“Anyone who takes another person’s life must be put to death.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
- KJV And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
- BSB And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.
- NKJV ‘Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death.
- NASB ‘Now if someone takes any human life, he must be put to death.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever murders another person must be put to death. Human life bears unique value before God.
Overview
This restates the principle that taking a human life calls for the forfeit of the murderer's own life. The gravity flows from humanity being made in God's image (Genesis 9:6). It affirms the sanctity of life that the gospel ultimately upholds by Christ giving his life to redeem the guilty.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Gen 9:5–6I will surely require your blood of your lives; at the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man.
- Deut 19:11–12But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities;
- Deut 27:24‘Cursed is he who secretly kills his neighbor.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Exod 21:12–14“One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death,
- Num 35:30–31“‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 24:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.