NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FIVE

Part V (con’t)

“But I tell you, don’t be angry with anyone. If you are angry with others, you will be judged.”

The Greek word used here for anger implies letting oneself be provoked or allowing oneself to become so aggravated that you reach the point where you let their anger explode. We see what can happen in such cases when we look at the horrible incident with Cain and Abel,¹ and what took place when Joseph’s brothers could not control their tempers.² Not only that, but had David been intimidated and scared off by his oldest brother Eliab’s unkind words spoken in anger, “Why did you come here? Who did you leave those few sheep with in the desert? I know why you came down here. You didn’t want to do what you were told to do. You just wanted to come down here to watch the battle,”³ Goliath would have never been killed and Israel may have suffered a disgraceful defeat. Not only that, but David’s possibilities of becoming king may have been permanently jeopardized.

But that wasn’t David’s only brush with uncalled for anger, there was Saul’s jealous rage that almost got him killed.⁴ That may have influenced David to pen these words: “Don’t become so angry and upset that you, too, want to do evil”⁵ But anger is only the beginning of how ruthless and insulting a person can become. Jesus goes on to raise the stakes from anger to slander. “And if you insult your neighbor by calling him an idiot, you will be judged by the high court.” According Jewish Law, false and malicious defamation of another person’s reputation and character, tending to disgrace him in the eyes of the community is called slander. The spreading of evil reports in order to injure a reputable name is punishable by a fine and an assessment for damages.⁶ The Rabbis taught that there were different ways of insulting a person, and one of them was through “degradation,”⁷ as well as “indignity.”⁸

In another document the Jews added: “overreaching.”⁹ Today we would call it “verbal abuse.” Tradition says this was sent to a lower court, which usually consisted of 23 members to avoid a tied vote, and they were authorized to punish criminals by stoning. A medieval Jewish Philosopher and wise man made a point on the subject: “Who is a gossiper? One who collects information and goes from person to person, saying: ‘This is what so and so said;’ ‘This is what I heard about so and so.’ Even if the statements are true, they bring about the destruction of the world. There is a much more serious sin than gossip, which is also included in this prohibition: i.e., relating deprecating facts about a colleague, even if they are true. This does not refer to the invention of lies; that is referred to as defamation of character. Rather, one who speaks slander is someone who sits and relates: ‘This is what so and so has done;’ ‘His parents were such and such;’ ‘This is what I have heard about him,’ telling uncomplimentary things. Concerning this transgression, the scripture states: ‘May God cut off all cunning lips, the tongues which speak proud things¹⁰.’”¹¹ So by Jesus saying that a person could go to court for slander, this was already part of the law in His day. We are told that this court could conduct a trial both “within the Land of Israel or outside the Land of Israel.”¹² We are also reminded in Jewish writings that: “The great Sanhedrin consisted of 71 members and the small Sanhedrin of 23.”¹³ We also read that God told Moses to gather 70 men to stand with him, which of course would make 71.¹⁴ Then we are given the duties of the court of 23, as well as smaller courts.¹⁵ But simply standing before the Great Sanhedrin is only the start.

Our Lord then increases the importance by moving from slandering an individual to calling them an outright “fool.” “And if you call someone a fool, you will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.” The KJV takes the Hebrew term Raca and translates it with the English word fool. The Jews considered it the ultimate word of contempt for someone they considered to be absent of any value. It is derived from a root meaning “to spit.” No doubt that is where we get the term, “spit in one’s face,” to show contempt. According to Jewish writings Raca is a noun formed from an adjective meaning empty, and when applied to a person without education and devoid of morals, it labels them as good for nothing.¹⁶ In Ecclesiastes we find this definition of a fool: “Fools show how foolish they are, just walking down the road. Their minds are empty, and everyone knows it.”¹⁷ The Hebrew word used here is, “cakal” which has the connotation of being “stupid or unwise.”¹⁸ But the term Raca occurs several times in Jewish tradition.

For instance, here’s a story about a Rabbi: “He happened to meet an exceedingly ugly man who greeted him, ‘Peace be upon you, Sir’. The Rabbi, however, did not return his salutation but instead said to him ‘Raca,’ you are so ugly.”¹⁹ In another place we read: “Once a man enticed a woman to commit an offense and she said to him: you Raca, you have forty se’ahs²⁰ to bathe in, and he immediately stopped.”²¹ Then in in another story, there was a man who abused a beautiful woman all night and in the morning dressed her like a slave and tried to sell her. A very ugly man came in and wanted to buy her after hearing that she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. But first the ugly man wanted to see how beautiful she was, so the abuser called him Raca because with him being so ugly had nothing to lose.²² Also we read this narrative: Once an esteemed Rabbi giving an exposition on how the Holy One, blessed is He, will in time come bringing large precious stones and pearls. One of the students sneered at him and said: “One cannot find jewels the size of a dove’s egg.” But later, this same student sailed out to sea and saw expert jewelers engaged in cutting precious stones and pearls which were the size of dove eggs. So when he came back and sat before this Rabbi once more, this he encouraged him saying, “Keep teaching, O my master, it is a compliment to hear you teach, because I have seen exactly what you were talking about.” But the Rabbi responded: “You Raca, had you not seen, would you have believed anyway? You are only sneering at the words of the Sages!”²³ But Scripture also has definitions to those that might be called Raca.²⁴

The inherent biases and disdain among Jews can be seen in several other stories found in their writings, as we see in the story of a Rabbi who left the house of another Rabbi and met a man along the way who was very deformed. So he said to him, “Raca, how many other deformed sons of Abraham our father are there?”²⁵ Another one is where a pious man was praying by the roadside when an officer came by and greeted him, but the man did not return his greeting. After finishing his prayer, the officer said to him, “Raca! Is it not written in your Law, Only look out for yourself and protect your soul with diligence,²⁶ and is it not also written, Take good care of your soul?²⁷ When I greeted you why did you not return my greeting?” The officer goes on to say that had he cut this pious man’s head off because of his disrespect, no one would have called for justice. The prayerful man then asks the officer for patience as he explained it to him. He says, “Had you been standing before an earthly king and a friend came by and greeted you, would you have returned it?” The officer said, “No.” Then the man asked, “Had you returned his greeting, what would the King’s men done to you?” The officers said, “They would have cut off my head with a sword.” The pious man then finishes his point, “Do we not have here then a fortiori²⁸ argument: If you would have behaved in this manner when standing before an earthly king who is here today and tomorrow in the grave, how much more so when standing before the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, who endures for all eternity?” The officer saw his mistake and gave an apology.

So we can see that Jesus was speaking about the Jews considered the ultimate insult, something that His audience was fully aware of. But the significant part of Jesus teaching is the punishment He describes for someone who calls another person an outright fool – hell’s fire. The scribe who wrote Matthew’s Hebrew text into Greek, uses the word “Gehenna of fire.” This then became “hell fire” in the King James Version. This was originally a valley belonging to Hinnom’s son, south of Jerusalem. We find this place described this way: “Topheth was a place in the Valley of Gehinnom where people killed their children and burned them on an altar to honor the false god Molech. Josiah tore down that place so that no one could use it again for sacrifices.”²⁹ It then became a garbage dump where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned. It became a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction. Therefore, the ultimate insult was destined to bring the ultimate punishment.

We should not take this to be part of the new covenant theology. Jesus was only making a point by using the judicial system of His people so that He could go on to how important it was to recognize that bad behavior should expect bad consequences. Otherwise, why be obedient when being disobedient has no significance? If serving God does not result in any benefits, then why not serve oneself? In today’s preaching there is too much emphasis on what comes from doing right, but very little on what comes when doing wrong.