At first glance, it seems as though the Old Testament is riddled with numerous examples of hypocrisy when it comes to God's command of prohibiting murder. To address this perceived hypocrisy, one must understand that there is a difference between the acts of murder and killing and its role in balancing the universe.
From a legal standpoint, the act of murder is defined as "the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought" (Purver, J.M., 1966), whereas, the act of killing is to cause the death of a living thing. Most importantly, the Old Testament makes the distinction between murder and killing. "And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated
From a legal standpoint, the act of murder is defined as "the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought" (Purver, J.M., 1966), whereas, the act of killing is to cause the death of a living thing. Most importantly, the Old Testament makes the distinction between murder and killing. "And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated