Exodus 20:13; Matthew 5:21-22; August 10, 2025; Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
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Months ago, when I began to think about this sermon series, I foolishly thought this might be the easiest.
I mean, how many of us could be guilty of this one?
So, I thought this would be short and simple; I could just like relay the Commandment verbatim – you shall not murder — and keep it broad. Objective. Less personal. For we all have nothing to confess here…
Right?
Wrong!
And we will get to that by the end.
But first, let’s begin today by talking about the difference. As in, is there a difference in your mind between the words, killing and murdering? And if so, what are those differences?
I think most of us would agree that like swatting a fly, or smooshing an ant, or spraying a wasp nest, while technically killing, sometimes feels necessary… and like, less wrong … or is that simply because we just don’t value insects very highly? And those flies, man, they’ve been brutal this summer!
But what about, like, hunting animals for sustenance? Historically, I think most would say that this too constitutes killing (and not murder) but would also draw a line somewhere between hunting for sport and hunting to eat. But, recently, even that line is a bit less clear for some folks, isn’t it?
And when it comes to us humans… which is really what this Commandment is about… certain questions have to be raised, such as is there a difference between killing and murdering when we’re in like wartime? Or is it all the same? And how about cases of self-defense… or capital punishment… or manslaughter?
For our legal scholars here, there are real, technical differences between all of these. And for me, I think self-defense is almost always self-necessary defense…but for our case today when talking about God’s Commandment, would you say that God had these technical differences in mind?
What makes murder, murder, and different than say, killing? Or is there really no difference at all, in all that is good and Holy?
Hmm. I wonder.
Especially because depending upon your translation, some of our Bibles might read “You shall not kill” while others might declare “You shall not murder.” And throughout our Old Testament, these words and their Hebrew counterparts are used quite differently, with distinction.
הרגו (pronounced: haw-rag’)
Vs.
תרצח (pronounced: raw-tsakh’)
Harag means to kill or be killed. To be smite or be smote. And it seems to be most often employed when talking about “authorized” killings. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.
Ratsach, on the other hand, means to murder or be murdered. To assassinate or be assassinated. Its primitive root quite literally meaning “dashed into pieces” by an “unauthorized” act.
Authorized vs. Unauthorized. Big difference, biblically speaking. Let’s look at these two texts:
Numbers 31:16-17: “Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord —which resulted in the plague among the community! Now therefore kill/harag every boy, and kill/harag every woman….”
(harag; here meaning an authorized kill– as questionable as this authorization is)
Vs.
Exodus 20:13: “You shall not murder/ratsach.”
(ratsach; here meaning unauthorized — you shall not take a life, if it’s been unauthorized by the Lord)
See the difference between the two, even if you dislike it and it makes your stomach turn?
Well, here’s something else to make you squirm today:
Theologian Raymund Schwager, in his book “Must There Be Scapegoats: Violence and Redemption in the Bible” writes that the Old Testament has 600 passages of explicit violence, around 1000 verses detailing God’s own violent punishments, and over 100 statements where God authorizes the direct killing of others. Harag … or, might you say, ratsach?
As Dr. Andrew Holt, a professor of History and Religion writes, “if we treat the Hebrew Scriptures as a historical source, the ancient Israelites were often at war with their enemies, and so it is not surprising that their scriptural texts would [unfortunately] reflect this violent reality.”
This violent reality, my friends, is here in our scripture. Our very own Holy text. And if we read it, it’s hard to avoid it. Just as it’s hard to avoid our own violent reality, here in our news, and in our everyday lives in this dangerous, angry world.
All of these endless wars. And crime. Violent rhetoric, tweets, and posts, that don’t do anything to discourage either killing or murdering…authorized or unauthorized… and it’s everywhere and too much, right? RIGHT???
But it’s also this hidden violence that we often don’t notice or speak about either. I mean, like these Health Insurance companies that authorize denials of claims for supposedly unauthorized doctor interventions, all so they can sustain if not bolster their bottom line… would you say this too is killing or perhaps murdering? Harag or Ratsach? Neither? Or maybe both?
Whatever your answer, our uniquely American reality has only inspired further violence, killing and murdering, inciting the Luigi’s of the world to rise up in deadly resistance.
So perhaps, today, we would all do better to worry less about the distinctions and differences between what defines killing and murdering, if one is authorized or not, and attempt to reclassify most of it as unrighteous, unethical, sinful, and wrong.
Numbers 35:20-21 attempts this sort of reclassification when writing: “If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally so that they die, or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is a murderer.” – Numbers 35:20-21
And Jesus, in our New Testament, in our Gospel text from Matthew, takes it 77 steps further, saying, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” – Matthew 5:21-22
Jesus, as we’ve seen in the previous five weeks of this series, is simply not comfortable in letting the original Commandments speak for themselves. No, in fact, he has so far always interpreted and revised, if not redefined or added to them. And with today’s Commandment, he acts no different.
Some might say that he takes it too far, placing mere insults on the same plane as killing and murdering. But, his point, my friends, is that these manifestations of anger, unchecked, without any regard for the injury we might cause to others, make for a violent, deadly gateway.
For who’s to say that our “harmless jokes” …our name-calling… our words… won’t set off their own cycle of destruction, leading to isolation and poor self-esteem, if not self-harm, and/or violence towards others.
For if we call people fools, or any such synonym, and bully them into feeling like they don’t want to exist, or others to exist, then perhaps, Jesus is saying, we should be held as liable as those who end up tightening the rope, injecting the needle, starting the war, or pulling the trigger.
And so, it bears repeating:
I thought this would be short and simple; I could just like relay the Commandment verbatim – you shall not murder — and keep it broad. Objective. Less personal. For we all have nothing to confess here…
Right?
Wrong!
Amen.
