Originating in the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, this phrase was originally given to Moses and the Israelite people by God as one of the great commandments and is found in the holy scriptures of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
Seen as an admonition against murder, the sixth commandment often forms the philosophical foundation for arguments against suicide, capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, war, and any other situation where one person might be inclined to take the life of another.
Even before the codification of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai the murder of other human beings was wrong.
The Ten Commandments were given to offer order in social relationships due to the understanding that, at the heart of all relationships, love is the model that is to be held up as ideal. Whether discussing God's love, or the love of Jesus Christ for Christians, God and God's prophets are the ideal of this message of love in the various faith traditions.
Thus the various traditions understand Abraham, Jesus, and Mohammad, along with other key figures, as this type of model. Further, world religious traditions in general pray for world peace. The values of all three communities reflect the possibility of a world that is free of war and armed conflict.
Based on the first covenant between God and humanity with Noah, Noah suggests in Genesis 9:6:
"Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person's blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind."
This admonition is made clear in the story of Cain and Abel when God says:
"And the LORD said, 'What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand'" (Genesis 4:10–11).
In response to this first murder, God curses the very ground.
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