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Showing posts from October 9, 2026

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Browse at Your Own Pace

Begin wherever your curiosity leads. The studies will be here when you’re ready. When I shared my first Matthew study on Facebook today, I mentioned that I planned to post daily, though I might not share every post on Facebook. As I continue setting up this blog, I’ve realized that what matters most to me is making my past studies available for anyone who wants to explore them. For now, I’ll be adding posts to my heart’s content as I work through those studies. Some days that may mean one post; other days it may mean several. I’ll continue reading through and preparing each one before sharing it. There is no need to keep up with everything as it appears. This blog is becoming a place you can browse at your own pace—begin with a book, a question, or a study that interests you, and follow from there. The Bible Books page gathers studies by book, while Study Threads helps connect topics that travel through more than one book. The labels on individual posts also bring related material to...
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81. Ten Commandments: Guarding Life and Walking in Love

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder “You shall not murder.” — Exodus 20:13, LSB Our examination began with this commandment and followed the passages describing intention, hatred, persecution, testimony, anger, and love. As we gather those findings together, we must retain both the wording and the connections Scripture makes. Intention and Circumstances Matter Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19 distinguish deliberate killing from an unintentional death. Hatred, ambush, prior hostility, and seeking another person’s injury matter to the judgment. The congregation must examine what occurred. Read Numbers 35:16–25 and Deuteronomy 19:4–13 . The same outcome does not mean every person acted with the same intention. Careful examination belongs within the protection of life. Hatred Cannot Be Dismissed John states: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” — 1 John 3:15, LSB, excerpt The statement does not add a condition that the brother must first have been physically kil...
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80. Ten Commandments: Choose Life and Hold Fast to God

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder Throughout this commandment, life and death have remained before us. Deuteronomy brings those alternatives together with witnesses, love, and our response to God’s instruction. Heaven and earth bear witness In Deuteronomy 4:25–26, Moses calls heaven and earth to witness against Israel while warning about corruption and idolatry. The warning concerns their continued life in the land they are entering. Read Deuteronomy 4:25–26, ASV. Deuteronomy 30:19 again names heaven and earth as witnesses. This time, the declaration places life and death, blessing and curse, before the people and directs them to choose life. The Hebrew verb comes from בָּחַר — bāḥar (H977), meaning to choose . The choice concerns both those being addressed and their descendants. Examine Deuteronomy 30:19 in Hebrew. Here, the witnesses named are heaven and earth. Scripture’s use of testimony reaches beyond the human witnesses we examined in the judicial passages....
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79. Ten Commandments: Love Does Not Work Evil Against a Neighbor

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder Our examination of murder has brought us through hatred, persecution, false testimony, anger, and reconciliation. Romans 13 now connects the commandment directly with love. Paul names the command In Romans 13:9, Paul includes “YOU SHALL NOT MURDER” alongside the commands against adultery, stealing, and coveting. These commandments appear in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. He then brings them together through the instruction to love our neighbor. Read Romans 13:8–9 , Exodus 20:13–17 , and Deuteronomy 5:17–21 . He explains: “Love does not work evil against a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.” — Romans 13:10, LSB What does love do? The Greek wording keeps the action clear: ἀγάπη — agapē (G26): love. κακόν — kakon , from κακός — kakos (G2556): evil. ἐργάζεται — ergazetai , from ἐργάζομαι — ergazomai (G2038): works or does. πλήρωμα — plērōma (G4138): fulfillment. The sentence describes love by what it does not w...
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78. Ten Commandments: Overcoming Evil with Good

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder Jesus’ instruction concerning anger and reconciliation leads us to another question: How are we to respond when someone directs hostility toward us? Later in the same chapter, he says: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” — Matthew 5:44, LSB, excerpt Love beyond those who love us Jesus directs attention to the Father, who provides sunshine and rain for both the righteous and the unrighteous. He then asks what distinguishes loving only those who already love us, or greeting only our brothers. Read Matthew 5:45–48. The instruction includes people whose conduct toward us is hostile. Their hostility does not remove our responsibility to follow what Jesus commands. Love and the rejection of evil belong together Romans 12:9 places sincere love alongside abhorring evil and holding firmly to good. A few verses later, Paul directs believers to bless their persecutors and refuse to repay wrongdoing with wrongdoing. Read ...
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77. Ten Commandments: Anger, Words, and Reconciliation

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder Our examination has followed hatred, persecution, and false testimony. In Matthew 5, Jesus brings the command against murder directly into our relationship with a brother. He begins with the command: “YOU SHALL NOT MURDER” — Matthew 5:21, LSB, excerpt The capitalized words refer back to Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17 . Jesus then addresses anger and the words spoken against another person. Before a physical killing In verse 22, ὀργιζόμενος — orgizomenos , from ὀργίζω — orgizō (G3710), describes being angry. The person named in the sentence is angry with his brother, and Jesus places that anger under judgment. Examine Matthew 5:22 in Greek. The verse also addresses speech: Ῥακά — Raca , an expression of contempt, and Μωρέ — mōre , addressing someone as a fool. The LSB footnote explains Raca as an Aramaic expression meaning “empty-head.” Read Matthew 5:22 and its footnote. Jesus does not require a physical killing to have occu...
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76. Ten Commandments: Witnesses, Truth, and the Protection of Life

