In Exodus 20:13 it says, "Thou shalt not kill," yet God kills people in floods, famines, and has Israel go and kill entire people groups. Why the contradiction?

First of all, there is no contradiction. "Thou shalt not kill" is from the old King James Bible. Modern translations (ESV, NASB, NCV, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV) have it as "You shall not murder." The word in the Hebrew for "kill" here in Exodus 20:13 is תִּרְצָח (ratsach). It is translated into the English many different ways, depending on the context: "slayer 16, murderer 14, kill 5, murder 3, slain 3, manslayer 2, killing 1, slayer + 310 1, slayeth 1, death 1." 1

Murder is the unlawful taking of life. Killing is the lawful taking of life. God has said, "You shall not murder," not "You shall not kill." After all, God says killing in self-defense is justifiable. Exodus 22:2, "If the thief is caught while breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account." If mere killing of any kind was the issue, then why would God saying killing in self-defense is permissible? He wouldn't. This is another reason that modern translations say, "You shall not murder."

Also, consider that the New Testament quotes Exodus 20:13 in Rom. 13:9 as "You shall not murder." The word in Greek for murder here is φονεύω, (phoneuo). Matt. 10:28 says, "“And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." The word of kill here is apoktinumi. Let's compare.

Rom. 13:9, "murder" is φονεύω (phoneuō), commit murder, kill (Mt 5:21; 19:18; 23:31, 35; Mk 10:19; Lk 18:20; Ro 13:9; Jas 2:11; 4:2; 5:6) 2
Matt. 10:28, "kill" is ἀποκτίννυμι (apoktinumi), to kill, slay 3
As you can see, different words are used for "murder" and "kill." The Greek is more specific, and since the Greek New Testament quotes the Hebrew Old Testament, we can see that Exodus 20:13 is best translated as "You shall not murder."

One final comment: since all people have sinned against God (Rom. 3:23) all people are under the judgment of God. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), so when God executes someone it is not murder, it is killing because it is a lawful taking of life. Remember, all people have sinned. Sin is the breaking of God's law. Therefore, God's execution is lawful.

https://carm.org/questions/you-shall-not-kill-yet-god-kills?fbclid=IwAR0tTHEfrO1zb8HXBZ2gb_K_ncH52ZgvWSqGjO81B8orviwFh0qLREG_Fmw

Only He makes and only He can Break. You are not Him. Don't break what you cannot make.

If I as a human being am not perfect but was created in God’s image then my God is imperfect.
It’s simple logic.

God Almighty, the creator of Yahweh, doesn't kill. Read the Book of Universal History from the beginning to the end, you will never see anywhere it is being mentioned that God, the Totality of Existence, killed anyone.
But Yahweh, Allah, Moloch, etc who are mere creatures of God Almighty are those who killed people and make themselves God Almighty in the minds of human, while in the actual fact, they are not up to 0.000000000000000000000000000000001% of God Almighty in magnitude.

The Op talks about Murder being the unlawful taking of life and Killing as the lawful taking of life. Think nothing would be proper than discussions following that line of thought as it is seen that the subject matter here is ignored for personal sentiments

So the ultimately powerful god is threatened so much by the puny humans it made that it feels compelled to annihilate them? LMFAO!

hoasis:
In Exodus 20:13 it says, "Thou shalt not kill," yet God kills people in floods, famines, and has Israel go and kill entire people groups. Why the contradiction?

First of all, there is no contradiction. "Thou shalt not kill" is from the old King James Bible. Modern translations (ESV, NASB, NCV, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV) have it as "You shall not murder." The word in the Hebrew for "kill" here in Exodus 20:13 is תִּרְצָח (ratsach). It is translated into the English many different ways, depending on the context: "slayer 16, murderer 14, kill 5, murder 3, slain 3, manslayer 2, killing 1, slayer + 310 1, slayeth 1, death 1." 1

Murder is the unlawful taking of life. Killing is the lawful taking of life. God has said, "You shall not murder," not "You shall not kill." After all, God says killing in self-defense is justifiable. Exodus 22:2, "If the thief is caught while breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account." If mere killing of any kind was the issue, then why would God saying killing in self-defense is permissible? He wouldn't. This is another reason that modern translations say, "You shall not murder."

Also, consider that the New Testament quotes Exodus 20:13 in Rom. 13:9 as "You shall not murder." The word in Greek for murder here is φονεύω, (phoneuo). Matt. 10:28 says, "“And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." The word of kill here is apoktinumi. Let's compare.

Rom. 13:9, "murder" is φονεύω (phoneuō), commit murder, kill (Mt 5:21; 19:18; 23:31, 35; Mk 10:19; Lk 18:20; Ro 13:9; Jas 2:11; 4:2; 5:6) 2
Matt. 10:28, "kill" is ἀποκτίννυμι (apoktinumi), to kill, slay 3
As you can see, different words are used for "murder" and "kill." The Greek is more specific, and since the Greek New Testament quotes the Hebrew Old Testament, we can see that Exodus 20:13 is best translated as "You shall not murder."

One final comment: since all people have sinned against God (Rom. 3:23) all people are under the judgment of God. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), so when God executes someone it is not murder, it is killing because it is a lawful taking of life. Remember, all people have sinned. Sin is the breaking of God's law. Therefore, God's execution is lawful.

https://carm.org/questions/you-shall-not-kill-yet-god-kills?fbclid=IwAR0tTHEfrO1zb8HXBZ2gb_K_ncH52ZgvWSqGjO81B8orviwFh0qLREG_Fmw

Good analysis but we no longer wrestle against flesh and blood. And we have been taught by Christ not to revenge or pay evil for evil.

The article is correct, the verse does mean "thou shall not murder". But then again there'll always be idiots who will insist otherwise.