Exodus 20

Ah, a classic - the 'ten commandments'. These are pretty well known to most folks, and are a part of the foundation of modern Western law. The bits that particularly stand out to me on this reading are as follows:

- 'Thou shalt not murder' (verse 13): I don't know precisely how it comes across in the original Hebrew, but to me it seems that this only forbids unlawful killing - 'murder', as we call it today. Some people use this to say that all taking of human life is wrong, but I am convinced that things like the death penalty and warfare are not being discussed here. If you feel otherwise, please leave a comment with details on why.

- Keeping the Sabbath (verses 8-11): This is something I have actually pretty much given up on in my own life, but I wonder if I should re-evaluate that. I had somehow figured that this was obsolete, but then we don't assume the other commandments in this passage have expired - so why this one?

In that same section we get the reasoning for the Sabbath's importance: "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day" (11a). I take that to be further proof for a literal, six day creation; otherwise why would it may sense to translate that to our 7-day week?