The most common claim offered in defense of this contradiction is that Exodus 20:13 really says, “Thou shalt not murder.” To murder is to kill unlawfully, maliciously or premeditatedly. If the Commandments forbid only “murder,” then it can be argued that other forms of killing are allowed, or even encouraged. God can ordain capital punishment, or command a holocaust of heathens without breaking his own law. Of course, it is a useless tautology to define murder as an “unlawful” killing in this context. Since the Ten Commandments supposedly are the law, they would be merely saying, “It is
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