John to Soldiers

Luke 3-14

14Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

But then -  see the difference?

King James Bible

And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English

And soldiers were asking him and they were saying, “What shall we do also?” He said to them, “Do harm to no man, do no injustice and let your wages be sufficient for you.”

American King James Version

And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said to them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

Douay-Rheims Bible

And the soldiers also asked him, saying: And what shall we do? And he said to them: Do violence to no man; neither calumniate any man; and be content with your pay. 

English Revised Version

And soldiers also asked him, saying, And we, what must we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither exact anything wrongfully; and be content with your wages.

Young's Literal Translation

And questioning him also were those warring, saying, 'And we, what shall we do?' and he said unto them, 'Do violence to no one, nor accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.'

If you read the Commentary on the passage, it seems to say how to behave outside of actual war, since most soldiers in history are rarely in actual battle.  In essence, these conditions cannot be met, therefore...

Further, as people cannot pay for the wars we advance, we are visited with violence to collect the money.  Extortion may have been a common problem, but I think it is contrary to the whole culture of violence of a standing military.

http://biblehub.com/luke/3-14.htm

And not to put too fine a point on it, eventually soldiers arrested and executed John the Baptist.

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