THE BIBLE AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

When people speak on th issue of capital punishment and the Bible, they usually begin and end with the 7th Commandment as given in Exodus 20:13 (and repeated in Deuteronomy 5:17-KJV): Thou shalt not kill. They seem to miss the following verse in Exodus 21:12: "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death."  They often skip to verses 23-25 in Exodus 21 about "...thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."  They mumble something about "Two wrongs don't make a right," and if we did this, then "the whole world will just end up blind and toothless" as if everyone is guilty of these offenses.  Really?

The reason for the death penalty is to prevent more murders by the same individual if he or she were ever  released, and to further dissuade others from committing such acts. The fact that it is clearly talking about murder, is made plain in Numbers 35:16, 17, & 18, where the phrase: "...the murderer shall surely be put to death." is repeated 3 times, no matter the method used to commit the act. Verse 21 further states, "...he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer...." To further drive the point home, and make it abundantly clear and remove any doubt, verse 30 says: "Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death...." The fact that the killing is not self defense, is made clear in verse 31: "Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall surely be put to death."

Again, the meaning is made plain, in no uncertain terms, here.  There is no need to change Exodus 20:13, and by extension Deuteronomy 5:17, to say: "Thou shalt do no murder." as some have suggested, when a thorough study will make the meaning clear. Proverbs 30:5-6 states: "Every word of God is pure...Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."