The compound noun androphonos (from anēr, man + phoneuō, to kill) literally means "man-killer" — a murderer. It appears once in the New Testament (1 Timothy 1:9), in Paul's list of the lawless and disobedient for whom the law was made.
The placement of androphonoi (murderers) in Paul's vice list in 1 Timothy 1:9 echoes the Sixth Commandment: "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). The law, Paul argues, was not made for the righteous but for lawbreakers — and murder is among the gravest transgressions. Jesus deepened this commandment in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21–22), teaching that murder begins in the heart with anger and contempt. John echoes this in 1 John 3:15: "Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer." The sanctity of human life — because every human bears the image of God (Genesis 9:6) — is one of the foundational ethical convictions of biblical faith.