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Dythe y tht new oers o themiliti rtillery were elete. His sermonset orth the min lines o New Englnmiliti prehing tht woul e olloweinto the Amerin Reolution. Bsing

the sermon on the text he rmehis trine sernts, Nowell (nountless other New Engln prehers)expline tht Go require peopleto een themseles when unustlytte, tht eensie trining ws sre oligtion, n tht Go ws Mn o Wr who woul lwys lethem to itory i they ullle theiruty to ght ourgeously.

Te next oo o the Bile, Exous,tells o the liertion o the Herew

sles rom Egypt. Aer the 10 plguesh nlly onine the Egyptins tolet the Herews go, the Herews werellowe to te whteer they wnterom the Egyptins, euse Gome the Egyptins orly isposeto the Herews. Te Herew slesthus reeie prtil reprtions orhunres o yers o slery.

Ten: Go too the people towrthe wy o the Wilerness to the Se oRees. An the Chilren o Isrel were

rme when they went up rom Egypt.

(rnsltion y Rshi, the oremostJewish Bile ommenttor.)

Inste o rme, the kjv uses thewor hrnesse ( wor typillyuse or horses) s n wwr wy o

expressing tht the Herews mrheout in militry orer. Other trnsltionsetter express the pssges sense thtthe Herews mrhe out ree inglorious ttle rry: An the people oIsrel went up equippe or ttle(Reise Stnr Version); n thehilren o Isrel went up rme(Amerin Stnr Version); An thesons o Isrel went up in militry orer(Amerin Bptist Pulition Soiety).Te Herew wor is chamushim,

proly relte to the Egyptin chams,mening lne. Presumly, thewepons h een otine romthe Egyptins.

For most o humn history, istintie eture o ree mn hseen tht he possesses rms, while istintie eture o sle is ththe oes not. Tus the text showstht the Herews were mrhing outtriumphntly s ree people, notsneing wy surreptitiously lie sles.

Te Herew liertion rom Egypt,

where the Phroh emne to eworshippe s go, ws more thn theen o physil slery. It mre theeginning o politil sel-rule y theHerews n their spiritul liertion.

Eri Voegelin, historin o

philosophy, wrote in his ooTheEcumenic Age tht the physil exousws lso spiritul exous rom theosmologil orm o imperil rule.Te sonship o Go is trnserre romthe phroh to the people o Isrel inimmeite existene uner Yhweh.Hene, persons lie elongs to Go,not to the goernment.

Aer the liertion rom Egypt,Go ge the Herews n their leerMoses the lw, or now they woul heto goern themseles s n inepenent,responsile people, rther thn simplyoey the ittes o slemsters.Te lw require sel-eense ginstriminl tt.

Te Boo o Exous, hpter 22,soles homeowner who ills urglr t night: I thie e ounreing up, n e smitten tht he ie,there shll e no loo she or him.Te next erse sttes tht, I the sune risen upon him, there shll e looshe or him.

Uner the Mosi lw, the nerestreltie o person who ws murerews olige to ill the murerer,proiing loo restitution or theeth o the innoent. But when noturnl urglr ws ille in thet, there ws no wrong-oing. Tus,his relties h no right o restitutionginst the home-owner.

Similrly, the ountionl Romnlws, nown s the wele les, lsollowe the illing o night thie in

sel-eense, while requiring tht in theytime the itim rst me ry orhelp (to summon neighors) eoreusing ely ore.

One o the gretest Jewish legl shol-rs o ntiquity ws Philo o Alexnri(pprox. 20 b.c. 50 a.d.), who wroteout the Jewish lw in Alexnri,Egypt, uring the perio when Egyptn Isrel were oth uner Romn rule.Muh o Philos tretise, The SpecialLaws, ime to show tht Jewish lw

ws onsistent with Romn lw.

T

he commandment, after

all, does not say, Thou

shalt not kill humans,

but simply says, Thou shaltnot kill. The word in the original

Hebrew text is rtzach, which

would be translated as murder.

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He rgue tht the Jewish lw, liethe Romn lw, ws se on sel-eense, euse eery night urglr ws potentil murerer. Te urglr woule rme, t the lest, with iron house-reing tools, whih oul e use s

wepons. Beuse ssistne rom thepolie or neighors woul e unliely tnight, the itim ws llowe immeiteresort to ely ore.

