HC 106
Heidelberg Catechism
Q106. But does this commandment speak only of killing?
By forbidding murder God teaches us that He hates the root of murder, such as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge, and that He regards all these as murder.
Proof texts
- Prov. 14:30 — [30] A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.
- Rom. 1:29 — [29] They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
- Rom. 12:19 — [19] Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Gal. 5:19-21 — [19] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21] envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Jas. 1:20 — [20] for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
- 1 John 2:9-11 — [9] Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. [10] Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. [11] But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
- 1 John 3:15 — [15] Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
For discussion
- The Assembly cited Prov. 14:30 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
- 7 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
- WSC Q39 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
- WSC Q45 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
Read alongside
WSC Q39 · WSC Q45 · WLC Q91 · WLC Q100 · WCF 19.1 · 1689 19.1