Ratzach and Worked Examples

Are we ready to try applying all this? Let's have a go at the “No Murdering” Commandment

To state the obvious, the original Ten Commandments were not written in English. So our first task is to reduce translation error.

For a full discussion Google or Wikipedia will give you possibly more information than you want. The short-short version is as follows.

The Hebrew word used is רצח

(Ratzach ).There is no single English word which has precisely the same range of meaning. The King James Version of the Bible translated it as “Thou shalt not kill”. However “kill” includes a number of actions which Ratzach does not. This has led to miss-quotation of this command in discussion of killing by capital punishment and warfare, neither of which comes within the meaning of Ratzach. Modern translations translate Ratzach as “murder”. This is much nearer the mark, but is now slightly too restrictive. That is to say there are some things an ancient Hebrew would have called Ratzach which in modern English usage would not be called “murder”.

To avoid even more confusion I will follow the modern translations and use “murder”, but just keep at the back of our minds that it is a little broader – more like “culpable homicide” and that we will have to look throughout the Bible to find out what is and is not 'murder'.

Start with the “worked examples”

In one of my engineering subjects at university, for many different scenarios we our lecturer painstakingly went through the calculation method for each scenario with a worked example in class. When we came to the exam, there were all the problems we had already encountered in class, just with the numbers changed. Doing the rest was easy!

In the Bible right after the Ten Commandments are set out in Exodus 20, there are a large number of what look to me like worked examples illustrating the Commandments applied to different scenarios. I don't think it is meant to be an exhaustive list. That would not help us in the 21^st century. I don't think too many people are troubled by coveting their neighbours ox or ass, however coveting their car or boat might be a real temptation! So I think these worked examples illustrate the general principles of applying the Commandments using scenarios which may have been common at the time and still allow us to understand and apply the Commandments to situations that a 13^th century BC Hebrew couldn't have begun to imagine!

So what can we find in the way of worked examples for “No Murdering”?

Exodus 21: 12 “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. 13 However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. 14 But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.

Things to notice: “schemes and kills someone deliberately” is a paradigm case of “murder”. Killing someone accidentally is in a different class. Capital punishment is commanded for murder. I am not claiming capital punishment is mandatory for murderers now, but one can definitely say it is not for bidden as “murder”.

Exodus 21: 20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.

Things to notice: Even in a social milieux where a slave was the master's “property” killing them was a punishable offence – even if not attracting the death penalty. That has a modern parallel. “Its my body” is used to excuse abortion. If there is really a parallel between the sentiments “the slave is my property” in 13th century BC and “the foetus is my body” in the 21st century AD, then killing the foetus would still be an offence. Food for thought!

Exodus 21: 22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely[e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Things to note: This is used as a proof text by “right to life” advocates, however I think that may be an instance of trying to use the Bible for support rather than illumination. It seems to me to be singling out pregnant women for protection. Ordinarily if a bystander was injured or even accidentally killed during a melee it would (see v.12) not be “murder”. But if the bystander in question is a pregnant woman then the penalties are much more severe, with her death being punished as “murder”. I think in our time it is more relevant to considering war crimes, so called “collateral damage” and domestic violence than abortion.

Exodus 21: 28 “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. 30 However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels[f] of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.

Few points to note: In each of the above scenarios: the bull that kills a human is killed. The culpability of the owner is beautifully set out: Generally the owner not responsible. But the owner who had been warned the animal was especially dangerous and did not take sensible precautions was punished – possibly even by death. 

 In Australia at the moment there is debate over people keeping especially dangerous breeds of dog. Several people have been attacked in the street by 'Pit Bull Terriers” and some have been killed by these dogs. One can see a parallel with the case of the owner of the bull here. 

I have been watching a televised series “Air Crash Investigations” which examines real life airline crashes. In several instances the manufacturer or airline operator had been warned of a dangerous fault but had done nothing to remedy it. Then the fault had caused a crash in which many people were killed. This text might give some guidance on to what extent the managers who failed to act on the warnings are culpable.

NEXT POST … More worked examples from Exodus