Question: Do the scriptures endorse murder?

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Question: Do the scriptures endorse murder?

The scriptures contain explicit references against murder

It is claimed that murder is endorsed by the scriptures. There is explicit mention against innocent killing in the scriptures. A small sampling includes:

• Exodus 20:13
• Deuteronomy 5:17
• Matthew 5:21
• Mark 10:19
• Mosiah 13:21
• D&C 59:6

A Moral Philosophical Note for Consideration

Many people are very understandably troubled with the portrayal of many people losing their lives in the scriptures and other pericopes that appear to condone some form of murder. As one moral consideration, we might think about what God might be doing. When taken from their mortal sojourn, it may be that God is showing mercy to people by allowing them not to make any more bad choices. That may allow us to see the scriptures in a new light. God is the creator of the universe including our spirits and bodies (2 Nephi 2:13) and it is his right to act upon us according to his will since he is the author of our life.

Considerations for any case

No matter what text of the scriptures is claimed to support murder, it is important to remember three things:

1. A good hermeneutic for reconciling the scriptures. See here for our suggested tools.
2. Read scripture in context. Grab a thorough scholarly commentary on the book in question and dive into it to see what you can know about it.
3. Read scripture holistically. If scripture talks about anything, we should read everything that scripture has to say about that person, place, or thing. It helps us gain a composite understanding of how the prophets understood God’s word in a particular context and how we can understand it today through the lense of revelation.

This is the pattern that we have followed for the other responses we have written for moral questions about the scriptures.

Additional Reading

• Wikipedia “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
• Net Bible
• The Oxford Annotated Study Bible