The act of wilfully and feloniously killing a person upon malice or forethought. Heart murder is the secret wishing or designing the death of any man; yea, the Scripture saith, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, " 1 John 3:15 . We have instances of this kind of murder in Ahab, 1 Kings 22:9 . Jezebel, 2 Kings 19:2 . the Jews, Mark 11:18 . David, 1 Samuel 25:21-22 . Jonah 4:1; Jonah 4:4 . Murder is contrary to the authority of God, the sovereign disposer of life, Deuteronomy 32:39; to the goodness of God, who gives it, Job 10:12; to the law of nature, Acts 16:28; to the love a man owes to himself, his neighbour, and society at large. Not but that life may be taken away, as in lawful war, 1 Chronicles 5:22; by the hands of the civil magistrate for capital crimes, Deuteronomy 17:8; Deuteronomy 17:10; and in self-defence.
See SELF- DEFENCE. According to the divine law, murder is to be punished with death, Deuteronomy 19:11-12 . 1 Kings 2:28-29 . It is remarkable that God often gives up murderers to the terrors of a guilty conscience, Genesis 4:13; Genesis 4:15; Genesis 4:23-24 . Such are followed with many instances of divine vengeance, 2 Samuel 12:9-10; their lives are often shortened, Psalms 55:23; and judgments of their sin are oftentimes transmitted to posterity, Genesis 49:7 . 2 Samuel 21:1 .
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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