When is murder not murder?
Moses was a killer -
Ex. 2:12 "Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand"
Moses saw the Egyptian mistreat a Hebrew slave and after checking that there was nobody around to see what he was about to do, he smote him down and hid the body. The Bible does not call Moses a murderer nor does it anywhere condemn his action in killing the Egyptian. But what about the so-called "Ten Commandments," the words recorded in Exodus 20, the words that God wrote on the two stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai?
In the Torah, these words are never referred to as the Ten Commandments, the phrase is accurately translated as the Ten Sayings, the Ten Statements, the Ten Declarations, the Ten Words or even the Ten Things, but not as the Ten Commandments. The general perception is that the "Ten Commandments" are part of the common religious heritage of Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism, part of the sacred scriptures they all share and should not be controversial but this is not entirely correct. "Thou shalt not murder," is a bit closer to the connotations of the original Hebrew (though still not entirely accurate) of Judaism's sixth declaration rather than the unequivocal "Thou Shalt not kill" of the Bible.
Some argue that since Moses "looked this way and that way," he was necessarily guilty of murder but Bible commentators such as Robert Jamieson, Trinity educated A. R. Fausset, and David Brown identify what occurred in Ex. 2:12 as a slaying instead of murder-
This act of Moses...by some has been condemned as rash and unjustifiable--in plain terms a deed of assassination. But...not only is it not spoken of as a crime in Scripture or as distressing the perpetrator with remorse, but according to existing customs among nomadic tribes, he was bound to avenge the blood of a brother.
The distinction between 'Murder' and 'killing' is further eroded in Acts 7:24, killing for vengeance is not murder-
When he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended him and avenged the man who was being mistreated by killing the Egyptian.
Moses knew that the Pharaoh would put him to death for the slaying of the Egyptian so he fled to the Kingdom of Midian where he was given full asylum. He married a Midianite woman who bore him two children. 40 bible years later he returned to Egypt, freed the tribes of Israel and ordered 12,000 of them to kill, plunder and kidnap-
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people.” And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. “A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.” So there were furnished from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, and the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. So they made war against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. And they killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. And the sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods, they plundered. Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire. And they took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast. And they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
That was an awful lot of killing of his wife's own people but still Moses wasn't satisfied-
And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the Lord. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves".
The killing of innocent women, children and non combatants for vengeance and profit in the name of faith is nothing new.
*There is no historical evidence of the genocide of the Midianites, the Egyptian slavery of Hebrews or that Moses was a real person. The convenient distinction between 'Murder' and 'Killing for God' exists only in the minds of men.
Moses was a killer -
Ex. 2:12 "Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand"
Moses saw the Egyptian mistreat a Hebrew slave and after checking that there was nobody around to see what he was about to do, he smote him down and hid the body. The Bible does not call Moses a murderer nor does it anywhere condemn his action in killing the Egyptian. But what about the so-called "Ten Commandments," the words recorded in Exodus 20, the words that God wrote on the two stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai?
In the Torah, these words are never referred to as the Ten Commandments, the phrase is accurately translated as the Ten Sayings, the Ten Statements, the Ten Declarations, the Ten Words or even the Ten Things, but not as the Ten Commandments. The general perception is that the "Ten Commandments" are part of the common religious heritage of Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism, part of the sacred scriptures they all share and should not be controversial but this is not entirely correct. "Thou shalt not murder," is a bit closer to the connotations of the original Hebrew (though still not entirely accurate) of Judaism's sixth declaration rather than the unequivocal "Thou Shalt not kill" of the Bible.
Some argue that since Moses "looked this way and that way," he was necessarily guilty of murder but Bible commentators such as Robert Jamieson, Trinity educated A. R. Fausset, and David Brown identify what occurred in Ex. 2:12 as a slaying instead of murder-
This act of Moses...by some has been condemned as rash and unjustifiable--in plain terms a deed of assassination. But...not only is it not spoken of as a crime in Scripture or as distressing the perpetrator with remorse, but according to existing customs among nomadic tribes, he was bound to avenge the blood of a brother.
The distinction between 'Murder' and 'killing' is further eroded in Acts 7:24, killing for vengeance is not murder-
When he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended him and avenged the man who was being mistreated by killing the Egyptian.
Moses knew that the Pharaoh would put him to death for the slaying of the Egyptian so he fled to the Kingdom of Midian where he was given full asylum. He married a Midianite woman who bore him two children. 40 bible years later he returned to Egypt, freed the tribes of Israel and ordered 12,000 of them to kill, plunder and kidnap-
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people.” And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. “A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.” So there were furnished from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, and the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. So they made war against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. And they killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. And the sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods, they plundered. Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire. And they took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast. And they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
That was an awful lot of killing of his wife's own people but still Moses wasn't satisfied-
And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the Lord. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves".
The killing of innocent women, children and non combatants for vengeance and profit in the name of faith is nothing new.
*There is no historical evidence of the genocide of the Midianites, the Egyptian slavery of Hebrews or that Moses was a real person. The convenient distinction between 'Murder' and 'Killing for God' exists only in the minds of men.
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