| Matthew 5:22
| But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be liable to the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
| Whosoever is angry{ Ver. 22. eike, sine causa, is in most Greek copies at present, as also in St. Chrysostom; and so it is in the Protestant translation. But St. Jerome, who examined this reading, says positively that eike was wanting in the true copies. In quibusdam Codicibus additur sine causa, Caeterum in veris definita sententia est, et ira penitus tollitur.|} with his brother. In almost all Greek copies and manuscripts we now read angry without a cause: yet St. Jerome, who corrected the Latin of the New Testament from the best copies in his time, tells us that these words, without a cause, were only found in some Greek copies, and not in the true ones. It seems at first to have been placed in the margin for an interpretation only, and by some transcribers afterwards taken into the text. This as well as many other places may convince us, that the Latin Vulgate is many times to be preferred to our present Greek copies. --- Raca.{ Ver. 22. Raca. St. Augustine (Serm. Domini in Monte. p. 174.) affirms it to be, non vocem significantem aliquid, sed indignantis animi motum, etc.|} St. Augustine thinks this was no significant word, but only a kind of interjection expressing a motion of anger. Others take it for a Syro-Chaldaic word, signifying a light, foolish man, though not so injurious as to call another a fool. --- Shall be guilty of the council:{ Ver. 22. reus erit Concilii, to sunedrio.|} that is, shall deserve to be punished by the highest court of judicature, called the council, or sanhedrim, consisting of seventy-two persons, where the highest causes were tried and judged, and which was at Jerusalem. --- Thou fool; this was a most provoking injury, when uttered with contempt, spite, or malice. --- Shall be in danger of hell fire.{ Ver. 22. gehennae ignis, enochos estai eis ten geennan tou puros.|} Literally, according to the Greek, shall deserve to be cast into the Gehennom of fire. Gehennom was the valley of Hinnom, near to Jerusalem, where the worshippers of the idol Moloch used to burn their children, sacrificed to that idol. In that place was a perpetual fire, on which account it is made use of by our Saviour (as it hath been ever since), to express the fire and punishments of hell. (Witham) --- Here is a plain difference between sin and sin; some mortal, that lead to hell; some venial, and less punished. (Bristow)
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