Commandment

[Dinah]

The commandment, when translated correctly from the Hebrew, is "Do not murder." Murder is a far cry from simply causing death.

Vegetables and fruits are killed in order that they can be eaten. Animals are killed for their meat to be eaten, their bones to be made into tools, and their hides to be made into leather. If someone comes to kill you, you not only have the right to defend yourself as much as is necessary (words if possible; light defense if needed; hard defense if needed; killing as a last resort, but yes, it's permitted) -- because not doing so would be condoning sin. If a nation attacks your nation, you are obligated to defend it: Deuteronomy 21:10, "When you go to necessary battle..." It does, rather pointedly in the Hebrew, say "necessary." Battles, by the way, aren't considered to be battles at all if you're just playing suspense-filled game of chess. For a battle to be a battle, there's bloodshed. There's killing. It's ugly, but as the Biblical text states fairly clearly, it is sometimes needed.

Murder is on a whole 'nother level, however. Murder is the willful, unnecessary destruction of life. It is robbing the individual of life, and robbing the world of the individual, without sufficient cause. That is what's being commanded against.

I'm sure there's someone here who is a Hebrew scholar, who can correct me if I'm mistaken about this, so please feel free: The verb "murder" in Exodus 20:12 is spelled תִרְצָח (tirtzach) and I think it comes from the root word "rotzah" meaning "want." That is, to be all poetic and pretentious about it, to feel that what you want is more important than someone else's right to exist.