Sunday's Positive Bible Message 7.22.2007

"Thou shalt not kill." ~ Exodus 20:13

Here is something we can all agree with. We shouldn't kill. Well how can any Christian eat meat, as this is killing as well, isn't it? How is this law from God rationalized away? Well, it doesn't have to be.

You see, the original word used her for "kill" appears in Hebrew as follows:

"(פ') לרצוח; להרוס, לקלקל, "לרצוח"

The literal translation to English is "murder," not "kill." The incorrect translation appeared first in the King James Translation (first published 1611 CE), and since this was always the most popular version of the Bible, this is the phrase that gets quoted. Newer translations have used "murder."

It should be noted that the word in the original Hebrew means "the crime of killing another person" and that is how Christians are able to eat meat through the killing of animals. It's not murder, it is killing, which is okay.

The whole point you should not forget here is of course that it is important to understand that the Bible can mean very different things depending upon your knowledge of the ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, your Bible's version, and what your preacher tells you. No one I ever knew in my years as a devout Christian ever knew the ancient Hebrew language. I mean, really, who is going to learn that other than people that study it specifically? Even the seminary only provides a basic course. My pastor only seemed to know enough Hebrew to pull out certain words to show us what stuff meant when we thought it meant something else that he didn't agree with. He would correct us through the ancient Hebrew.

I can't help but wonder how many phrases went against his teachings, that he never shared with us.


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