4 ms·
I don’t think there is good evidence for what you described on a theological basis (I also do not believe that what you described is a very common interpretatio
by 542458 5y ago
I don’t think there is good evidence for what you described on a theological basis (I also do not believe that what you described is a very common interpretation). The word translated as “murder” is “retzach”. Conveniently, the book of Numbers talks about “retzach” quite a bit, and it’s described as killing (including accidentally) outside of warfare. It is not distinguished by race or religion, and although there are a number of justified causes for retzach, none are as broad as “all non-Jews”.
There’s a sort of precedent to “shalt not kill” in Genesis 9:6 as part of God’s covenant with Noah, and it’s very clear that it’s a prohibition to the murder of any human regardless of race or creed: “ Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
The old Jewish law contains a number of explicit protections for non-Jews, so it would seem very inconsistent if murder of non-Jews was viewed as not contrary to the law.