God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder
Our examination of the Hebrew root רצח — rāṣaḥ brought us to passages distinguishing the circumstances in which a person’s life is taken.
Within those passages, hatred is specifically named. Scripture directs attention to the relationship before the act, the action itself, and the resulting death.
Hatred Accompanying the Act
Numbers 35:20 uses שִׂנְאָה — śinʾāh, meaning hatred, listed under Strong’s H8135. With its attached preposition, the expression describes someone pushing another person out of hatred.
The verse also describes throwing something while lying in wait. In the cases being described, death follows. Verse 21 adds striking someone with the hand in hostility and identifies the person responsible as a murderer. Read Numbers 35:20–21 and the Hebrew wording of verse 20.
These details belong together. The passage names the hostility accompanying the act rather than describing only its outward result.
Without Enmity
Verse 22 introduces a contrasting case. The Hebrew expression בְּלֹא־אֵיבָה — bəlōʾ ʾēḇāh means without enmity. The noun אֵיבָה, Strong’s H342, concerns hostility or enmity.
The verse describes a sudden action without that hostility and an object thrown without lying in wait. Verse 23 adds a case involving someone unseen and specifies that the person responsible was neither an enemy nor seeking injury. Read Numbers 35:22–23 and the Hebrew wording of verse 22.
The contrasting descriptions retain both the death and the absence of hostile intent.
The Relationship Beforehand
Deuteronomy 19:4 describes the person eligible for refuge as having caused death without premeditation and without previously hating the other person. The LSB footnote gives the more literal wording without knowledge for the first expression.
The Hebrew root for hate here is שׂנא — śānēʾ, Strong’s H8130. Read Deuteronomy 19:4 with its Hebrew text.
The following example describes an axe head slipping from its handle while two companions cut wood. It strikes one of them, causing death. Verse 6 again specifies the absence of previous hatred. Read Deuteronomy 19:4–6.
Verse 11 presents the contrast: someone hates a neighbor, waits in ambush, attacks, and causes death. The presence of hatred and the planned action are stated before the consequence is addressed. Read Deuteronomy 19:11–13.
Judgment Requires Examination
Numbers 35:24–25 directs the congregation to judge between the parties and protect the manslayer in the circumstances described. Verse 30 also requires witnesses and forbids putting someone to death on one witness’s testimony. Read Numbers 35:24–30.
Our foundation now includes hatred or its absence, intent, action, outcome, and evidence. We will carry these details forward when examining the Greek passages concerning hatred, persecution, and murder.
Threads to Follow
Hatred and a brother: Examine John’s wording about hatred and murder.
Hatred toward witnesses: Follow Jesus’ statements about rejection, persecution, and killing.
Allegiance: Compare the love-and-hate wording concerning two masters within its own context.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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