Philo thought it oolish to lmerms rther thn riminls or rime:It is piee o olly to e ngry withthe sernts rther thn those who rethe uses o olly [unless] it ne lle tting to let men go who heommitte murer with the swor, nto ontent ones sel with throwing wythe swor

Te lmu is multi-lyereommentry on Jewish lw. Neweitions inorporte itionlmterils rom new ommenttors.Te Bylonin lmu (rst writtenroun the sixth entury y the lrgeJewish ommunity tht lie in whtis now Irq) expline the pssges inExous: Wht is reson or the lw oreing in? Beuse it is ertin thtno mn is intie where his property isonerne; thereore, this one [the thie]

must he resone, I I go there, he[the owner] will oppose me n preentme; ut i he oes, I will ill him.Hene: I he ome to sly thee, orestlly slying him (Snherin 72).

Te lst sentene is sometimestrnslte s I someone omes toill you, rise up n ill him rst. Tesentene oes not elegte isretion; itis positie ommn. A Jew hs utyto use ely ore to een himsel orhersel ginst murerous tt.

Te lmu lso imposes nrmtie uty on ystners to illi neessry to preent murer, therpe o etrothe womn or peersty(Snherin 73.)

Commenttors he gree tht person is require een to hire resueri neessry to se the itim rom thepursuer (the rodef). Liewise, i onesees wil est rging [ ellow] ornits oming to tt him he isoligte to se [the ellow].

Te uty to use ore to een

n innoent is se on two orhpssges. Te rst is Leviticus19:16, whih proies, neither shltthou stn ginst the loo o thyneighour. Or in moern trnsltion,nor shll you stn ily y when

your neighors lie is t ste.(NewAmerin Bile)

Te seon orh pssge omesrom Deuteronomy, n explins thti mn n etrothe (engge)womn h illiit sex in the ity, itwoul e presume tht she honsente, euse she woul he rieout or help h she not onsente. Buti the sexul t ourre in the ountry,she woul e presume to he eenthe itim o orile rpe, For heoun her in the el, n the etrothemsel rie . . . there ws none to seher (23:23-27). Te pssge implies uty o ystners to hee womnsries n ome to her resue. (Tepresumptions out onsent ornon-onsent oul e oerome yother eiene.)

One o the most importnt prts oJewish Orl Lw (whih ws eentullywritten own in the lmu n inother ouments) re the Mitzot, 613ommns rom Go tht guie Jewish

lie. One Mitzot requires eeryoneo se person who is eing pursueeen i it is neessry to ill the pursuer.Another Mitzot ommns personNot to he pity on pursuer. Rther,he shoul e ille eore he ills orrpes the person he is pursuing.

A 1998 Isreli lw, erie romLeitius, mntes tht person inother who is in immeite ngeri i n e renere without ngerto the resuer. A ew Amerin sttes

he similr lws, oen lle GooSmritn Lws.

In the lmu n elsewhere,ll signint Jewish ommenttorshe re the Exous pssge outthe sun eing risen on the urglr smetphoril. I the sun e risen uponhim mens I the urglrs intentionsre plinly non-iolent. Tus, i householer is ertin tht urglr willnot use iolene, then the householermy not ill the urglr, een t night.

Conersely, i the urglr is iolent

thret to the househol, then the urglrmy e ille, regrless o the hour othe y (Mehilt Neziin 13, 3, 101).

Some pists te the SixthCommnment, whih is oentrnslte s Tou shlt not ill, s

somehow negting wht the rest othe orh tehes out the uty oeening onesel n others.

Yet no one tully interprets Toushlt not ill ompletely literlly. Teommnment, er ll, oes not sy,Tou shlt not ill humns, ut simplysys, Tou shlt not ill. Re literlly,Tou shlt not ill woul ori notonly the onsumption o met, ut lsothe illing o egetle, ruit n grinplnts. Liewise orien woul e

use o ntiiotis, inluing ntiiotisop, whih eliertely ills millionso teri.

I one is willing to eprt rom nsolutely literl pplition o the KingJmes trnsltion, then it is resonleto pply the ommnment oringto its plin mening in the originlHerew. Te wor in the originlHerew text is rtzach, whih woule trnslte s murer. Te JewishPulition SoietyTorahCommentaryon Exodus explins tht the Herew

er stem pplies only to illegl illingn, unlie other ers or the ting olie, is neer use in the ministrtiono ustie or or illing in wr.

Tus, the Mitzot tht implementsthe Sixth Commnment sttes tht goo Jew is require Not to illn innoent person, s [the SixthCommnment] sttes: Do not murer.

In sum, the rst e oos o theBile ofer nothing to support nrgument tht eensie iolene is

wrong, s mny gun-nners woullie you to eliee. o the ontrry,using ore to protet onesel n otherinnoents is not only right, ut positie morl uty.

Editors Note:

This article is a condensed version ofKopels article, The Torah and Self-Defense, published in volume 109 of thePenn Stte Lw Reiew, and available at

davekopel.org