1. Sixth Commandment (Remastered)

The Sixth Commandment

R.J. Rushdoony

Our Scripture is Exodus 20:13. We shall read 20:1-13. Our subject, The Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” 

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thingthat is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lordthy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill.”

The sixth and eighth commandments are the shortest in the table of ten. The Sixth Commandment appears in both Exodus and in Deuteronomy in both tables of ten without a single variation. There are variations in the statements of the other ten because of Moses’ desire to bring out another implication. But this is the briefest, and it is stated on both occasions without variation. 

This morning as we begin a series of studies for some weeks on the Sixth Commandment, thou shalt not kill, it will be our purpose mainly to outline its most elementary meaning. Its elementary meaning was clearly summed up by Calvin when he wrote, 

“The sum of this Commandment is, that we should not unjustly do violence to any one.” ⁱ

This is the essence of the commandment. In other words, the extreme is stated, but it covers all kinds of unjust violence to anyone. Notice that it is defined as “unjust violence.” When we study the subordinate laws, we realize that definitely capital punishment or the death penalty is not forbidden, indeed, this commandment requires it, as we shall see next week. 

It does not forbid legitimate warfare, nor does it forbid killing in self-defence, nor other similar acts. Moreover, as Calvin went on, in his definition of this commandment the negative implies a positive. In other words, as Calvin said, we cannot merely abstain from killing and violence to others and keep the law. Calvin then went on to cite an illustration which I think has an especially modern ring. He said, “Let us imagine,” and it takes very little imagination for us today, “a man who is so cowardly and timid, that when he sees someone doing violence to a child or a helpless person, or a woman, that he lacks the courage to interfere and to prevent that violence. Shall we call such a man obedient to this commandment?”

Calvin’s answer is emphatically, “No.” That man who refused to intervene was guilty of violating the commandment as surely as the man who was committing the violence. Because, as Calvin pointed out, our Lord summed up the law in two statements, the entirety of the law. 

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” ⁱⁱ

And certainly, such a man showed no love of his neighbor and therefore no love of God, nor any fear of God, his fear was of man. Thus, as Calvin pointed out, If the mere negative observance meant that a man kept this law, then frightened and cowardly men would be the most virtuous in our society, and this cannot be.

The sad fact is, though, that too often in fundamental circles and other church circles, it is precisely this type of man who comes to leadership. And in most cases men who are named as church officers are meek mousy characters who haven’t the nerve to stand up to anything that’s going on in the congregation or anything that the pastor might be doing. They are men who are only capable of keeping the law negatively, they lack the courage to keep the law posatively, or to break it. And such people are, in the sight of God, as surely violators of the law as those who go out and do violence. 

Thus as Calvin summed it up:

“God not only forbids us to be murderers, but also prescribes that every one should study faithfully to defend the life of his neighbour…” ⁱⁱⁱ

Thus, in view of this meaning of the law, certain fundamental principles, certain elementary principles, come into view with regard to the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” First and foremost, from ancient Israel to present-day in America, this law, with its positive as well as its negative side, has had a tremendous implication for every citizen. It has meant that every citizen has a police power to enforce the law. 

Now, this, in modern American law, which reflects simply the old Puritan application of the Biblical Law to this country, means that the police power is the one power that every citizen has that he can delegate without surrender. We cannot exercise the right to vote in State or Federal legislatures, that is a right we only exercise by delegation. And this is true of most of our civil powers, but the police power is the one power that we can exercise without delegation, that we can delegate without surrender. 

Now of course, in recent years in the last couple of generations, because of the drift towards totalitarianism in our society, very little is said about the citizen’s power to arrest, we are not informed of our legal rights here. Now, our rights here as elsewhere are governed by law just as the policeman's power to arrest and to police are governed by law. But we still have them, but we are kept in ignorance of them. But this police power of every citizen is in terms of the Biblical Law. 

The law asks two things of every man; obedience and enforcement. To obey a law means to enforce it in our own lives and in the community at large. We cannot say, as some relativists are today, that, well, if you believe something, it’s good for you but you have no right to require it of anyone else. If it is good for us, it must be good for us because it is an absolute truth that is good for all, and the law, we believe, is valid for us because it is valid for all and must be enforced for all. 

Thus, the first fundamental principle that comes into view with respect to this law is that the positive side of the law, the positive affirmation, declares the police power of every citizen. Second, as Calvin made clear, this positive side requires, of course, a common defence of godly order. But this godly order is more than political. We have seen that we have a police power, which is political, it has reference to the political order, but it also has reference to the social order. It means, therefore, that we must take positive action against backbiting and talebearing regarding other peoples property with respect to their use and abuse, and also for the protection of the family and marriage as a whole. Also, it means that we have a responsibility, positively, with regard to the use of the earth, for the earth and the natural resources are entirely subject to God and His Law. Thus, only a fraction of our positive obedience of this law is political. It is social, it is natural, it is conserving in every area. 

