The Ten Commandments were given to Moses by Yahweh, the sixth of these, is possibly the most controversial of them all which is ‘Thou shall not murder’. These laws or rules weren’t original and were probably derived from the Egyptians and their Book of the Dead, which had a list of commandments given in order to enter the afterlife.

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Needless to say, these precepts have provided the foundation of many cultures and legal systems. The command not to murder is clearly an important principle, one that helps maintain order and the structure of any society.

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However, it is easy to think that the Old Testament scriptures seem to flout this commandment on numerous occasions, either with the support, or the consent of God. It seems that murders, in such contexts, were necessary and not contradictory.

Clearly, we have to make a distinction between ‘killing’ and the act of ‘murder’; both result in death but have a different interpretation. In the Hebrew scriptures to ‘kill’ someone, is usually as a result of an act of disobedience to Yahweh. In some versions of the sixth commandment the words ‘not to kill’ is used but it is better interpreted as ‘not to murder’.

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In Leviticus 24:17 it says, ‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death’, from this verse we see the two interpretations in one sentence. Murdering someone is sin and warrants punishment which meant the extinction of the life of the person committing the sin.

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Even today in some societies this interpretation is part of the law and carried out by the state, sometimes following a legal process but often as a political tool of control of the masses. Seen as a deterrent the ‘Death Penalty’ rather than being dated is still a means of putting fear into a population.

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The problem associated with the ‘killing’ of a person, through a legal process, is that there is no allowance for miscarriages of justice nor any true remorse. Once executed there is no way of reversing a ‘botched’ trial, retribution is fine but lacks forgiveness and compassion.

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It is hard to forgive a murder, especially of an innocent person; recently we have seen some awful cases in the news. The case of Lucy Letby, and the seven babies that were murdered by her, may well cause people, especially the families of the babies, to question the leniency of a full life sentence. Nevertheless, ‘killing’ someone will not bring those children back to life and the murderer would not have the rest of her life to reflect on the crimes she has committed and hopefully show remorse in due course.