Sixth Commandment: You Shall Not Murder

"You shall not murder." (Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17)

What is the Command?

The sixth commandment is, "You shall not murder."

The Hebrew word translated "murder" (תִּֿרְצָֽ֖, ratzach) signifies malicious and unlawful killing.[1] Lawful killings in the Bible include killing in war (Deut. 20:10–13) and judicial executions. Exodus 21 includes a list of crimes that were punishable by death.

Jesus taught that this commandment is more than a prohibition against physical acts of violence that lead to taking human life. It's also God's call for his people to honor and love him by honoring and loving all human beings in all possible ways. Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matt. 5:21–22)[2]

This commandment rests on the biblical truth that all human life is sacred because it is created by God in his image. "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:27). After the flood, God told Noah, "Whoever sheds human blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made mankind" (Gen. 9:6).

Because only humans are created in the image of God, we reflect a divine glory that sets us apart from all other created things. Therefore, all human life has infinite value and is inherently priceless. And since God is the ultimate creator of all human life, he alone has the rights to it. Human life cannot belong to anyone other than God.

Therefore, all human life is a sacred trust and a divine gift from God which God holds you accountable to protect, support, and honor in all possible ways.[3] In this commandment, God calls you to treat all human beings with honor, love, and dignity, reflecting the honor and love you owe to God, who created them in his image.

In the grand scheme of God's unfolding plan for humanity and the world no human being is insignificant. Every human being is an immortal being with potential for eternal significance regardless of their background, status, or struggles. There are no ordinary people.[4]

What is forbidden by God in the Sixth Commandment?

God forbids you to do anything that might cause harm or bring an end to human life. Human life is so valuable that anything which might cause it harm or cause it to come to an end must be avoided.

Murder, in its worst form, involves a callous disregard for life that results in someone's death. It includes the malicious and unlawful killing of a human being, either by direct or indirect intent. Even though someone may not intend to kill another person, but only cause them serious bodily harm, if the result is the loss of their life, that is murder.

There are several things, not always called murder, which this commandment also forbids. First, this commandment forbids suicide. Suicide is the act of self-murder. While the Bible does not teach that suicide is an unpardonable sin, it remains a serious violation of God's will that is forbidden in this commandment.

Euthanasia—the practice of using lethal means to end human life similar to the way animals are euthanized—is also forbidden. Although end-of-life decisions can be very complicated and difficult, the Bible is clear that no one but God has the right to directly end a human life.

The sixth commandment also forbids abortion, because life begins at conception, and the fetus is considered by God to be a human being created in his image. The psalmist praises God saying, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:13–14).

These are very challenging and complicated ethical issues that must not be taken lightly or dealt with in an overly simplistic way. For example, biblical exceptions to the sixth commandment may include killing someone in self-defense to protect your life or the lives of others, or removing life support from a loved one so they can die naturally.

Jesus also taught that the sixth commandment refers to much more than outward physical acts that end human life. Murder also includes the underlying heart issues that lead to harming and ending human life.

The Heidelberg Catechism gives us a fuller biblical meaning of this commandment when it answers Question 105: "Does this commandment refer only to murder?" with the words: "By forbidding murder God teaches us that he hates the root of murder: envy, hatred, anger, vindictiveness. In God’s sight all such are disguised forms of murder."

The Apostle John also equates hatred with murder when he writes, "Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him" (1 John 3:15).

When Jesus teaches that anger is "heart-murder," he is not teaching that God sees anger as equal to actual murder. Although both anger and murder make us guilty before God, murder is worse in God's eyes than anger or insults.[5]

God considers anger, hatred, and insults as serious offenses because they reflect the desire to harm others whom he created in his image. You can commit "heart-murder" in God's eyes without any physical violence. The only distinction might be the level of restraint you exercise due to the fear of consequences.

Phrases that express anger or hatred toward others highlight the seriousness of this issue in God's eyes, including statements such as, "I wish he were dead," "Just drop dead," or "Go to hell." Terms like "character assassination," equate verbal attacks with murder. 

Therefore, God forbids not only all physical actions that might cause harm or end a human life, but all harmful thoughts and desires that might lead to these actions. Harmful actions include showing disrespect by treating people with indifference, flippancy, coldness, and rejection.[6]

The Heidelberg Catechism Question 106 tells us:

I am not to belittle, hate, insult, or kill my neighbor—not by my thoughts, my words, my look, or gesture, and certainly not by actual deeds—and I am not to be party to this in others; rather, I am to put away all desire for revenge. I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself either.[7]

What is required by God in the Sixth Commandment?

The sixth commandment also directs us positively. Not only are we not to do anything that might cause harm or bring an end to human life, but we are also to protect, support, and honor human life in all possible ways.

This commandment is not just a prohibition against physical acts of violence but also a call to preserve life and act in ways that promote the well-being and dignity of others. The Heidelberg Catechism Question 106 asks:

• Question: "Is it enough, then, that we do not kill our neighbor in any such way?"

• Answer: "No. When God condemns envy, hatred, and anger, he commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to show patience, peace, gentleness, mercy, and friendliness toward them, to protect them from harm as much as we can, and to do good even to our enemies."[8]

Because all human life is infinitely valuable, we must not only avoid anything that might cause it harm, but we must also seek to treat all people with true dignity, warmth, seriousness, kindness, love, and acceptance, especially the weak, sick, poor, defenseless, and marginalized in society.