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder Stephen’s account brought false witnesses into our examination of persecution and killing. This leads us back to a requirement already present in the passages concerning murder: an accusation must be established, and the testimony itself must be examined. One accusation cannot establish a death sentence Numbers 35:30 forbids putting someone to death on the testimony of a single witness. The requirement belongs within the same chapter that distinguishes deliberate killing from an unintentional death. Read Numbers 35:30. Deuteronomy states: “at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established.” — Deuteronomy 19:15, LSB, excerpt The Hebrew noun עֵד — ʿēd (H5707) means witness . The passage requires more than one person’s accusation before a matter is established. Examine Deuteronomy 19:15 in Hebrew. But we must continue reading. The witnesses must also be examined Verses 16–19 address a malicious witness. The judges...
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75. Ten Commandments: Resisting the Spirit and Rejecting the Witness

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder Jesus warned that people would kill his disciples while believing they served God. Stephen’s account now brings us to the treatment of a person speaking by the Spirit. Before the stones were thrown Acts identifies Stephen as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. When opponents argue with him, they cannot withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he speaks. Read Acts 6:5, 8–10. What follows matters. Men are secretly induced to accuse him of blasphemy. The people and leaders are stirred up, Stephen is seized, and false witnesses are brought forward. Their accusations concern God, Moses, the holy place, and the Law. Read Acts 6:11–14. The accusations sound like a defense of what is holy, yet the account identifies the witnesses as false. We must follow both the claim being made and the conduct accompanying it. Resisting whom? Stephen tells those before him that they: “are always resisting the Holy Spirit.” — Acts 7:51, LSB, exc...
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74. Ten Commandments: When Hatred Claims to Serve God

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder In our previous post, we examined John’s statement that the one who hates his brother is a murderer. The statement does not require that the brother first be physically killed. John connects the absence of love with remaining in death. Read 1 John 3:14–15. Jesus’ words in John 15–16 bring another important detail into view: someone can oppose those serving God while believing that the opposition itself serves God. Love commanded, hatred encountered Jesus commands his disciples to love one another. He then describes the world’s hatred toward them, explaining that they have been chosen out of the world. The hatred they encounter follows the hatred directed toward him. Read John 15:12–19. Verse 20 moves from hatred to persecution. The Greek verb is διώκω — diōkō , used here for persecuting. Jesus tells his disciples to expect the treatment he received. Read John 15:20 and its Greek wording. He also identifies the relationship being r...
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73. Ten Commandments: Everyone Who Hates His Brother

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” — 1 John 3:15, LSB, excerpt Our examination of Numbers and Deuteronomy showed hatred named among the circumstances surrounding a killing. John now makes a direct statement about the person who hates his brother. We will follow his wording and the surrounding passage carefully. Begin with Cain Verse 11 recalls the message to love one another. Verse 12 immediately places Cain beside that instruction: he belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. John asks why Cain killed him and supplies the answer: Cain’s deeds were evil, while his brother’s were righteous. The Greek verb describing the killing is ἔσφαξεν — esphaxen , from σφάζω — sphazō , Strong’s G4969 , meaning to slay or slaughter. John names both the act and the contrast between the brothers’ deeds. Read 1 John 3:11–12 and the Greek text of verse 12. Verse 13 then tells the brothers not to be surprised when the world hates ...
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72. Ten Commandments: Hatred, Intent, and Responsibility

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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 ...
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71. Ten Commandments: What Does the Hebrew Word Say?

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder “You shall not murder.” — Exodus 20:13, LSB We begin with the Hebrew wording and follow its use within Scripture. The commandment contains two words: לֹא תִּרְצָח — lōʾ tirṣāḥ . The Two Words לֹא תִּרְצָח — lōʾ tirṣāḥ — “You shall not murder.” The word לֹא supplies the negation; תִּרְצָח supplies the action and the singular “you.” They must be read together as the prohibition . Read Exodus 20:13 with its Hebrew text. To understand the root’s use, we must also examine the passages in which it occurs. The Same Root in Different Circumstances Numbers 35:11 describes a person who has killed unintentionally and may flee to a city of refuge. The Hebrew calls this person רֹצֵחַ — rōṣēaḥ , a form of the same root found in the commandment. The LSB translates it manslayer . Read Numbers 35:11 with its Hebrew text. Numbers 35:16 uses the same Hebrew form for a person who strikes another with an iron object and causes death. In that passa...
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70. Ten Commandments: You Shall Not Murder—Beginning the Study

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God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder “You shall not murder.” — Exodus 20:13, LSB The sixth commandment is brief, but its examination requires careful attention. What does the wording mean? How does Scripture distinguish the circumstances in which a life is taken? How do Jesus and the apostles connect this commandment with what develops within the heart? We begin with the passage and follow those questions through Scripture. Begin with the Wording Before building conclusions, we will examine the Hebrew word translated murder and how it appears in other passages. Context will help us understand the action being prohibited and the distinctions Scripture makes concerning intent and responsibility. We will also keep the commandment within the instruction given by YHWH (יהוה). It belongs to a connected account of allegiance, holiness, and our treatment of others. Read Exodus 20. Jesus Directs Attention to the Heart In Matthew 5:21, Jesus recalls the commandment: “YOU SHAL...
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