Third, another implication of the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” is the death penalty. It is a part of the law, and as we shall see next week, the subordinate legislation under this commandment requires that life must be protected in terms of God’s Law, and must be taken subject to God’s Law.

Life has been created by God, it must be lived in terms of God’s Law; it can be assailed or taken only on God’s terms. So that man must not only avoid committing murder, but he must seek the death penalty against the murderer, and against all whom God’s Law requires it. 

For in terms of the implication thou shalt not kill, since protection of life on God’s terms is basic to this commandment. It becomes clear why medicine and the healing arts generally are so closely linked to religion in our faith. Not too much work has been done in this area, but some significant work of late has been done in Europe on the history of medicine in the Western world which points out its very, very close connection with Christian faith. So that, its basic principles have been very, very largely reshaped in terms of Christian principles, that there was indeed a major medical revolution between the times of the Greco-Roman world and Christianity. 

In recent years, rather mechanical and materialistic concepts have crept into medicine which seek to sever the link between Christian faith and medicine. But medicine, basically, has a conserving and conservative function. Thus it is that there has been, historically, and is today, a high correlation between the healing arts and Christianity. So that you find those who are engaged in the healing arts represent the highest level of participation in Christian activities, no other profession can compare. 

Fifth then, we must say that, while this commandment, in its positive affirmation, requires the protection of life under God, it must not be confused with Albert Schweitzer's principle of ‘reverence for life.’ It is not reverence for life per se that God’s Law requires, but reverence for God. And nothing, no person nor life nor thing, can be placed ahead of God. Schweitzer, with his reverence for life, viewed death as the ultimate evil and any injury to life as a part of that evil. 

This is morally wrong. It is not death which is the evil, but it is the consequence of the real evil, sin. Scripture tells us that death entered the world because of sin, and we can never place life above God as the highest good, as the modern humanist does. When he does this, of course, he destroys, as we shall see next week, all morality. Because then life becomes the highest good, and it takes precedence over any moral law. 

Sixth we must say that this law means that there are implications not only political and social and religious, but also personal. Adam Clarke, a couple of centuries ago in line with the practice of the church from the beginning, listed as violations of the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” all ascetic practices that did harm to the body; suicide, drunkenness, gluttony, a general intemperance of character. Also among the personal violations of this commandment are any actions which deface or harm the body. ^iv

Among those specifically listed in the Scripture are the tattoos. The body must be used under God and kept for his purposes and is not to be defaced. It is significant that the tattoo mark has an origin in religion, in paganism. It indicated two things in pagan societies; one, that the person was a slave of a particular god, and second, that he was the slave of a particular person. A tattoo is a mark of slavery, and it is ironic that it should become so popular for it has always, until fairly recent times, retained that meaning. And slaves were tattooed, this was until fairly recent times, the means of identification, and still is in some parts of the world. But in Bible times, not even a slave could be tattooed, he was still God’s before he was man’s. 

Now, like the First Commandment, the Sixth Commandment has reference to the whole law. “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me,” means, in part, that any violation of any of the Ten Commandments or of any law, involves placing ourselves and our will above God’s Law, above God’s Word. “Thou shalt not kill,” has a similar meaning, so that the first and the sixth are in a sense total in their application. “Thou shalt not kill,” means that any violation of any of the ten involves the death or injury or destruction of our relationship to God, and therefore our relationship to men. 

For example, in the second table of the law, the fact of adultery and of theft, of bearing false witness and coveting do injury to our neighbor and potentially destroy him. To have other gods or images, to be guilty of blasphemy, to despise the sabbath and to fail to do honor to our parents destroys our relationship to God. Thus, the essence of the Law is to worship God alone, and to live is to worship God by using life on God’s terms. Therefore, “Thou shalt not kill,” thou shalt not take life in terms of your will, but thou shalt take life only when God requires it and protect it otherwise. 

Salvation, which as we have previously seen is a word ‘salve’ meaning ‘health,’ for man means ‘wholeness.’ Men and nations act out their faith. Man is born into total meaning because God is the Lord. Everything in the world has meaning because it was created by God for His purpose and His glory. Scripture tells us that the very hairs of our head are all numbered, that not a sparrow falls but our Father in Heaven knows it, that he is mindful of the flowers of the field, which are today and tomorrow are not, that the world is a world of total meaning. Man, having been created by God into a world of total meaning, and in terms of this total meaning, requires, in every fiber of his being, total meaning, because God is the Lord. 

