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! You have driven me out from the face of the earth today, and I shall be hidden from Your face. And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall be that anyone who finds me shall kill me.
and surely the blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of man. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man; for He made man in the image of God.
He that strikes a man, so that he dies, shall be surely put to death. And if a man does not lie in wait, but God delivers him into his hand, then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. read more. But if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, you shall take him from My altar, so that he may die.
And he who kills any man shall surely be put to death.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you have come over Jordan into the land of Canaan, read more. then you shall choose cities to be cities of refuge for you, so that the slayer who kills any person through error may flee there. And they shall be to you cities for refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer does not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. And of those cities which you shall give, you shall have six cities for refuge. You shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge for the sons of Israel, and for the stranger, and for anyone who stays among them, so that everyone who kills any person through error may flee there. And if he strikes him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he strikes him by throwing a stone, with which he may die, and if he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he strikes him with a hand weapon of wood, with which he may die, and if he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The revenger of blood himself shall kill the murderer. When he meets him, he shall kill him. And if he stabs him from hatred, or hurls at him by lying in wait, so that he dies, or in hatred strikes him with his hand so that he dies, he who struck him shall surely he put to death. He is a murderer. The revenger of blood will kill the murderer when he meets him. But if he thrusts him suddenly without hatred, or has thrown something on him without lying in wait, or with any stone with which a man may die if he does not see, and throws it upon him so that he dies, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the one who kills and the revenger of blood according to these judgments. And the congregation shall deliver the one who kills out of the hand of the revenger of blood. And the congregation shall send him back to the city of his refuge, to which he had fled. And he shall stay in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the one who killed shall at any time come outside the border of the city of his refuge to which he had fled, and if the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and if the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the one who killed shall return to the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. And you 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 you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to the city of his refuge, to return to live in the land until the death of the high priest. So you shall not defile the land in which you are. For blood defiles the land. And the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him that shed it. So do not defile the land which you shall inhabit, in which I dwell. For I Jehovah dwell among the sons of Israel.
When Jehovah your God has cut off the nations whose land Jehovah your God gives you, and when you take their place and live in their cities and in their houses, you shall separate three cities for you in the middle of your land, which Jehovah your God gives you to possess it. read more. You shall prepare you a way, and divide the borders of your land which Jehovah your God gives you to inherit, into three parts, so that every slayer may flee there. And this is the case of the slayer who shall flee there that he may live: whoever in error kills his neighbor whom he did not hate him before, even he who goes into the wood with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand brings a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the wood and lights on his neighbor so that he dies; he shall flee to one of those cities and live, so that the avenger of the blood may not pursue the slayer while his heart is hot, and overtake him because the way is long, and kill him, and he had no sentence worthy of death, for he did not hate him in time past. Therefore I command you saying, You shall separate three cities for you. And if Jehovah your God makes your border larger, as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He promised to give to your fathers; if you will keep all these commandments which I command you today, to do them, to love Jehovah your God, and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add to yourself three more cities to these three, so that innocent blood may not be shed in your land which Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance, and blood may not be on you. But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes his life from him, so that he dies, and flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and bring him away from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away innocent blood from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
If one is found dead in the land which Jehovah your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has killed him, then your elders and your judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is dead. read more. And it shall be, the city nearest to the slain one, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which has not been worked with, which has not drawn in the yoke. And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to an ever-flowing stream, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the stream. And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near. For Jehovah your God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried. And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain one, shall wash their hands over the heifer that has been beheaded in the stream. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen. Be merciful, O Jehovah, to Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So you shall put away innocent blood from among you, when you do the right in the sight of Jehovah.
Rejoice, O, nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His foes and will be merciful to His land, to His people.
and as those who bore the ark had come to Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for Jordan overflows all its banks, all the time of harvest);
And Saul said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised ones come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not, for he was very much afraid. So Saul took a sword and fell on it.
For He remembers them, the seekers of bloodshed; He forgets not the cry of the humble.
