1 See, e.g., C.J.H. Wright, The Israelite Household and the Decalogue: The Social Background and Significance of Some Commandments, Tyndale Bulletin 30 (1979), 101–124; H. Küng, A Global ethics in an Age of Globalization, Business Ethics Quarterly 7 (1997), 17–32.

2 See the ‘pro-life’ pamphlet: Abortion: A Matter of Life and Death, Belfast 1981; and the Papal instructions Donum Vitae (1987) and Dignitas Personae (2008); J.K. Hoffmeier, Abortion and the Old Testament Law, in: J.K. Hoffmeier (ed), Abortion: A Christian Understanding and Response, Grand Rapids 1987, 49–63; M. Blocher, The Right to Die? Caring Alternatives to Euthanasia, Chicago 1989; N. Biggar, Aiming to Kill: The Ethics of Suicide and Euthanasia, Cleveland 2004. A balanced view is to be found in W. Wolbert, Du sollst nicht töten: Systematische Überlegungen zum Tötungsverbot, Freiburg i. Ue./ Freiburg i. Br. 2000; A. Sirchich von Kis-Sira, Du sollst nicht töten? Das biblische Tötungsverbot im Spiegel theologischer Disziplinen, München 2010. For a more liberal approach, see J.J. Thomson, A Defence of Abortion, Philosophy & Public Affairs, 1 (1971), 47–66; J.W. Rogerson, Theory and Practice in Old Testament Ethics (edited and with an introduction by M. Daniel Carroll R.), JSOT Sup 405, London, New York 2004, 88–99.

3 On the different use of the commandment pro or contra war see, e.g., G.M. Simpson, “Thou Shall not Kill” – The First Commandment of the Just War Tradition, in: W.P. Brown (ed.), The Ten Commandments: The Reciprocity of Faithfulness, Louisville 2004, 249–65; Rogerson, Theory and Practice in Old Testament Ethics, 81–87.

4 See on this problem, e.g., P.C. Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament, Grand Rapids 1978; S. Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible: A Study in the Ethics of Violence, Oxford 1995; W. Dietrich, C. Link, Die dunklen Seiten Gottes, Band 1: Willkür und Gewalt, Neukirchen Vluyn, 42002; F.-L. Hossfeld, „Du sollst nicht töten!“ Das fünfte Dekaloggebot im Kontext alttestamentlicher Ethik, Beiträge zur Friedensethik 26, Stuttgart 2003.

5 Philo, De Decalogo 1,132; see G. Stemberger, Der Dekalog im frühen Judentum, JBTh 4 (1989), 91–103; Y. Amir, The Decalogue according to Philo, in: B.-Z. Segal (ed.), The Ten Commandments in History and Tradition, Jerusalem 1990, 121–60; U. Kellermann, Der Dekalog in den Schriften des Frühjudentums: Ein Überblick, in: H. Graf Reventlow (ed.), Weisheit, Ethos und Gebot: Weisheits- und Dekalogtraditionen in der Bibel und im frühen Judentum, BThSt 43, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2001, 161–170.

6 Targ PsJ Exod 20,13; Deut 5,17, and Cairo Genizah Targum; see, e.g., R. Kasher, A New Targum to the Ten Commandments According to a Genizah Manuscript, HUCA 60 (1989), 1–17.

7 P.D. Miller, The Ten Commandments, Interpretation, Louisville 2009, 221–69.

8 On these dilemmas see the remarks by Dietrich Bonhoeffer on ‚Das Recht auf das leibliche Leben‘ in D. Bonhoeffer, Ethik, München 1953, 102–11; and the questions in Wolbert, Du sollst nicht töten, 106–07.

9 See also E. Otto, Theologische Ethik des Alten Testaments, ThW 3,2, Stuttgart Berlin Köln 1994, 32–47

10 See Wright, The Israelite Household and the Decalogue.

11 See, from an abundance of literature, Wright, The Israelite Household and the Decalogue; B.S. Childs, Exodus, OTL, London 1974, 401–02; B. Becking, Blijf bij Uw Bevrijder. In de leer bij de Tien Geboden, Kampen 1986; Otto, Theologische Ethik des Alten Testaments; W. Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, Minneapolis 1997, 181–201; P.D. Miller, Divine Command and Beyond: The Ethics of the Commandments, in: W.P. Brown (ed.), The Ten Commandments: The Reciprocity of Faithfulness, Louisville 2004, 12–29; B.K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical and Thematic Approach, Grand Rapids 2007, 409–411; Miller, Ten Commandments, 15–19.

12 J.J. Stamm, Sprachliche Erwägungen zum Gebot „Du sollst nicht töten“, ThZ 1 (1945), 81–90.

13 H. Graf Reventlow, Das Heiligkeitsgesetz formgeschichtlich untersucht, WMANT 6, Neukirchen 1961, 71–75; see also H. Graf Reventlow, Gebot und Predigt im Dekalog, Gütersloh 1962, 71–73; D.J.A. Clines, The Ten Commandments. Reading from Left to Right, in: J. Davies, G. Harvey, W.G.E. Watson (eds), Words Remembered, Texts Renewed: Essays in Honour of John F.A. Sawyer, JSOT Sup 195, Sheffield 1995, 111.

