"The Sixth Commandment does NOT read : ‘Thou shalt not kill’.
The correct translation from the Hebrew or the Greek is: ‘Thou shalt not murder’.
Anyone, such as I, who has fought in a war to protect our freedom has probably killed many. I refuse to feel guilt for having done that in my role as a soldier. You should not continue to proliferate this error and thereby challenge all who take risks of death themselves while participating in the inevitable and necessary killing that may be essential to preserving this nation, under God.
Very sincerely yours,
W.E.H.
Lt Col USAF (Ret)
Served during WWII, Korea and Vietnam"
found online at
duhaime.org/LegalResources/LawMuseum/tabid/345/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/108/1300-BC-The-Ten-Commandments.aspx
Interesting that a soldier knew the correct translation of the text.
"One of the oldest pieces of political correctness, still spun today, is the King James Bible translation of sixth of the Ten Commandments as “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” In fact, the correct translation of the passage is “Thou Shalt Not Murder.”
The Illustrated Jerusalem Bible Hebrew—English, on page 166, has for the Sixth Commandment, in Exodus 20:13, “Lo Tirsach” (imperative case: “No Kill”, Hebrew using fewer words to express thoughts than does English). This is from the verb “lirtzach,” to murder (infinitive) or “rotzach” (1st—3rd person singular), although the English translation in this Old Testament is "Thou Shalt Not Kill. It is not thou shall not kill (harog=kill, 1st—3rd person singular in Hebrew).
If you go to the Judaism 101 website, it states the Sixth Commandment as Thou Shall Not Murder. The Signet Hebrew/English English/Hebrew Dictionary also documents that the Sixth Commandment is linguistically connected for the verb for murder (p.213), not killing (p. 182)."
“Then how about “Thou shalt not murder,” which, I am told, is the correct translation of the original Hebrew word, “ratsach.””
Found online at
crisispapers.org/essays-p/moral-philo.htm – this one is a kind of interesting read that makes you think.