But You, O God, will bring them down into the pit of ruin; bloody and deceitful men shall not live half their days; but I will trust in You.
And Jehovah said to him, Call his name God Will Sow. For still in a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "You shall not kill" --and, "Whoever shall kill shall be liable to the judgment." But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be liable to the judgment. And whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the sanhedrin; but whoever shall say, Fool! shall be liable to be thrown into the fire of hell.
You are of the Devil as father, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Indeed, then, this one purchased a field with the reward of unrighteousness. And falling headlong, he burst apart in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out.
And when the foreigners saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, being saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed to live.
But outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone 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 the blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of man. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man; for He made man in the image of God.
He that strikes a man, so that he dies, shall be surely put to death.
But if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, you shall take him from My altar, so that he may die. And he that strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. read more. And he that steals a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. And he that curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
And he who kills any man shall surely be put to death.
And if he strikes him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
Or if he strikes him with a hand weapon of wood, with which he may die, and if he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The revenger of blood himself shall kill the murderer. When he meets him, he shall kill him. read more. And if he stabs him from hatred, or hurls at him by lying in wait, so that he dies, or in hatred strikes him with his hand so that he dies, he who struck him shall surely he put to death. He is a murderer. The revenger of blood will kill the murderer when he meets him.
or in hatred strikes him with his hand so that he dies, he who struck him shall surely he put to death. He is a murderer. The revenger of blood will kill the murderer when he meets him. But if he thrusts him suddenly without hatred, or has thrown something on him without lying in wait, read more. or with any stone with which a man may die if he does not see, and throws it upon him so that he dies, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the one who kills and the revenger of blood according to these judgments. And the congregation shall deliver the one who kills out of the hand of the revenger of blood. And the congregation shall send him back to the city of his refuge, to which he had fled. And he shall stay in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the one who killed shall at any time come outside the border of the city of his refuge to which he had fled, and if the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and if the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the one who killed shall return to the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. And you 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 that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. So you shall put the evil away from among you. read more. If a matter is too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, matters of strife within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose. And you shall come to the priests of the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and ask. And they shall declare to you the sentence of judgment. And you shall do according to the sentence which they declare to you from that place which Jehovah shall choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they tell you. According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach you and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand or the left. And the man that acts proudly and will not listen to the priest who stands to minister there before Jehovah your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. And you shall put away the evil from Israel.
But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes his life from him, so that he dies, and flees to one of these cities,
Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away innocent blood from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
If one is found dead in the land which Jehovah your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has killed him, then your elders and your judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is dead. read more. And it shall be, the city nearest to the slain one, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which has not been worked with, which has not drawn in the yoke. And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to an ever-flowing stream, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the stream. And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near. For Jehovah your God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried. And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain one, shall wash their hands over the heifer that has been beheaded in the stream. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen. Be merciful, O Jehovah, to Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So you shall put away innocent blood from among you, when you do the right in the sight of Jehovah.
Cursed is he who thinks lightly of his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
And now take yourselves twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.
and as those who bore the ark had come to Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for Jordan overflows all its banks, all the time of harvest);
You are of the Devil as father, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
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 the blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of man. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man; for He made man in the image of God.
He that strikes a man, so that he dies, shall be surely put to death.
And if a man strikes his servant, or his maidservant, with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. But if he continues a day or two, he shall not be punished. For he is his money.
If an ox gores a man or woman so that they die, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall be set free.
If a thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, no blood shall be shed for him. If the sun is risen upon him, blood is due for him. He should repay in full. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
The revenger of blood himself shall kill the murderer. When he meets him, he shall kill him. And if he stabs him from hatred, or hurls at him by lying in wait, so that he dies, read more. or in hatred strikes him with his hand so that he dies, he who struck him shall surely he put to death. He is a murderer. The revenger of blood will kill the murderer when he meets him. But if he thrusts him suddenly without hatred, or has thrown something on him without lying in wait, or with any stone with which a man may die if he does not see, and throws it upon him so that he dies, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the one who kills and the revenger of blood according to these judgments. And the congregation shall deliver the one who kills out of the hand of the revenger of blood. And the congregation shall send him back to the city of his refuge, to which he had fled. And he shall stay in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the one who killed shall at any time come outside the border of the city of his refuge to which he had fled, and if the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and if the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the one who killed shall return to the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
So you shall not defile the land in which you are. For blood defiles the land. And the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him that shed it. So do not defile the land which you shall inhabit, in which I dwell. For I Jehovah dwell among the sons of Israel.
At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. So you shall put the evil away from among you. read more. If a matter is too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, matters of strife within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose. And you shall come to the priests of the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and ask. And they shall declare to you the sentence of judgment. And you shall do according to the sentence which they declare to you from that place which Jehovah shall choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they tell you. According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach you and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand or the left. And the man that acts proudly and will not listen to the priest who stands to minister there before Jehovah your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. And you shall put away the evil from Israel.
then the elders of his city shall send and bring him away from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood so that he may die.
then both the men who are disagreeing shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges which shall be in those days.
If one is found dead in the land which Jehovah your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has killed him, then your elders and your judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is dead. read more. And it shall be, the city nearest to the slain one, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which has not been worked with, which has not drawn in the yoke. And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to an ever-flowing stream, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the stream. And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near. For Jehovah your God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried. And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain one, shall wash their hands over the heifer that has been beheaded in the stream. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen. Be merciful, O Jehovah, to Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So you shall put away innocent blood from among you, when you do the right in the sight of Jehovah.
And David called one of the young men and said, Go near; fall on him. And he struck him so that he died. And David said to him, Your blood be upon your head, for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain Jehovah's anointed.
And King David longed to go forth to Absalom, for he was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead.
And behold, the whole family has risen against your handmaid. And they said, Deliver him who struck his brother so that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed. And we will destroy the heir also. And so they shall put out my coal which is left, and shall leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the face of the earth. And the king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will give command concerning you. read more. And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord, O king, may the iniquity be on me and on my father's house. And may the king and his throne be without guilt. And the king said, Whoever speaks to you, you also bring him to me, and he shall not touch you any more. Then she said, Please let the king remember Jehovah your God, that you would not allow the avengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they should destroy my son. And he said, As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.
And also you know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, that he murdered them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle on his loins, and in his shoes on his feet. And you shall do according to your wisdom and shall not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.
And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him, so that you may take away the innocent blood which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father.
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him and killed him. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
But the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, You have shed much blood and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to My name because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.
For He remembers them, the seekers of bloodshed; He forgets not the cry of the humble.
You are of the Devil as father, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
not as Cain who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. And for what did he kill him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's things were righteous.
Everyone hating his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has everlasting 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, wives of Lamech, listen to my speech. For I have killed a man because of my wound, and a young man because of my hurt.
and surely the blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of man. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man; for He made man in the image of God.
For it is a servant of God to you for good. For if you practice evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain; for it is a servant of God, a revenger for wrath on him who does 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 that strikes a man, so that he dies, shall be surely put to death.
But if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, you shall take him from My altar, so that he may die.
If a thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, no blood shall be shed for him. If the sun is risen upon him, blood is due for him. He should repay in full. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
And he who kills any man shall surely be put to death.
And he who kills an animal shall restore it. And he who kills a man shall be put to death.
And King David longed to go forth to Absalom, for he was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead.
And behold, the whole family has risen against your handmaid. And they said, Deliver him who struck his brother so that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed. And we will destroy the heir also. And so they shall put out my coal which is left, and shall leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the face of 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the one who killed shall return to the land of his possession.
If one is found dead in the land which Jehovah your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has killed him, then your elders and your judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is dead. read more. And it shall be, the city nearest to the slain one, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which has not been worked with, which has not drawn in the yoke. And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to an ever-flowing stream, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the stream. And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near. For Jehovah your God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried. And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain one, shall wash their hands over the heifer that has been beheaded in the stream. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen. Be merciful, O Jehovah, to Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.