14 As becomes clear from commentaries like Childs, Exodus, 420–23; W.L. Holladay, Jeremiah 1: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah Chapters 1–25, Hermeneia, Philadelphia 1984, 244–45; J.I. Durham, Exodus, WBC 3, Waco 1987, 292; C. Houtman, Exodus Deel III: Exodus 20–40, Commentaar op het Oude Testament, Kampen 1996, 68–70. See also Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament, 55–63; C. Levin, Die Verheißung des neuen Bundes in ihrem theologiegeschichtlichen Zusammenhang ausgelegt, FRLANT 137, Göttingen 1985, 94; F.-L. Hossfeld, rāṣaḥ, in: ThWAT VII, 653–656; Hossfeld, „Du sollst nicht töten!“; W.A. Bailey, “You Shall Not Kill” or “You Shall Not Murder”? The Assault on a Biblical Text, Collegeville, MN 2005, 1–25; E. Otto, Altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte. Gesammelte Studien, BZAR 8, Wiesbaden 2008, 31.

15 See, e.g., Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament, 55–63.

16 The verb does not occur in Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions. In the texts from Qumran the verb is attested twice – 11QT 66,7; CD 6, 17. The noun reṣaḥ, ‘murder; slaughter’, occurs twice, Ps 42,11; Ezek 21,27.

17 Jdg 20,4; see Miller, Ten Commandments, 255–58.

18 1Kgs 21,19; see Miller, Ten Commandments, 258–59.

19 Prov 22,13.

20 As is already seen by LXX who renders the verb-form as a noun: ‘on the roads, in the streets are murderers (φονευταί)’. See also W.P. Brown, The Didactic Power of Metaphor in the Aphoristic Sayings of Proverbs, JSOT 29 (2004), 133–154.

21 Deut 4,42.

22 As has been remarked by M. Köckert, Die Zehn Gebote, München 2007, 76.

23 Exod 22,1 (ET 22,2).

24 1Sam 15,3.

25 See, e.g., P.D. Stern, The Biblical Herem: A Window on Israel's Religious Experience, Brown Judaic Studies, Atlanta 1991; Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible, 64; L.A.S. Monroe, Israelite, Moabite and Sabaean War-herem Traditions and the Forging of National Identity: Reconsidering the Sabaean Text RES 3945 in Light of Biblical and Moabite evidence, VT 57 (2007), 318–341; B. Becking, Exile and Forced Labour in Bêt Har'oš: Remarks on a Recently Discovered Moabite Inscription, in: Gershon Galil, Mark Geller and Alan Millard (eds), Homeland and Exile: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour of Bustenay Oded, VT Sup 130, Leiden 2010, 3–12; W.L. Lyons, A History of Modern Scholarship on the Biblical Word Herem: The Contributions of Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Peter C. Craigie, and Tremper Longman III, Lewiston 2010.

26 See, e.g., Deut 13,17 (ET 13,16); Josh 6,7–24,.

27 Josh 6,21.

28 From the abundance of literature, see J.T. Clemons, What does the Bible say about suicide?, Minneapolis 1990; J. Dietrich, Der Tod von eigener Hand im Alten Testament und Alten Orient: Eskapistische Selbsttotungen in militarisch aussichtsloser Lage, in: A. Berlejung, R. Heckl, Mensch und König Studien zur Anthropologie des Alten Testaments. Rüdiger Lux zum 60. Geburtstag, HBS 53, Freiburg im Breisgau, New York 2008, 63–83; H. J. Koch, Suicides and Suicide Ideation in the Bible: An Empirical Survey, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 112 (2005), 167–72; Y. Shemesh, Suicide in the Bible, Jewish Bible Quarterly 37 (2009), 157–68.

29 Jdg 9,54; 16,30 with P. Galpaz-Feller, ‘Let my Soul Die with the Philistines’ (Judges 16.30), JSOT 30 (2006), 315–25; 1 Kgs 16,18 with R.G. Branch, Zimri: Slave or Official? The strange story of Israel's week-long, suicide King (1 Kings 16:8–20), JfSem 16 (2007), 378–91.

30 Niph. ‘to strangle oneself’, 2 Sam 17,23.

31 Jdg. 9,54.

32 1Sam. 31,4 with S. Nicholson, Three Faces of Saul: An Intertextual Approach to Biblical Tragedy, JSOT Sup 339, Sheffield 2002; L. Ben-Noun, What was the Mental Disease that Afflicted King Saul?, Clinical Case Studies 2 (2003), 270–82.

33 I leave aside texts like Deut 4,42; 19,4.6; Josh 20,5, where rāṣaḥ is connected with verbs like ‘to live’ and ‘to hate’. These verbs do not semantically illuminate the meaning of rāṣaḥ, but stipulate the case in which a murderer is allowed to enter a city of refuge. A comparable remark could be made about Num 35,26.28.

