Thou Shall Not Murder.... (priest, Moses, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, exodus)

[Buttercup]

Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death. (Exodus 21:15 NAB)

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)

A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)

But if this charge is true (that she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB)

Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told." (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)

Anyone who is captured will be run through with a sword. Their little children will be dashed to death right before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked and their wives raped by the attacking hordes. For I will stir up the Medes against Babylon, and no amount of silver or gold will buy them off. The attacking armies will shoot down the young people with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for the children. (Isaiah 13:15-18 NLT)


I could list many, many more instances of murder in the OT as I'm sure many of you are aware. I've never quite understood why God issued the commandment to Moses, "Thou Shall Not Murder" yet before the tablet's even dry there's slashing and blood letting everywhere, even that of innocent children.

Why?

Anyone want to take a stab at the question?

[lunamoth]

I could list many, many more instances of murder in the OT as I'm sure many of you are aware. I've never quite understood why God issued the commandment to Moses, "Thou Shall Not Murder" yet before the tablet's even dry there's slashing and blood letting everywhere, even that of innocent children.

Why?

Anyone want to take a stab at the question?

First, the tablets were chiseled in stone, silly. They never had to dry.

My take on it is that the OT is a record by people about people, and life was harsh. I do not think those laws about stoning and burning people came from God, but from people trying to do the will of God while carving their own culture out of a hostile environment.

[Buttercup]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

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First, the tablets were chiseled in stone, silly. They never had to dry.

Literalist!

My take on it is that the OT is a record by people about people, and life was harsh. I do not think those laws about stoning and burning people came from God, but from people trying to do the will of God while carving their own culture out of a hostile environment.

Hmmm. Hostile environment. So, God tells Moses to tell his people not to commit murder. Yet their environment is so hostile that it's necessary to stone to death a girl who's not a virgin on her wedding night?

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by Buttercup

Literalist!

Touche!

Hmmm. Hostile environment. So, God tells Moses to tell his people not to commit murder. Yet their environment is so hostile that it's necessary to stone to death a girl who's not a virgin on her wedding night?

I don't mean hostile environment just in terms of wild critters, harsh living conditions, and threats from neighboring cultures. The Israelites were trying to keep their community and tribal identity intact, so they had lots of laws to maintain that distinction. And as I said, I think these are human laws (in fact I think all laws are human laws).

To try to illustrate what I mean: when people come to the US from another country but wish to maintain their original cultural identity, it's really hard. Even if the original generation hangs together with the traditional ways, the new generation is going to be easily influenced by the broader culture around them. The Israelites were likewise surrounded by other cultures that threatened to dilute them, or conquer and exile them. The only way to maintain the tradition is by use of harsh laws and penalties. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I think to an extent this explains the harshness of much of Leviticus.

[Buttercup]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

Touche!



I don't mean hostile environment just in terms of wild critters, harsh living conditions, and threats from neighboring cultures. The Israelites were trying to keep their community and tribal identity intact, so they had lots of laws to maintain that distinction. And as I said, I think these are human laws (in fact I think all laws are human laws).

To try to illustrate what I mean: when people come to the US from another country but wish to maintain their original cultural identity, it's really hard. Even if the original generation hangs together with the traditional ways, the new generation is going to be easily influenced by the broader culture around them. The Israelites were likewise surrounded by other cultures that threatened to dilute them, or conquer and exile them. The only way to maintain the tradition is by use of harsh laws and penalties. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I think to an extent this explains the harshness of much of Leviticus.

So, you don't think the 10 Commandments were from God?

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by Buttercup

So, you don't think the 10 Commandments were from God?

I think there is only one 'Law' from God: Love. Yes, I think the 10 commandments all derive from this one commandment: Love each other as I love you. Or another spin on the ten commandments, they all pretty much point out how to get along with each other, how to love God, each other, and ourselves.

[cardero]

Originally Posted by Buttercup

Why?

Anyone want to take a stab at the question?

Simple. It's not GOD.