Ῥακά: left untranslated in A. V. and να. a word of little meaning, rendered by Jerome “‘inanis aut vacuus absque cerebro”. Augustine says a Jew told him it was not properly a word at all, but an interjection like Hem. Theophy. gives as an equivalent σὺ spoken by a Greek to aman whom he i And the man who commits this trivial offence (as. it seems) must go before, not the pro- vincial seven, but the supreme seventy, the Sanhedrim that tried the most heinous offences and sentenced to the severest
21—25.
δ᾽ ἂν εἴπῃ, Μωρέ, ἔνοχος ἔσται eis τὴν Ὑέενναν τοῦ πυρός. ᾿Εὰν οὖν προσφέρῃς τὸ δῶρόν σου ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, κἀκεῖ
µνησθῇς ὅτι ὁ ἀδελφός σου 2 ἔχει τὶ
δῶρόν σου ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, καὶ ὕπαγε, πρῶτον * διαλλά- γηθι τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου, καὶ τότε ἐλθὼν πρόσφερε τὸ δῶρόν σου.
ττσθι 5 εὐνοῶν τῷ *
> , , ef @ ers A ες ἀντιδίκω σου ταχύ, "ἕως ὅτου εἶ ἐν TH ὁδῷ per
107
22. p ἔχειντικ. 3 τινος here. Mk. xi. 25. Rev. ii. 4. Cf. Acts Xxiv. 19 (προςτινα). q here only 25- inN.T. 21 ἴσθι with part. Lk.
5 a ν Bahn Ti κατὰ σοῦ, 24. ἄφες έκει TO
> al , , Vv me / A a Ni ia , xix. 17. αὐτοῦ, ποτέ σε παραδῷ ὁ ἀντίδικος TO κριτῇ, καὶ ὁ κριτής σεν here onl 7 ρω α " ο.
in 5
t Lk. xii. 58; xviii.3. 1 Peter v. 8. 34; xx. 18; xxvii. 2, etc.
1} per αυτου before εν τ. 054, SEBDL.
penalties, ¢.g., death by stoning! Trivial in appearance, the offence is deadly in Christ’s eyes. It means contempt for a fellow-man, more inhuman than anger— a violent passion, prompting to words and acts often bitterly regretted when the hot temper cools down. Μωρέ, if a
b33
fool, good for nothing, morally worthless. It may, as Paulus, and after him Nésgen,
suggests, be a Hebrew word, my
Greek word, the equivalent for
(Num. xx. 24, Deut. xxi. 18), a rebel against God or against parents, the most worthless of characters. Against this Field (Otium Norvicense) remarks that it would be the only instance of a pure Hebrew word in the N. T. In either case the word expresses a more serious form of contempt than Κατα. Raca ex- presses contempt for a man’s head = you stupid! More expresses contempt for his heart and character = you scoundrel. The reckless use of such opproprious epithets Jesus regarded as the supreme offence against the law of humanity.— ἔνοχος . . . πυρός. He deserves to go, not to the seven or the seventy, but to hell, his sin altogether damnable. Kuinoel thinks the meaning is: He deserves to be burned alive in the valley of Ἠϊπποπι :. ἐς dignus est qui in valle Hinnomi vivus comburatur. This in- terpretation finds little approval, but it is not so improbable when we remember what Christ said about the offender of the little ones (Matt. xviii. 6). Neither burning alive nor drowning was actually practised. In these words of Jesus against anger and contempt there is an aspect of exaggeration. They are the strong utterance of one in whom all forms of inhumanity roused feelings of passionate abhorrence. They are of the utmost value as a revelation of character.
Vv. 23,24. Holtzmann (Η. Ο.) regards
U ἕως Grov=while, here only.
Vv τινά τινι here and Ch. xviii.
these verses, as well as the two following, as an addition by the evangelist. But the passage is at least in thorough harmony with what goes before, as well as with the whole discourse.—’Eav οὖν προσφέρῃς, if thou art in the very act of presenting thine offering (present tense) at the αἰίατ.--κἀκεῖ µνησθῇς . . . κατὰ gov, and it suddenly flashes through thy mind there that thou hast done some- thing to a brother man fitted to provoke angry feelingin him. What then? Get through with thy worship as fast as possible and go directly after and make peace with the offended? No, interrupt the religious action and go on that errand first.—ades ἐκεῖ. Lay it down on the spur of the moment before the altar without handing it to the priest to be offered by him in thy stead.—xal ὕπαγε πρῶτον. The πρῶτον is to be joined to ὕπαγε, not to the following verb as in A. V. and R. V. (πρῶτον stands after the verb also in chaps. vi. 33, ΥΠ. 5). First go: remove thyself from the temple, break off thy worship, though it may seem profane to ἆο5ο.-- διαλλάγηθι . καὶ τότε . . . πρόσφερε: no contempt for religious service expressed or implied. Holtzmann (H. C.) asks, did Jesus offer sacrifice ? and answers, hardly. In any case He respected the practice. But, reconciliation before sacrifice: morality before religion. Significant utterance, first announcement of a great principle often repeated, systematically neglected by the religion of the time. Placability before sacrifice, mercy before sacrifice, filial affection and duty before sacrifice ; so always in Christ’s teaching (Matt. ix. 13, XV. 5). πρόσφερε: present; set about offering: plenty of time now for the sacred action.