Aramaic term “raca,”
was an offense worthy of answering “to the council (tō sunedriō).” A. H. McNeile
in his commentary on Matthew explains that this was, “Probably not the supreme
court at Jerusalem, but the local court of discipline (Josephus, Antiquities
4.8.14; cf. Matt. 10:17= Mark 13:9), which met in the synagogue” (62). According
to the Babylonian Talmud a city with a population of at least 120 would have its
own Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 17b).
Scripture doesn’t tells us what “raca”
meant, but Jerome, the 4th-5th century theologian claimed that it was equivalent
to the Greek word kenos, meaning “empty,” and he defined it to mean “useless or
empty” and “without a brain” (Commentary on Matthew 5:22).*
The related Hebrew
word rêq meant “empty, vain, or worthless” and was used in the Old Testament of
“worthless men” (Judg. 11:3; 2 Sam. 6:20; Prov. 12:11; 28:19). It is right to
say unwise , ((thanks water down the term abit))
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