Matthew 5:22

My Notes

What Does Matthew 5:22 Mean?

Jesus deepens the law from external action to internal attitude: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

But I say unto you — Jesus's authority exceeds and deepens Moses. The formula 'ye have heard... but I say' (v.21-22) does not contradict the law. It reveals its full intent. The law said: do not murder. Jesus says: the sin begins long before the act.

Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause — anger itself places a person in danger of judgment. The sin is not reserved for the person who pulls the trigger. It belongs to the person who harbors the rage. Some manuscripts omit 'without a cause' (eike), making the statement even more sweeping: any anger toward a brother is dangerous.

Raca — an Aramaic term of contempt meaning empty, worthless, brainless. The word expresses dismissive contempt — regarding another person as beneath consideration. The escalation from anger (internal) to Raca (verbal dismissal) moves the sin from feeling to expression. Saying Raca makes the contempt public and personal.

Thou fool (more) — the word suggests moral worthlessness, not just intellectual deficiency. The Hebrew root (nabal) describes the godless fool of Psalm 14:1. Calling someone a fool in this sense is a pronouncement of their spiritual worthlessness — denying their value before God.

The three levels escalate: anger → contemptuous dismissal → spiritual condemnation of a person. The consequences escalate correspondingly: judgment → the council (Sanhedrin) → hell fire (Gehenna). Jesus maps internal attitudes onto the same judicial framework as external acts: the anger that leads to murder is itself worthy of judgment. The contempt that precedes the violence is itself punishable.

The passage teaches that God judges the heart, not just the hand. Murder is the fruit. Anger is the root. And the root is already guilty.

Reflection Questions

• 1.How does Jesus's teaching move the definition of sin from external action (murder) to internal attitude (anger)?
• 2.What does the escalation from anger to 'Raca' to 'thou fool' reveal about how contempt progresses?
• 3.Why does Jesus assign escalating consequences (judgment, council, hell fire) to attitudes rather than just actions?
• 4.What anger, contempt, or dismissiveness are you carrying toward someone — and how does this verse reframe its seriousness?

Devotional

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment. Jesus takes the sixth commandment — thou shalt not kill — and moves it inward. You have not murdered anyone. Good. But are you angry? Have you harbored rage, resentment, bitterness toward someone? Then you are in danger of the same judgment. The sin does not begin with the knife. It begins with the fury.

Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca. Raca — worthless. Empty-headed. Beneath my consideration. The word is dismissive contempt — the verbal equivalent of looking at someone and deciding they have no value. You have not killed them. But you have erased them — reduced them to nothing with a word. And that contempt, Jesus says, puts you before the council.

Whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. The escalation reaches its peak. Calling someone a fool — in the biblical sense of morally worthless, spiritually condemned — is the verbal assassination of their identity. You have not taken their life. You have taken their worth. And Jesus says the penalty for that reaches all the way to hell fire.

The progression is the teaching: anger → contempt → condemnation. Each step takes you deeper into the territory that murder occupies. You do not have to kill to be guilty of the spirit of murder. You just have to harbor the anger, speak the dismissal, and pronounce the verdict on another person's worth.

What anger are you carrying? Not the dramatic, visible kind — the quiet resentment, the dismissive contempt, the internal judgment of someone's worth. Jesus says: that is where murder lives. Before it reaches the hands, it lives in the heart. And God judges the heart.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture