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shall put away the evil from the midst of thee. read more. If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then thou shall arise, and get thee up to the plac And thou shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and thou shall inquire. And they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. And thou shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show thee from that place which LORD shall choose. And thou shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee, according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shall do. Thou shall not turn aside from the sentence, which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor And the man who does presumptuously, in not hearkening to the priest who stands to minister there before LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shall put away the evil from Israel.
then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before LORD, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days,
If a man is found slain in the land which LORD thy God gives thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it not be known who has smitten him, then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain, read more. and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke, and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for LORD thy God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of LORD, and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel whom thou have redeemed, and allow no innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shall thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee when thou shall do that which is right in the eyes of LORD.
And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him so that he died. And David said to him, Thy blood be upon thy head, for thy mouth has testified against thee, saying, I have slain LORD's anointed.
And [the soul of] king David longed to go forth to Absalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.
And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who smote his brother that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also. Thus they will quench my co And the king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee. read more. And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house, and the king and his throne be guiltless. And the king said, Whoever says anything to thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. Then she said, I pray thee, let the king remember LORD thy God, that the avenger of blood not destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As LORD lives, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
Moreover thou also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in pea Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and do not let his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace.
And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him, and bury him, that thou may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house.
Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and killed him. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
But the word of LORD came to me, saying, Thou have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars. Thou shall not build a house to my name because thou have shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.
For he who makes inquiry for blood remembers them. He does not forget the cry of the poor.
Ye are from the father, the devil, and ye want to do the desires of your father. He was a man-killer from the beginning, and he has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his
Not as Cain. He was of the wicked, and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were wrong, and his brother's right.
Every man hating his brother is a man-killer. And ye know that no man-killer has eternal life abiding in him.
Hastings
Morish
The first death was caused by murder when Cain slew his brother Abel, and the second recorded is when Lamech said, "I have slain a man to my wounding," or "for my wound;" which may mean that he did it in self-defence. Ge 4:23. God set a mark upon Cain that none should kill him; and Lamech said, "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold." After the flood God made a definite law concerning murder. God would require expiation for the blood of man, whether it was shed by beast or by man; at the hand of every man's brother, or kinsman, God would require the life of man. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." Ge 9:5-6. This injunction was repeated in the law, and has never been rescinded or modified. Neither does the N.T. in any way alter it: indeed it incidentally confirms it by declaring that the magistrate does not bear the sword in vain. Ro 13:4. God claims the life of man, and none can set aside His rights.
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And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech. For I have killed a man for wounding me, and a young man for bruising me.
And surely your blood, [the blood] of your lives, I will require. At the hand of every beast I will require it. And at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God he made man.
For he is a helper of God to thee for what is good. But if thou do what is evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is a helper of God, vengeful for wrath to the man who commits evil.
Smith
Murder.
The law of Moses, while it protected the accidental homicide, defined with additional strictness the crime of murder. It prohibited compensation or reprieve of the murderer, or his protection if he took refuge in the refuge city, or even at the altar of Jehovah.
Ex 21:12,14; Le 24:17,21; 1Ki 2:5-6,31
The duty of executing punishment on the murderer is in the law expressly laid on the "revenger of blood;" but the question of guilt was to be previously decided by the Levitical tribunal. In regal times the duty of execution of justice on a murderer seems to have been assumed to some extent by the sovereign, as was also the privilege of pardon.
It was lawful to kill a burglar taken at night in the act, but unlawful to do so after sunrise.
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He who smites a man, so that he dies, shall surely be put to death.
And if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor, to kill him with guile, thou shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
If the thief is found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodguiltiness for him. [A thief] shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
And he who smites any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
And he who kills a beast shall make it good. And he who kills a man shall be put to death.
And [the soul of] king David longed to go forth to Absalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.
And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who smote his brother that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also. Thus they will quench my co
Then she said, I pray thee, let the king remember LORD thy God, that the avenger of blood not destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As LORD lives, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
Watsons
MURDER. Among the Hebrews murder was always punished with death; but involuntary homicide, only by banishment. Cities of refuge were appointed for involuntary manslaughter, whither the slayer might retire and continue in safety till the death of the high priest, Nu 35:28. Then the offender was at liberty to return to his own house, if he pleased. A murderer was put to death without remission, and the kinsman of the murdered person might kill him with impunity. Money could not redeem his life: he was dragged away from the altar, if he had there taken refuge. When a dead body was found in the fields of a person slain by a murderer unknown, Moses commanded that the elders and judges of the neighbouring places should resort to the spot, De 21:1-8. The elders of the city nearest to it were to take a heifer which had never yet borne the yoke, and were to lead it into some rude and uncultivated place, which had not been ploughed or sowed, where they were to cut its throat. The priests of the Lord, with the elders and magistrates of the city, were to come near the dead body, and, washing their hands over the heifer that had been slain, were to say, "Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it shed. Lord, be favourable to thy people Israel, and impute not to us this blood, which has been shed in the midst of our country." This ceremony may inform us how much horror they conceived at the crime of murder; and it shows their fear that God might avenge it on the whole country; which was supposed to contract pollution by the blood spilt in it, unless it were expiated, and avenged on him who had occasioned it, if he could be discovered.
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because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession.
If a man is found slain in the land which LORD thy God gives thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it not be known who has smitten him, then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain, read more. and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke, and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for LORD thy God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of LORD, and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel whom thou have redeemed, and allow no innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.