{"id":7243,"date":"2019-05-06T06:14:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T11:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/?page_id=7243"},"modified":"2025-08-18T06:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:33:08","slug":"sixth-commandment-murder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/sixth-commandment-murder","title":{"rendered":"Sixth Commandment: Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0JUDGES, JURIES AND EXECUTIONERS<\/strong>
\nAttitudes about killing and murder are firmly lodged in the laws of all cultures.\u00a0Therefore, it is no surprise to find a Biblical commandment that says “thou shall not kill.”<\/a>\u00a0 It is so predictable that no one ever imagines that God might be using the literal language about physical murder to symbolically represent spiritual murder.<\/p>\n

Jesus makes this point very clear in Matthew 5:21-22:<\/a><\/p>\n

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER ‘ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing<\/a>,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool<\/a>,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.<\/p>\n

What Jesus is doing here is to reinterpret the original, literal, Hebrew scripture to explain it as God intends for it to be understood. Why did he find it necessary to do that? The reason is that the literal interpretation does not explain the full, deep, spiritual meaning of the commandment. Reinterpreting scripture was one of Jesus’ ministry functions<\/a> and is the responsibility of all New Covenant<\/a> disciples.<\/a><\/p>\n

We see here that merely being angry, calling someone a good-for-nothing, or fool commits murder in God’s eyes.<\/span><\/span> To fully appreciate the weight of this commandment it is necessary to understand the meanings of the Greek words translated as anger, good-for-nothing and fool. References below are found in Bible Hub’s Greek Concordances<\/a><\/p>\n

Cognate: 3710<\/b>\u00a0org\u00edz\u014d<\/i><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 be angry, as expressing a “fixed anger” (settled opposition).\u00a03710<\/a>\u00a0\/org\u00edz\u014d<\/i>\u00a0(“to show settled-opposition”) is\u00a0positive<\/i>\u00a0when\u00a0inspired by God<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 and always\u00a0negative<\/i>\u00a0when arising from the\u00a0flesh<\/i>. “Sinful<\/i>\u00a0(unnecessary) anger” focuses on punishing the\u00a0offender<\/i>\u00a0rather than the moral content of the\u00a0offense<\/i>.\u00a0See 3709<\/a>\u00a0(org\u0113<\/i>).\u00a0Orgizo anger can mean to provoke or arouse to another person to anger, or it can mean to be personally provoked to anger.<\/a><\/p>\n

4469<\/b>\u00a0rhak\u00e1<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(apparently related to the Aramaic term\u00a0r\u014dq<\/i>, “empty”) \u2013 properly,\u00a0empty-headed<\/i>. This term expressed contempt for a man’s\u00a0head<\/i>, viewing him as\u00a0stupid<\/i>\u00a0(without sense<\/i>) \u2013 i.e. a “numbskull” who acts presumptuously and\u00a0thoughtlessly<\/i>\u00a0(TDNT<\/i>).<\/p>\n

3474<\/b>\u00a0m\u014dr\u00f3s<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(the root of the English terms, “moron, moronic”) \u2013 properly,\u00a0dull<\/i> (insipid), flat (“without an edge”); (figuratively) “mentally inert”; dull in understanding; nonsensical (“moronic”), lacking a grip on reality (acting as though “brainless”).\u00a0[This root (m\u014dr-<\/i>) “properly refers to physical nerves causing one to become\u00a0dull, sluggish\u00a0<\/i>(so Hipp., Aristotle); used of the mind,\u00a0dull, stupid, foolish<\/i>” (Abbott-Smith<\/i>); “flat\/insipid” (WS<\/i>, 1062).\u00a03474<\/a>\u00a0(m\u014dr\u00f3s<\/i>) is used ironically of\u00a0apparent<\/i>\u00a0stupidity in 1 Cor 1;25,27, 3:18.]<\/p>\n

Obviously, Jesus’ definition of murder is much broader than the common definition which means to take a physical life. Basically, Jesus says that you are guilty of spiritual murder if you cause another person to be angry or if you are angered by another person. With that broad definition, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that all persons in all cultures have committed murder in their hearts because words that proceed from the mouth come from evil hearts. <\/a>This proves once again that God judges righteousness by looking at our hearts.<\/a><\/p>\n

Furthermore, because Jesus spoke for God<\/a>, we must conclude that God’s definition of murder includes words and actions that make another person angry or hurts their feelings. Using this definition, we might say that everyone who has spoken harshly to another person with unkind, unloving words has committed murder. Since there are few people who have not crossed that line of hurting someone with words or provoking someone to respond to us with their own angry words has committed murder in God’s eyes. This is not easy to accept, but, this is clearly how God defines murder, and we are all guilty.<\/p>\n

Even Jesus’ teaching about murder as being negative attitudes about a neighbor<\/a> does not dissuade religious people from thinking of murder in strictly literal terms. There is nothing in most cultures that relates being angry or calling someone a fool as being an offense that is so serious that a court would send offenders to a fiery hell. Thus, for failure to try to understand what Jesus is talking about, Jews and Christians continue to think about God’s commandment regarding murder\/killing in strictly literal terms.<\/p>\n

The truth is that the Sixth Commandment is about the condition of the heart. More to the point, it is a statement about the differences between clean, pure hearts<\/a> and evil, impure hearts<\/a>. Or, taking those comparisons one step further, it is about the\u00a0New Covenant<\/a> and the Old\/First Covenant<\/a>. Or, to make the commandment even more clear, we can say it is about the circumstances that lead to conflict between kings<\/a> and kingdoms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From beginning to end, the Bible is a book of conflict. We see it in Cain and Abel, and we see it in the battles between good and evil in the book of Revelation. Anger in the heart is the root cause of all conflict. Or, thinking in terms of the Sixth Commandment, we can say that the desire in the heart to murder is the root cause of all conflict.<\/p>\n

This perspective does not make sense unless we understand that religion is God’s enemy.<\/a> God and his army of true prophets,<\/a> angels,<\/a> messiahs,<\/a> high priests,<\/a> witnesses<\/a>, warriors<\/a>, servants, shepherds<\/a> and apostles <\/a>are at war with Serpents, Devils, Satans, Adversaries, Demons, Evil Spirits and Anti-Christs.<\/a> And the weapons used by both sides are words.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Perhaps the best way to understand the sixth commandment is to look at the life of Jesus where we see the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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