OT: The Fifth Commandment

[Neri]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Judy" <judy at ...> wrote:
>
> Neri said:
> > To my best knowledge as a Hebrew speaker, the root R-TZ-CH (that 
is
> > used in the commandment `Loh tirtzach") *always* means "murderer" 
or
> > "to murder" and *never* killing that isn't murder. At least I'm
> > certain about that in regard to modern Hebrew, slightly less so in
> > regard to biblical Hebrew since I'm hardly an expert...
> > in this specific case CMC is quite
> > right: "Loh tirtzach" means precisely "do not murder".
> 
> Ah!  I forgot that we had a Hebrew speaker here!  Neri, I certainly 
> accept your word for it that in modern Hebrew, the root R-TZ-CH 
> always refers to murder. 
> 
> I'm not ready to concede defeat when it comes to Biblical Hebrew, 
> though.  The same chapter of Numbers uses "yirtzach" as the word 
> meaning "to execute" or "put to death" a murderer. (Numbers 
> 35:30: "Lefi eidim yirtzach et ha-rotzei'ach.")  This passage is 
> usually translated as saying that a murderer should be put to 
death.  
> But if R-TZ-CH always means murder, then Numbers 35:30 would say 
that 
> a murderer should be *murdered*, and that certainly doesn't sound 
> right. 
> 
> Also, Numbers 35:27 uses R-TZ-CH to refer to someone who gets 
revenge 
> by killing a murderer, and says that this avenger is not guilty "of 
> blood."  So, it seems that this act of revenge isn't considered 
> murder, yet the word used to refer to the killing is R-TZ-CH, same 
as 
> in the Fifth Commandment. (See 
> http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/words/7/1139373303-
1477.html )
> 
> However, I will definitely concede that most translators agree 
with  
> you and CMC, and consider the Fifth Commandment as refering 
> specifically to murder.
> 
> -- Judy
>
Neri:
Hmm, these are indeed two counter-examples I didn't notice. All I can 
say is that throughout most of this chapter execution is definitely 
referred to with the root M-V-TH ("yamith" or "yumath", correctly 
translated "put to the death") while murder is referred to with the 
root R-ZH-CH. I don't presume to interpret the two exceptions you 
mentioned, but they both seem to be rather subtle legal points, so 
maybe they indeed refer to cases of one murderer murdering the other? 
For example, "ein lo dam" (literally: he has no blood) might mean 
that someone who kills a runaway convicted murderer is still a 
murderer himself, yet the relations of the dead must not avenge the 
blood. That would be in line with the whole point of this chapter, 
which is doing away with blood feuds by introducing the revolutionary 
concept (at that time) of an official justice system.

I'd also point out that if the Fifth Commandment was also supposed to 
mean "do not execute" then it would be in obvious contradiction with 
the above chapter and many other laws in the Tora that definitely 
permit (or rather demand) execution for the gravest crimes. Of course 
this isn't saying much, since for almost any given argument in the 
Bible it's possible to find another that contradict it <g>.

Neri