Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 5:22

"but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire." — Matthew 5:22 (ASV)

But I say to you. Jesus, being God as well as man (John 1:1), and therefore being the original Giver of the law, had a right to expound it or change it as He pleased (Compare to Matthew 12:6, 8). He therefore spoke here and elsewhere as having authority, and not as the scribes. It may be added here that no mere man ever spoke as Jesus did when explaining or enforcing the law. He did it as having a right to do it; and he that has a right to ordain and change laws in the government of God must be Himself Divine.

Is angry without a cause. Anger, or that feeling which we have when we are injured, and which prompts us to defend ourselves when in danger, is a natural feeling, given to us:

1. As a natural expression of our disapproval of a course of evil conduct; and
2. That we may defend ourselves when suddenly attacked.

When excited against sin, it is lawful. God is angry with the wicked. Jesus looked on the hypocritical Pharisees with anger (Mark 3:5). So it is said, Be ye angry, and sin not (Ephesians 4:26).

This anger, or indignation against sin, is not what our Savior speaks of here. That is anger without a cause; that is, unjustly, rashly, hastily, where no offense had been given or intended. In that case it is evil. It is a violation of the sixth commandment, because he that hateth his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15), for he has a feeling which would lead him to commit murder if it were fully acted out.

His brother. By a brother here seems to be meant a neighbor, or perhaps anyone with whom we may be associated. As all men are descended from one Father, and are all the creatures of the same God, so they are all brothers; and so every man should be regarded and treated as a brother.

Raca. This is a Syriac word, expressive of great contempt. It comes from a verb signifying to be empty, vain; and therefore, as a word of contempt, denotes senseless, stupid, empty-headed. Jesus teaches here that to use such words is a violation of the sixth commandment.

It is a violation of the spirit of that commandment and, if indulged, may lead to a more open and dreadful infraction of that law. Children should learn that to use such words is highly offensive to God, for we must give an account of every idle word which we speak in the day of judgment.

In danger of the council. The word translated council is, in the original, Sanhedrin, and there can be no doubt that He refers to the Jewish tribunal of that name. This was instituted in the time of the Maccabees, probably about 200 years before Christ. It was composed of seventy-two judges; the high priest was the president of this tribunal.

The seventy-two members were made up of the chief priests and elders of the people, and the scribes. The chief priests were those who had discharged the office of high priest, and those who were the heads of the twenty-four classes of priests, who were called in an honorary way high or chief priests .

The elders were the princes of the tribes or heads of the family associations. It is not to be supposed that all the elders had a right to a seat here, but only those who were elected to the office. The scribes were learned men of the nation, elected to this tribunal, being neither of the rank of priests nor elders.

This tribunal had cognizance of the great affairs of the nation. Until the time when Judea was subjected to the Romans, it had the power of life and death. It still retained the power of passing sentence, though the Roman magistrate held the right of execution. It usually sat in Jerusalem, in a room near the temple. It was before this tribunal that our Savior was tried. It was then assembled in the palace of the high priest (Matthew 26:3–57; John 18:24).

Thou fool. This term expressed more than want of wisdom. It was expressive of the highest guilt. It had been commonly used to denote those who were idolaters (Deuteronomy 22:21) and also one who is guilty of great crimes (Joshua 7:15; Psalms 14:1).

Hellfire. The original of this is “the Gehenna of fire.” The word Gehenna, commonly translated hell, is made up of two Hebrew words and signifies the valley of Hinnom. This was formerly a pleasant valley, near Jerusalem, on the south (or southeast). A small brook or torrent usually ran through this valley and partly encompassed the city.

The idolatrous Israelites formerly devoted this valley to the horrid worship of Moloch (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles 28:3). In that worship, ancient Jewish writers inform us that the idol of Moloch was made of brass, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and its arms extended as if to embrace someone.

When they offered children to him, they heated the statue from within by a great fire. When it was burning hot, they put the miserable child into its arms, where it was soon consumed by the heat. So that the cries of the child might not be heard, they made a great noise with drums and other instruments around the idol. These drums were called Toph; and therefore, a common name of the place was Tophet (Jeremiah 7:31–32).

The following image may furnish a useful illustration of this idol.

After the return of the Jews from captivity, this place was held in such abhorrence that, by the example of Josiah (2 Kings 23:10), it was made the place where all the dead carcasses and filth of the city were thrown, and it was frequently the place of executions.

It therefore became extremely offensive: the sight was terrifying, the air was polluted and pestilential, and to keep it in any way pure, it was necessary to keep fires continually burning there.

The extreme loathsomeness of the place, the filth and putrefaction, the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid fires blazing by day and by night, made it one of the most appalling and terrifying objects with which a Jew was acquainted. It was called the Gehenna of fire and was the image which our Savior often employed to denote the future punishment of the wicked.

In this verse, it denotes a degree of suffering higher than the punishment inflicted by the court of seventy, or the Sanhedrin. The whole verse may therefore mean: “He that hates his brother without a cause is guilty of a violation of the sixth commandment and shall be punished with a severity similar to that inflicted by the court of judgment. He that allows his passions to carry him to still greater excesses, and makes his brother an object of derision and contempt, shall be exposed to still more severe punishment, corresponding to that which the Sanhedrin, or council, inflicts. But he who loads his brother with offensive names and abusive language shall incur the severest degree of punishment, represented by being burned alive in the horrid and awful valley of Hinnom.”

The substance, then, of this difficult and important verse is this: The Jews considered only one crime a violation of the sixth commandment, namely, actual murder, or willful, unlawful taking of life. Jesus says that the commandment is much broader. It relates not only to the external act but also to feelings and words. He specifies three forms of such violation:

1. Unjust anger.
2. Anger accompanied by an expression of contempt.
3. Anger with an expression not only of contempt but also of wickedness.

Among the Jews, there were three degrees of condemnation: that by the “judgment,” the “council,” and the “fire of Hinnom.” Jesus says, likewise, there will be grades of condemnation for the different ways of violating the sixth commandment.

Not only will murder be punished by God, but anger and contempt will also be regarded by Him as a violation of the law and punished according to the offense. Since these offenses were not actually cognizable before the Jewish tribunals, He must mean that they will be punished hereafter. And all these expressions relate to degrees of punishment, proportionate to crime, in the future world—the world of justice and of woe.