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Bible Question: What does scripture say about the death penalty?
Bible Answer: After the Genesis flood, God instituted the death penalty or what
we call capital punishment. Before the flood the human race was
vegetarian. But after the flood, God told Noah that both the animals
and the plants were food for mankind. There was no penalty for
taking the life of an animal, but it was a different situation
if a human took the life of another human. The reason God gives
is that mankind was created in His image.
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Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For
in the image of God He made man. (NASB) Genesis 9:6 |
Guidelines. God did not provide guidelines for capital punishment until He
gave us the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue. Contrary to what
many people believe, God gave different conditions which required
the death penalty.
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Conditions for the Death Penalty |
Passage |
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If they killed craftily . . . death was required. |
Ex. 21:14 |
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. . . struck him with an iron object |
Num. 35:16 |
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. . . struck him with a stone |
Num. 35:17 |
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. . . struck him with a wood object |
Num. 35:18 |
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. . . pushed him because of hatred |
Num. 35:20 |
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. . . struck him with anger |
Num. 35:21 |
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If they did not lie in wait for him . . . stand trial. |
Ex. 21:13
Num. 35:12 |
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. . . struck him unintentionally |
Num. 35:22-25 |
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This principle is also repeated in the New Testament but without
the details (Romans 13:1-7).
What It Does Not Mean. Some have quoted the Ten Commandments as proof that the Bible does
not support the death penalty. Others have used the death penalty
to declare that the Bible contradicts itself.
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YOU SHALL NOT MURDER (NASB) Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17; Romans
13:9 |
The King James Version reads, "You shall not kill." But this does
not give the correct meaning of the Greek text. The meaning of
the English word "kill" refers to the idea of simply causing something
to die. Most of us think nothing of "killing" an insect or a snake.
That is not the sense of the Greek word used in Romans 13:9 which
is a reference back to Exodus and Deuteronomy.
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