Therefore, we disobey the sixth commandment not only when we cause harm or bring an end to human life, but also when we have the opportunity to protect, support, and honor human life, but fail to do so.[9]

In his Large Catechism on the sixth commandment, Martin Luther writes:

Therefore, God rightly calls all persons murderers who do not offer counsel or assistance to those in need and peril of body and life. He will pass a most terrible sentence upon them at the Last Day, as Christ himself declares [in Matt. 25:42–43]. He will say, ‘I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ That is to say, ‘You would have permitted me and my family to die of hunger, thirst, and cold, to be torn to pieces by wild beasts, to rot in prison or perish from want.’[10]

The religious leaders of Jesus' day thought they were keeping the sixth commandment because they had not maliciously and unlawfully killed someone. Jesus taught them that they were all murderers in God's sight because of their anger toward others and their lack of love. They were all "liable to judgment...to the hell of fire" (Matt. 5:22–23).

Jesus raised the bar of this commandment, and all God's commandments, to the highest level so that we would understand our desperate need for the forgiveness and salvation that God the Father has graciously given us through Jesus by his Spirit. Jesus said, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48).

Through Jesus' sinless life he suffered in your place to obey the sixth commandment perfectly in all his thoughts, words, and actions. He lived the perfect life you have not lived so that he could die the death you deserve to die, in your place, to satisfy God's just requirements in all his commands that you love God and others perfectly.

The good news is that God promises all who believe in Jesus that when they fail to obey the sixth commandment perfectly, they can be forgiven. And they can be empowered by the Holy Spirit, not only to not do anything that might cause harm or bring an end to human life, but also to protect, support, and honor human life in all possible ways.

Catechism Questions

What is the Sixth Commandment?

The sixth commandment is "You shall not murder."

What is forbidden by God in the Sixth Commandment?

God forbids me to do anything that might cause harm or bring an end to human life.

What is required by God in the Sixth Commandment?

God requires me to protect, support, and honor human life in all possible ways.

Footnotes:

[1] The ESV, NAS, and NIV translate this verse, "You shall not murder," better reflecting the original meaning of the Hebrew word. The KJV, RSV, NEB translate the verse, "You shall not kill."

[2] The "judgment" spoken of by Jesus was that of the local courts that had the power of capital punishment (Deut. 16:18). The "council" refers to the Jewish Sanhedrin which had the power of capital punishment by stoning.

[3] The concept of a sacred trust conveys the idea that just as a trustee is responsible to hold and manage the assets of a trust for the sole benefit of the beneficiary, so everyone entrusted by God with human life is responsible to protect, support, nurture, and honor that life in all possible ways as a precious and inviolable gift.

[4] C.S. Lewis writes, "It is a serious thing...to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations.... There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors." C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory,” in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2001).

[5] Therefore, you must avoid the erroneous conclusion that since you've already committed heart-murder in God’s eyes because of your anger, you might as well go ahead and commit actual murder. Although every sin, even the least, makes us guilty before God and deserving his just curse, there are some sins in themselves that are worse (more heinous) in the sight of God than others. What makes some sins worse than others? The Westminster Larger Catechism Q&A 150 tells us it is "by reason of several aggravations." These include the type of person that you sin against and the nature and quality of the sin. For example, the sins that involve only your heart are not seen by God as being equally evil as the sins that also involve your words and actions. And your sins against defenseless "particularly weak brethren" like children or the elderly are considered worse than sins against strong adults who can defend themselves.

[6] "We must not kill, either by hand, heart, or word, by signs or gestures, or by aiding and abetting." Martin Luther, the Fifth Commandment of Part First. The Ten Commandments of The Large Catechism , translated by F. Bente and W.H.T. Dau in Triglot Concordia: The Symbolic Books of the Ev. Lutheran Church (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921) uploaded in full at https://www.ccel.org/l/luther/large_cat/large_catechism.html (access date 02.23.24).

[7] The Westminster Larger Catechism Question 136: "What are the sins forbidden in the Sixth Commandment?" Answer: "The sins forbidden in the Sixth Commandment are, all taking away the life of ourselves, or of others, except in case of public justice, lawful war, or necessary defense; the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful and necessary means of preservation of life; sinful anger, hatred, envy, desire of revenge; all excessive passions, distracting cares; immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreations; provoking words, oppression, quarreling, striking, wounding, and whatsoever else tends to the destruction of the life of any."

[8] In Jesus’ answer to the question, "Who is our neighbor?," he tells the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37) in which he teaches that someone who truly loves God and others is like the Samaritan who is willing to give up his plans and risk his safety to provide costly personal care to a total stranger of another social class and race. When Jesus tells us to "go and do likewise" he’s calling us to show our love for God and others by how we love those without housing, money, health care, etc., including our enemies.

[9] The Apostle James writes, "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith, by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:14–17).

[10]  In Martin Luther's Large Catechism, The Fifth Commandment, he also writes, "If you send a naked person away when you could clothe him, you have let him freeze to death. If you see anyone who is suffering from hunger and do not feed her, you have let her starve.... It will be of no help for you to use the excuse that you did not assist their deaths by word or deed, for you have withheld your love from them and robbed them of the kindness by means of which their lives might have been saved."