34 // 11Q 66,7.

35 See DCH VII, 228, with texts like Deut 28,7; 2 Kgs 16,7; Ob 1,1; Ps 92,12.

36 Or the other way around as proposed by F.-L. Hossfeld, Der Dekalog. Seine späten Fassungen, die originale Komposition und seine Vorstufen, OBO 45, Freiburg, Göttingen, 1982, 276–78; Levin, Die Verheißung des neuen Bundes, 92–95; E. Otto, Deuteronomiumstudien II: Deuteronomistische und postdeuteronomistische Perspektiven in der Literaturgeschichte von Deuteronomium 5–11*, ZAR 15 (2009), 78. In favour of Jeremiah quoting the Decalogue are, e.g.,: Holladay, Jeremiah 1, 244–45; W. Brueggemann, The Theology of the Book of Jeremiah, Old Testament Theology, Cambridge 2007, 135.

37 See, e.g., C. Dietrich, Asyl: Vergleichende Untersuchung zu einer Rechtsinstitution im Alten Israel und seiner Umwelt, BWANT 182, Stuttgart 2008; Miller, Ten Commandments, 224–27. For an outline of the redaction history of Num 35 see. R. Achenbach, Die Vollendung der Tora. Studien zur Redaktionsgeschichte des Numeribuches im Kontext von Hexateuch und Pentateuch, BZAR 3, Wiesbaden 2003, 598ff.; R. Achenbach, Das Heiligkeitsgesetz und die sakralen Ordnungen des Numeribuches im Horizont der Pentateuchredaktion, in: Th. Römer (ed.), The Books of Leviticus and Numbers, BEThL 215, Leuven 2008, 145–75.

38 Graf Reventlow, Heiligkeitsgesetz, 71–75.

39 See Achenbach, Die Vollendung der Tora, 598ff.

40 Pace scholars like E. Würthwein, Die Bücher der Könige: 1. Kön. 17–2. Kön. 25, ATD, 11,2, Göttingen 1984, 251, who construe 1 Kgs 21,1–16, as a rounded narrative that existed on its own and needed no continuation. On 2 Kgs 21, see, e.g., W. Thiel, Der Todesrechtsprozess Nabots in 1 Kön 21, in: S. Beyerle, G. Mayer, H. Strauss (eds.), Recht und Ethos im Alten ment – Gestalt und Wirkung Festschrift für Horst Seebass zum 65. Geburtstag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1999, 73–81; B. Becking, No More Grapes from the Vineyard?: A Plea for a historical-critical Approach in the Study of the Old Testament, in: A. Lemaire & M. Sæbo (eds), Congress Volume Oslo, 1998, VT Sup. 80, Leiden 2000, 123–141; J. Lange, Die Gleichniserzählung vom Mordfall Nabot, Biblische Notizen 104 (2000), 31–37; P.T. Cronauer, The Stories about Naboth the Jezreelite: A Source, Composition, and Redaction Investigation of First Kings 21 and Passages in Second Kings 9, Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 424, New York 2005; K. Jeppessen, Nabots vingard i palaestinensisk udlaegning, Dansk TT 70 (2007), 25–37; N. Na'aman, Naboth's Vineyard and the Foundation of Jezreel, JSOT 33 (2008), 197–218; Miller, Ten Commandments, 258–59.

41 Wright, The Israelite Household and the Decalogue, 120; B. Halpern, The Construction of the Davidic State: An Exercise in Historiography, in: V. Fritz, P.R. Davies (eds), The Origins of the Ancient Israelite States, JSOT Sup, 228, Sheffield 1996, 50, interprets the gan yārāq in view of Mesopotamian evidence not merely as a ‘vegetable garden’ but as a luxury one. He, however, slightly overcharges the evidence when he construes a ‘royal park filled with exotic import’. On the construction of a luxury garen as part of the Ancient Near Eastern royal ideology, see D.J. Green, “I Undertook Great Works”: The Ideology of Domestic Achievements in West Semitic Royal Inscriptions, FAT 2,41, Tübingen 2010, 40–86.

42 For comparable literary analyses of 1 Kgs 21, see J.T. Walsh, Methods and Meanings: Multiple Studies of 1 Kings 21, JBL 111 (1992), 193–211.

43 The story on the killing by David of Uriah contains the same motif, but the verb rāṣāḥ is absent from 1 Sam 11–12; see also Miller, Ten Commandments, 259.

44 Miller, Ten Commandments, 221–69.

45 Otto, Theologische Ethik des Alten Testaments, 36; Otto, Altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte, 31.

46 Thus underscoring and elaborating the assumptions of, e.g., Stamm, Sprachliche Erwägungen; F.C. Fensham, Exodus, POT, Nijkerk, 31984, 138–39; W.H.C. Propp, Exodus 19–40, AB 2A, New York 2006, 179; Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, 427–429; Otto, Deuteronomiumstudien II, 88.

47 A good start of such a deliberation can be found in Rogerson, Theory and Practice in Old Testament Ethics, 81–99.