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 hast driven me this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it will come to pass, that every one that findeth me will slay me.
And surely your blood of your lives will I require: at the hand of every beast 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 sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
He that smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall be surely put to death. And if a man shall not lie in wait, but God shall deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. read more. But if a man shall come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from my altar, that he may die.
And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When ye have passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; read more. Then ye shall appoint for you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, who killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be to you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the man-slayer may not die, until he stands before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which ye shall give, six cities shall ye have for refuge. Ye shall give three cities on this side of Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. And if he shall smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he shall die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he shall smite him by throwing a stone, by which he may die, and he shall die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he shall smite him with a hand-weapon of wood, with which he may die, and he shall die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. But if he shall thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying in wait, that he die. Or in enmity shall smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. But if he shall thrust him suddenly without enmity, or shall have cast upon him any thing without laying in wait, Or with any stone, by which a man may die, seeing him not, and shall cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he had fled: and he shall abide in it to the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he had fled; And the avenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood shall kill 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 slayer shall return into 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 killeth 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 killeth 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. Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. read more. And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that hath fled to the city of his refuge, that he should 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 defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, in which I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it. read more. Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the limits of thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither. And this is the case of the slayer, who shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoever killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand maketh a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and falleth upon his neighbor, that he dieth: he shall flee to one of these cities, and live: Lest the avenger of blood shall pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. And if the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy limits, as he hath sworn to thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give to thy fathers; If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three: That innocent blood may not be shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. But if any man shall hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally, that he dieth, and he shall flee into one of these cities: Then the elders of his city shall send and bring him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Thy eye shall not pity him, but thou shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may be well with thee.
If one shall be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him that is slain: read more. And it shall be that the city which is next to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a rough valley, which is neither tilled nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley; And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near (for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD) and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried; And all the elders of that city that are next to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O LORD, to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful to his land, and to his people.
And as they that bore the ark had come to Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest,)
Then said Saul to his armor-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised should come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not; for he was exceedingly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
And the 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 to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say to you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment: and whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
And when the barbarians saw the animal hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and lewd men, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loveth and maketh 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 of your lives will I require: at the hand of every beast 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 sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
He that smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall be surely put to death.
But if a man shall come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from my altar, that he may die. And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. read more. And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he shall be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
And if he shall smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he shall die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Or if he shall smite him with a hand-weapon of wood, with which he may die, and he shall die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. read more. But if he shall thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying in wait, that he die. Or in enmity shall smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.
Or in enmity shall smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. But if he shall thrust him suddenly without enmity, or shall have cast upon him any thing without laying in wait, read more. Or with any stone, by which a man may die, seeing him not, and shall cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he had fled: and he shall abide in it to the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he had fled; And the avenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood shall kill 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 slayer shall return into 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 killeth 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. Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt remove the evil from among you. read more. If there shall 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 shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt remove the evil from Israel.
But if any man shall hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally, that he dieth, and he shall flee into one of these cities:
Thy eye shall not pity him, but thou shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may be well with thee.
If one shall be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him that is slain: read more. And it shall be that the city which is next to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a rough valley, which is neither tilled nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley; And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near (for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD) and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried; And all the elders of that city that are next to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O LORD, to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother: and all the people shall say, Amen.
Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.
And as they that bore the ark had come to Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest,)
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh 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 your blood of your lives will I require: at the hand of every beast 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 sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
He that smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall be surely put to death.
And if a man shall smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he shall die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he shall continue a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his money.
If an ox shall gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
If a thief shall be found breaking through, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. If the sun shall have risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him: for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. But if he shall thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying in wait, that he die. read more. Or in enmity shall smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. But if he shall thrust him suddenly without enmity, or shall have cast upon him any thing without laying in wait, Or with any stone, by which a man may die, seeing him not, and shall cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he had fled: and he shall abide in it to the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he had fled; And the avenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood shall kill 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 slayer shall return into 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 killeth 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 ye shall not pollute the land in which ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, in which I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt remove the evil from among you. read more. If there shall 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 shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt remove the evil from Israel.
Then the elders of his city shall send and bring him thence, 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 the LORD, before the priests, and the judges, who shall be in those days;
If one shall be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him that is slain: read more. And it shall be that the city which is next to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a rough valley, which is neither tilled nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley; And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near (for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD) and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried; And all the elders of that city that are next to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O LORD, to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. And David said to him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the 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 hath risen against thy handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they will quench my coal which is left, and will not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth. And the king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee. read more. And the woman of Tekoah 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 saith aught to thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and 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 slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary head go down to the grave in peace.
And the king said to him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.
So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build a house to my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.
When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Whoever hateth his brother, is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath 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 slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
And surely your blood of your lives will I require: at the hand of every beast 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 sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou doest that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth 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 smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall be surely put to death.
But if a man shall come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from my altar, that he may die.
If a thief shall be found breaking through, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. If the sun shall have risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him: for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he 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 hath risen against thy handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they will quench my coal which is left, and will not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.
Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, 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 the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
If one shall be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him that is slain: read more. And it shall be that the city which is next to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a rough valley, which is neither tilled nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley; And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near (for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD) and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried; And all the elders of that city that are next to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O LORD, to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.