Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Keeping and Bearing Arms

Yeshua the Messiah said:  “And he who does not have a sword: let him sell his garment and buy for himself a sword.” (Luke 22:36)

How are we to understand this?

By this we are to understand that the Creator has given the people the unalienable right to keep and bear arms.

The first decree of King David upon becoming King of Israel was “teach the sons of Y’hudah the bow. Behold, it is written in the Sefer HaYashar.” (2Sam. 1:18).

And what if one should say “the bow” was the name of a song, and archery was not referred to here?  We read in Sefer HaYashar (The Book of Jasher):

8 And Jacob said unto Judah, I know my son that you are a mighty man for your brothers; reign over them, and your sons shall reign over their sons forever.
9 Only teach your sons the bow and all the weapons of war, in order that they may fight the battles of their brother who will rule over his enemies.
(Jasher 56:8-9)

And Rashi says of this verse (2Sam 1:18):

18. And he said to teach the sons of Judah the bow. Behold it is written in thebook of the just [Sefer HaYashar].
And he said to teach the sons of Judah the bow: And David said, Since the heroes of Israel have fallen, the sons of Judah must teach them (to wage) war and to draw the bow.:
Behold, it is written in the book of the just: In the Book of Genesis, which is the book of the just: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, where is it implied?" Your hand be on the nape of your enemies." (Gen. 49:8) What type of warfare is it wherein one directs his hand against his forehead which is opposite his nape? We must say that this is the bow.
(Rashi on 2Sam 1.18)

And how are we to understand “sword”?  By “sword” we are to understand a specific example of the general phrase “the bow and all the weapons of war” (Jasher 56:9)

For what purpose should a believer keep and bear arms?

We read in the Torah:

“If a thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dies, there shall be no
bloodguiltiness for him.” (Ex. 22:1(2))

It is from this verse that we have the Baraita which says:

“When a man comes to kill you, rise early and kill him first.”
(b.Berachot 58a, 62b; Numbers Rabbah XXI:4; Zohar 1:138a)

Rashi writes of this verse:

"He has no blood. [This signifies that] this is not [considered] murder. It is as though he [the thief] is [considered] dead from the start. Here the Torah teaches you: If someone comes to kill you, kill him first. And this one [the thief] has come to kill you, because he knows that a person will not hold himself back and remain silent when he sees people taking his money. Therefore, he [the thief] has come with the acknowledgement that if the owner of the property were to stand up against him, he [thief] would kill him [the owner]. - [From Talmud Sanhedrin. 72a]".

Thus we have the right to keep and bear arms to defend ourselves as well as our property.

We also have the right to keep and bear arms so that we may defend others.  As we read in the Torah:

"You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor: I am YHWH.”
(Leviticus 19:16)"

Rashi says of this verse:

"You shall not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow's blood. [I.e., do not stand by,] watching your fellow's death, when you are able to save him; for example, if he is drowning in the river or if a wild beast or robbers come upon him. — [Torath Kohanim 19:41; Talmud, Sanhedrin 73a]"

Finally we have the right to keep and bear arms in order to protect our rights from oppressive governments.  As we read in the Books of the Maccabees that when the Seleucid Empire became oppressive and violated the rights of the Jewish people to worship YHWH, they took up arms against this oppression (1Macc. 2; 2Macc. 8:1-4).   Resistance to tyrants is obedience to Yahweh.

Therefore the International Nazarene Beit Din says:

“It is incumbent upon a believer to keep and bear arms, this is not limited to a sword, or a bow, but includes “all the weapons of war” including all types of firearms.  A believer should not only “buy” arms (Luke 22:36) but teach their sons the bow and all the weapons of war, in order that they may fight the battles of their brothers.