רָצַחrâtsach
murder, slay
Pronunciation: raw-tsakh' · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H7523
Meanings
Qal: murder, slay, with premeditation, especially participle as substantive = slayer, manslayer, without intent (Numbers 35:27; Deuteronomy 22:26; 1 Kings 21:19)
Niph`al: be slain (Proverbs 22:13; Judges 20:4)
Pi`el: murder, assassinate, as substantive, murderer, assassin (Hosea 6:9; Psalms 94:6; Psalms 62:4)
Pu`al: ye murder, batter, shatter (Psalms 62:4)
Same root
Where it appears
Appears 47 times in the Bible.
- Exodus 20:13 “You must not murder.
- Numbers 35:6 “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.
- Numbers 35:11 designate cities of refuge to which people can flee if they have killed someone accidentally.
- Numbers 35:12 These cities will be places of protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to death before being tried by the community.
- Numbers 35:16 “But if someone strikes and kills another person with a piece of iron, it is murder, and the murderer must be executed.
- Numbers 35:17 Or if someone with a stone in his hand strikes and kills another person, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death.
See every passage
- Exodus 20:13
- Numbers 35:6, 35:11, 35:12, 35:16, 35:17, 35:18, 35:19, 35:21, 35:25, 35:26, 35:27, 35:28, 35:30, 35:31
- Deuteronomy 4:42, 5:17, 19:3, 19:4, 19:6, 22:26
- Joshua 20:3, 20:5, 20:6, 21:13, 21:21, 21:27, 21:32, 21:38
- Judges 20:4
- 1 Kings 21:19
- 2 Kings 6:32
- Job 24:14
- Psalms 62:3, 94:6
- Proverbs 22:13
- Isaiah 1:21
- Jeremiah 7:9
- Hosea 4:2, 6:9
Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).