Murder

21-22 “You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

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22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry(A) with a brother or sister[a][b] will be subject to judgment.(B) Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[c] is answerable to the court.(C) And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 5:22 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verse 23.
  2. Matthew 5:22 Some manuscripts brother or sister without cause
  3. Matthew 5:22 An Aramaic term of contempt