Depending on the version it's either THOU SHALT NOT KILL or THOU SHALT NOT MURDER. Nowhere does it say THOU SHALT NOT LYNCH! The loophole?

I am not among those who say the bible is the word of God. It's the words of multiple men over decades who had political axes to grind and did. They were misogynists so they minimized. They refused to allow any books from the Apocrypha in. So much for GOD'S WORD. I don't if you've oticed but christians are very good at "splitting hairs" and "whaddaboutism".  I have no faith in what they say simply because they call themselves christians. I'm one but not a standard issue. I have no use for church for one thing. I used to teach Sunday School when I was young. Now there is nothing and no one between me and GOD. They were useless actually. No one has to tell me what GOD means or intends or wants. Sheesh! Thank you for your reply Walt! :)

No. It is not any contradiction, because likewise in any country while murder is a criminal offence, yet killing becomes legal when authorized either for the defense of the country, or in some countries, for punishment of certain breaches of the criminal law. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > This post was edited by Robert at June 17, 2021 4:28 PM MDT

Perhaps you didn't understand what I was saying.
If the Commandment is "Do Not Kill", it IS a contradiction to later tell them TO kill.

If I say "No Killing" ... and then say "You can kill someone in self defense" ... that is a contradiction.  
The definition of "kill" did not change.  It is the same word.

If I say "No Murder" ... and then say "You can kill someone in self defense" ... that is not a contradiction, because the definition of murder excludes self-defense.

No. It is not a contradiction. The further instruction is one which is given to define the previous command.

Likewise in legal systems, a primary rule is often laid out, the detail of which becomes defined further on in the same law, or within subsequent law or laws.

If you can't see the difference between the terms "kill" and "murder", then I can't continue this conversation.

The term "kill" refers to death; while the criminal law defines whether the death is legal or illegal. If the death is found illegal by a court, it is either defined as "murder" or in some cases as the lesser crime of "manslaughter" (aka "2nd degree murder"); the decision based on the level of intention in the mind of the person accused. > > > > > > > > > > > > > . This post was edited by Robert at June 18, 2021 3:16 PM MDT

So you do understand why an all-knowing deity would choose the word "murder" rather than "kill", in commanding its followers not to do one.

Ergo, if the all-knowing deity said "Do Not Kill" - and then later told people to kill, it is a contradiction.

The alternative is that said all-knowing deity had no idea it would later tell people to kill ... and is thus not all-knowing.

And if you go back to the original Hebrew...the word used is properly translated as MURDER.

Exodus 20:13 uses the word (Heb.) "Tirtzoch" translated as either as "kill" or "murder". Again, the killing will be murder only if against the law. That is why in an accidental-killing, the killer was obliged to take sanctuary in one of the cities of refuge and there be judged whether the act was murder or not (Exodus 21:13, Numbers 35:11 ff).


Contributor "Walt O'Reagun" also wrote:
"Ergo, if the all-knowing deity said "Do Not Kill" - and then later told people to kill, it is a contradiction."

My response:
Repeating the same point ignoring the response to it already given, is an attempt at "circular-debate" (attempting to re-start a discussion from the beginning when unable to answer rebuttal), which is not valid debate. > > > > > > > > > > > This post was edited by Robert at June 23, 2021 7:20 PM MDT

The Bible is full of contradictions, right from the get go. Genesis 1: 26-27 is flatly contradicted by Genesis 2: 18-22.
Matthew and Luke couldn't even agree on the identity of Joseph's father - compare Matt 1: 1-16 with Luke 3: 23-38.

I will discuss the Jewish Scriptures (not the Christian Scriptures).

There is no contradiction between the two references given by contributor "Slartibartfast".
Genesis 1: 26-27 is a general description, while Genesis 2: 18-22 gives the detail for the former.

Genesis 1: 26-27 says God created Man male and female, while Genesis 2: 18-22 goes into detail how God created Man male and female. 

Doesn't work, in Genesis 1 he created both of them by decree on the sixth day. Genesis 2 has Eve happening later - this is what happens when 3 or 4 different groups contribute to the same work independently of one another. Moses didn't write any of the Torah, none of it (with the possible exception of the Song of Miriam) is that old by several centuries. It was set in its current and final (canonical) form during the Babylonian exile, with the Levite priests fighting syncretism and desperate to keep Judaism alive rather than see it buried by the Babylonian pantheon - they actually did crib bits from the Epic of Gilgamesh, as well as assembling lore from at least three oral traditions. The terms used are a dead giveaway - YHWH (the LORD in translation) for the priests and Yahwist sources, L (God) for the Elohist. Try reading it in Hebrew, it doesn't say what the King James scholars thought it did. The Qumran mss (which are even now being slowly reassembled) are proving that even the Masoretic texts had undergone some changes since the Torah was written, possibly due to transcribing errors rather than deliberate redactions - this was before printing was invented. This post was edited by Slartibartfast at June 18, 2021 9:32 PM MDT

Genesis 1:1–2:3 provides us with a chronological account of what God did on each of the days during Creation Week. Genesis 2:4–25 zooms in on Day Six and shows some of the events of that day.1 Let’s take a look at what happened on Day Six, according to Genesis 2, and we’ll see there is no discrepancy here.

• Adam is created (Genesis 2:7)
• Garden of Eden created (Genesis 2:8–9)
• Description of river system in Eden (Genesis 2:10–14)
• Adam put in Garden and given instructions (Genesis 2:15–17)
• Adam names some of the kinds of animals (Genesis 2:18–20)
• God creates Eve (Genesis 2:21–22)
• Description of Adam, Eve, and marriage (Genesis 2:23–25)

Contributor "Slartibartfast" wrote: 
"[...] in Genesis 1 he created both of them by decree on the sixth day. Genesis 2 has Eve happening later [...]"

My response:
By his word "later" it is clear he regards to the two passages as chronological. They are not. The first is a summary while the second is the detail for that summary.

Genesis 1: 26-27 says God created Man male and female, while Genesis 2: 18-22 goes into detail how God created Man male and female.