To murder
רָצַחStrong’s H7523ratsach (ra-tsach)
Appears in 40 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Ratsach is the Hebrew word usually translated “killer”, “must murder” and “murder”. It appears in 40 verses of the Old Testament.
“Thou shalt not kill.”
Meaning
- To murder, slay, kill(Qal) to murder, slay · (Niphal) to be slain · (Piel) · (Pual) to be killed
How it's translated
- the killer 21
- a killer 8
- you must murder 2
- they murder 2
- and he will kill 1
- someone will kill 1
- he will kill 1
- killer 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Numbers 14
- Joshua 8
- Deuteronomy 6
- Psalms 2
- Hosea 2
- Exodus 1
13 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Numbers 35:6And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.
- Numbers 35:11Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.
- Numbers 35:12And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.
- Numbers 35:16And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
- Numbers 35:17And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
- Numbers 35:18Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
All 40 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
רָצַח ratsach · to murder
1) to murder, slay, kill 1a)(Qal) to murder, slay 1a1) premeditated 1a2) accidental 1a3) as avenger 1a4) slayer (intentional) (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be slain 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to murder, assassinate 1c2) murderer, assassin (participle) (subst) 1d) (Pual) to be killed
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “murder” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
MUR'DER, noun
[Latin mors.]
- The act of unlawfully killing a human being with premeditated malice, by a person of sound mind.
- An outcry, when life is in danger.
All definitions and other forms of “murder”
MUR'DER, verb transitive
- To kill a human being with premeditated malice. [See the Noun.]
- To destroy; to put an end to.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.