If he despises God’s total meaning, then he seeks to create his own in terms of the satanic interpretation of life. And a man then acts out his faith. A man lives in terms of a fundamental principle. Thus, our Lord said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Every man’s life is geared to meaning. If the meaning to which he gears his life is false, then his life is ultimately empty and suicidal.

To ground our lives, therefore, on any faith other than the triune God means that ultimately, we violate the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” with respect to our lives. We become suicidal, we become empty of meaning, and therefore of life. Therefore, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” for to have other gods is ultimately to kill yourself.

Let us pray. 

* * *

Our Lord and our God, we give thanks unto thee that in Jesus Christ, thou hast called us to life, that in him we have life and that more abundantly. And we pray, our Father, that in these troubled times, when the foundations of society are founded on death, grounded on a suicidal course, thou wouldst make us strong in terms of Jesus Christ and his Law-Word that we may re-establish men and nations on thee, that they may live and know thee to be the only true God. Bless us to this purpose we beseech thee. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

* * *

Are there any questions now with respect to our lesson?

[Audience member] Is the King James translation of this particular commandment any good? Modern translations say, “Do not murder,” which seems closer to the truth to me. ^v

[Rushdoony] Some modern translations give the commandment as, “Thou shalt do no murder,” or, “Thou shalt not murder.” I think the King James is still more accurate for this reason. First, the word ‘murder’ has reference primarily to man. When we think of murder we are thinking of an act of a man against a man. Clearly this is forbidden by this commandment. But equally clearly, when we study the subordinate legislation, we shall see that the application of this law goes beyond man, so that it has reference also to the natural world around us. It has reference to conservation, it has reference to our use of animals, it has reference to our dealing with the world and life is a whole. And the word ‘kill’ brings this out better, whereas ‘murder’ limits it to man. Thus, the modern tendency to use the word murder does help clarify some aspects of the meaning as against the pacifists who try to abuse this commandment. Nonetheless, it does limit the meaning. 

[Audience member] What about the vegetarians who say, “Thou shalt not kill,” prohibits the eating of meats. ^vi

[Rushdoony] Yes, but I don’t think they’re doing it on Biblical terms, but in terms of other standards. They cannot cite the Bible saying, “Thou shalt not kill,” and say they’re going to be vegetarians because the Bible very definitely specifies the animals that they are to kill and eat, and exactly how they are to be prepared; they are to be bled and so on. And then it goes on and specifies the nature of their diet and so on so carefully that it’s only by ignoring the rest of Scripture and taking this verse out of context that they can use the Bible to justify vegetarianism. Now, maybe in terms of taste they want to be vegetarians, that’s their business, but they cannot do it in terms of Scripture. 

[Audience member] I’ve heard Christians argue that you have no right of self-defence. ^vii

[Rushdoony] They are either ignorant or depraved and twisting Scripture because the Scripture makes it very clear, the law specifies that in the nighttime, if anyone invades your home, you have the right to kill them to defend yourself. In the daytime you cannot kill them unless they refuse to surrender or try to assail you because then you have the opportunity to see if they are armed, or if they’re going to try to kill you, to escape or to rob you. But at nighttime, without determining whether they are going to attack you or not, if you find someone on your property that is within your house, according to the Biblical Law, it is spelled out, we’ll come to that later, you have the right to kill them. 

Now, they still have had this law on the statute books in this country until lately and now the courts are so interpreting this Biblical Law with regard to your right to defend yourself and to kill on your property that they have virtually destroyed the meaning.

Yes?

[Audience member] Are we allowed to use lethal force, then, to stop political measures that may lead to murder? ^viii

[Rushdoony] No, it doesn’t give the right of revolution, unless there is a leader within the government who has due authority who takes a stand. In other words, from the Biblical perspective, when a country goes down the drain, it’s because the majority of the people have spiritually gone down the drain. And that’s exactly our problem, there isn’t anything worth fighting for in such a case, and it’s morally wrong.

Yes?

[Audience member] Can we destroy humanism by force? ^ix

[Rushdoony] If you were to try to destroy it, you’d end up wiping out humanity. Because that’s the reality now. Men, by and large, have become virtually all humanistic today. Their presuppositions are humanistic. You’d have to say, “Well, I’m going to wipe out nine-hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand all over the world and then when I get through, I may have to go through another nine-hundred and ninety-nine of what’s left. That’s how far gone our defection from fundamental principle has gone.

Now, our method must be, in terms of Scripture, to reconstruct. “Go ye therefore unto all nations and make disciples; men, and nations.” So, we reconstruct. And how do we reconstruct? We begin by creating the institutions and orders that God requires. First, the home. Second the Christian schools and institutions and so on. We begin moving in terms of God’s reality. This is where today all people who call themselves ‘conservative’ are really radical, they’re leftist because their attitude is, “Well, we are going to expose the enemy and wipe them out.” They’re taking something from the books of the enemy; they’re not creating, they feel the answer is to destroy.

So where do you get destroying? You end up by having to destroy yourself because you no longer belong to the Christian world, to the Kingdom of God. So, our task must be systematic reconstruction. If a tithe of all the money that people spent in the last twenty years fighting subversion and communism and so on, and I am speaking of private groups and individuals, had been put into Christian reconstruction, you would see today a very marked trend to Christian law and order. 

After all, if all you’re going to do is pull up weeds, you’ll never have a garden. To have a garden you’ve got to grow vegetables and that has to be your primary purpose! And today, the essence of being a conservative or to be a Christian is to pull up weeds. And I say, it’s planting a garden. And until we start planting gardens, we’re never going to have anything out of the garden. We’re going to spend our lives pulling up weeds, and there’s nothing more futile.

We have to have a positive program and that positive program, of course, is given to us in Scripture, the trouble is we want a shortcut. A few years ago I talked to a man who was one of the wealthiest men in the State, and I outlined to him what he could do with his money that would be constructive. Well, no, he wanted to win now. Well, he has put out a sizable fortune in backing political candidates that he ends up saying within six months, “They stink!” And he’s no closer to having achieved anything! And this is what you end up with when you confine yourself to pulling weeds.

Yes?

[Audience member] Could you comment on the ongoing validity of the Biblical dietary laws? What is the meaning of, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself?” Does foreign aid or welfare constitute loving our neighbor? ^x

[Rushdoony] First of all with respect to the dietary laws of the Bible, we’ll come to that a few weeks from now and will consider all of that; what is their function today, what is their meaning. The second part as we have seen previously the commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” is one that sums up the duties of the so-called ‘second table’ of the law. You love your neighbor if you do not kill him, you respect his right to life, you do not commit adultery, you respect the sanctity of his home, you do not steal or you respect his property, you do not bear false witness, you respect his reputation, and you do not covet what he has; that you respect these things in thought as well as in deed. So, you have respect to your neighbor’s right to life, home, property, and reputation, in word, thought, and deed, then you have kept the commandment. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;” this is the meaning.

The word ‘love’ there has a primarily juridical or legal rather than emotional reference. Today, we’ve converted it into a feeling. And these people who talk so much about loving everybody today are the ones who are doing the most damage to property and to life and to reputation and have no respect for the sanctity of the home. Now, this means, therefore, that you have a regard for these things in others, including your enemies. It does not mean that you surrender what you have to them, that’s a violation of the commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” I certainly don’t have much regard for myself if I throw away what I have, if I despise what is mine. And we’re not loving our enemies by giving them foreign aid, we are robbing our taxpayers and despising ourselves by throwing away our own wealth. That’s not love, that’s suicide. So, it is not love, it hasn’t any resemblance to what Scripture is requiring of us. And it constitutes a subsidy to evildoers; we are never told to subsidize evildoers! We must punish them when they are evil, and must defend them in their rights.

Yes?

[Audience member] Could you comment on the death penalty, particularly the judgment given, ‘not guilty by reason of insanity?’ ^xi

[Rushdoony] That’s our subject next week, the death penalty and the plea of not guilty by insanity, what is its status? And there are some very interesting laws with respect to that in Scripture that are neglected today. So that that is an extremely important subject and very timely today, because what the Bible has to say there speaks to the most pivotal issues of our day, that they’re coming to focus. The Tanner Trial today, for example, is, I think, the most important trial that’s going on because the man is a convicted rapist, and the attempt now is to have him released on the grounds that there is a difference in the chromosome structure in his body which would render him not guilty. So, we will be dealing with this next week, and it is, as I say, of central importance today.

Yes?

[Audience member] 

[Rushdoony] Yes. We will deal with the MaNaughton rule and the Durham rule next week, but our time is up now.

i. John Calvin and Charles William Bingham, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 20.

ii. The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Lk 10:27.

iii. John Calvin and Charles William Bingham, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 21

iv. Adam Clarke, Discourses on Various Subjects Relative to the Being and Attribute of God and His Works (New York: McElrath & Bangs, 1830), II, 32, 33.

v.  Question added/modified for clarity and brevity.

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xi.  Question added/modified for clarity and brevity.