A Murder vs Kill incident. Pt 1
- Jane Isley
- Apr 3
- 6 min read
I was told self-defense is never allowed and is considered murder. Challenge accepted.
Part 1: Justifying personal feelings while directly contradicting the word of God.
I was involved in a discussion where the topic of self-defense was brought up in a Bible study. It was recently brought to my attention again by someone else who was there about what happened that night. It wasn’t pretty, for several reasons and I realize in hindsight that I am still in disbelief over the conversation and how we all were treated and talked to. [I’ll do my best to paraphrase what happened]
We were told that self-defense of any kind for any reason was absolutely against the Bible.
(so is being in the military, but that’s for another day) A few of us put out in the conversation this question — If someone broke into your house and your wife or child was being attacked or raped, you wouldn’t fight back at all?
The answer was no. Then he made an off-hand comment about giving a cloak to someone in need. I wish I was joking and could properly convey this pastor’s attitude toward us.
According to him, we do not defend ourselves, at all for any reason, and if the worst happened it would always be murder if we protected ourselves, never self-defense.
That’s where the discussion ended — in fact, he ended it, quickly, swiftly and like a bully. There was no allowance for further discussion from those who understood the language better to offer additional Biblical information to the discussion.
It was his opinion and his alone that was correct. That, readers, is a serious red flag in any church and I’m going to break down his arguments, explain why it is unbiblical, and address his attitude in a two-part article.
His first justification -
When Jesus was betrayed, Peter sliced off the ear of the servant of the high priest and Jesus chastised the disciple for doing what he did. This event is recorded in all four gospels, Matthew 26:47–55, Mark 14:47–50, Luke 22:49–51, and John 18:10.
On the surface, this may appear to be a valid and solid argument against self-defense because Jesus chastised Peter. If you don’t study further.
Two details we need to examine with this situation.
1. A servant of the high priest was the one injured.
This individual would have been made to come with the high priest despite what he felt on the matter. I read and view this person as the innocent bystander in this particular situation because he would not have been given a choice in accompanying the high priest.
The reason for my belief? — The word δοῦλον (doulon).
It was used in all four gospels to describe this particular individual. (I do think it’s relevant that all four gospels used the same word.)
It comes from doulos which means “ Servant, Slave, Bondservant.” This was a person who was owned in some way by the high priest. “Doulos emphasizes who you belong to. You don’t get to make independent choices about your life, because you belong to someone else.” — Ezra Project The very word itself is synonymous with slave.
2. Peter did not use wisdom in this situation, he responded emotionally.
While this was undoubtedly a tense and volatile situation. Jesus had forewarned his disciples that he would be betrayed, and it would end in His crucifixion. Peter reacted emotionally and impulsively and attacked the man without probable cause. Peter did not exercise wisdom, which is why what Peter did was wrong.
Some other things to consider.
“And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, whoever has no sword is to sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was counted with wrongdoers’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.” Luke 22:36–38
— Why instruct them to buy swords if self-defense was never allowed? This was straight from Jesus; even to the end, He was still using what was happening around Him to teach us by example. Yes, absolutely, Peter messed up; that is not in question. But it is in this situation that we learn a significant difference between self-defense and murder.
— Defense and self-defense are not new concepts in the Bible. The Israelites went to war and defended themselves a lot in the Bible; the Book of Esther is a good example. She requested that her people be allowed to defend themselves against attack, and God created a way for them to defend themselves, legally, I would like to point out. Also note that after they defended themselves, they did not take any spoils; it was not greed that motivated them, it was living.
— Exodus 22:2–3 is also an example of self-defense and does require more than a precursory glance through. There have been varying questions asked regarding what is meant by the night vs day aspect for a long time, but ultimately, these verses are about self-defense. Blogger James Pate has an excellent article that takes you through various breakdowns and interpretations of this verse. I believe it would be very helpful to read as you explore this topic.
— Jesus taught us to endure the insults that will come our way. He taught us to think before taking any action against someone who would hurt us and not to be vengeful. He taught us to forgive, show mercy, and be gentle and encouraged us to seek peace first and love our enemies.
— However, He did not command us to sit by and be violated either. In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us He came to fulfill the law.
What does that mean specifically?
It means He came to promote the authority of God. He clarified, expanded, and taught us what we needed to know, how to act, give, pray, and many other things. He also confirmed that the law would remain until the second coming and called out those who would change the law in any way. That’s why the next section is really, really important regarding that so-called “conversation” I was a witness to.
See, in Matthew 5:21–23, Jesus directly addresses Exodus 20:13 for us.
“[..]You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’ […]”
In both instances the word murder is derived from the Greek word φονεύς, our transliteration is Phoneuó which means “To murder, to kill”.
This Greek verb literally means “to commit murder or to kill unlawfully. It is used in the New Testament to describe the act of taking another person’s life with intent and malice.” (Biblehub.com)
— And yes, Jesus expands on that for us, He discusses the dangers of anger in ourselves and what that means for us. But Jesus never made a statement against our right to self-defense.
That would have been the prime moment to clarify this subject, but He did not.
He clarified that law for us in a personal manner, He did not change it. In fact Jesus NEVER took away our right to defend ourselves anywhere. To change this is what we define as heresy. Jesus gave them the necessary framework needed in how to behave and to go out in the world to spread the gospel. But never as target dummies.
There’s also this.
We have the Cities of Refuge in the Bible God told Moses and Joshua to provide for foreigners and anyone who took a life unintentionally or in self-defense.
These cities were strategically placed for people to be able to get to them quickly and the roads were well maintained. Numbers 35:13–15 and Joshua 20:5–9 talk about these cities and what they were provided for. 2 Samuel 3:26–28 also confirms these cities were for situations of self-defense.
“He who strikes someone so that he dies shall certainly be put to death. Yet if he did not lie in wait for him, but God caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. If, however, someone is enraged against his neighbor, so as to kill him in a cunning way, you are to take him even from My altar, to be put to death.” Exodus 21:12–14
Self-defense had been acknowledged by God as something that would inevitably occur.
Protective measures were set in place by God and never stopped by Jesus to protect the innocent. God’s law on murder was strict, and these cities provided people safety.
Self-defense is the use of wisdom, knowledge, experience, tact, and common sense.
Thank you for taking the time to read and follow me. I genuinely appreciate your engagement. It is uplifting and encouraging as I continue to challenge, educate, and inspire.
Part 2 is here. I will be going through the differences between kill and murder, how they are two different words, and my personal reflections on this conversation.
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