Many Ways To Be Kind: WATCHING our words

Friday, March 22, 2024

WATCHING our words

JESUS warns:

Matthew 5:22

King James Version

22 But I say unto you,

That whosoever is angry with his brother

without a cause

shall be in danger of the judgment:

and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,

shall be in danger of the council:

but whosoever shall say, Thou fool,

shall be in danger of hell fire.

Scripture is GOD's WORD.

And GOD's WORD is JESUS.

When JESUS declares something, I always pay attention.

The verse above has THREE warnings:

1. Being angry, without a cause, shall be in "danger of the judgment".

2. Calling another, "Raca", shall be in "danger of the council".

3. Calling, "Thou fool", shall be in "danger of hell fire".

I needed to be sure what JESUS meant.

So I turn to two other Bible translations, just to be sure.

And here's where SPIRIT led me:

Matthew 5:22

Expanded Bible

22 But I tell you, ·if you are [L everyone who is] angry with a brother or sister,[a] you will be ·judged [subject to judgment]. ·If you say [L Whoever says] ·bad things [“Fool!”; L Raca; C an Aramaic term of derision] to a brother or sister, you will be ·judged [subject/liable to judgment] by the ·council [Sanhedrin]. And if you call someone a ·fool [idiot; moron], you will be in danger of the fire of ·hell [L Gehenna; C a valley outside of Jerusalem where in the OT period children were sacrificed to a pagan god; later used as a burning trash heap; a metaphor for hell].

Mattityahu 5:22

Orthodox Jewish Bible

22 But I say to you, that everyone who harbors kaas (anger) against his Ach [b’Moshiach], his chaver, shall be subject to mishpat (judgment); and whoever shall say to his Ach [b’Moshiach], Reyka! (Good for nothing!) will be subject to the Sanhedrin; and whoever shall say Shoteh! (Fool) shall be subject to Eish Gehinnom (Fire of Hell).

In SUMMARY, "Raca" means:

Aramaic term of derision

Reyka! (Good for nothing!)

In SUMMARY, "Thou fool" means:

idiot; moron

Shoteh! (Fool)

In SUMMARY, "hell fire" means:

Gehenna; C a valley outside of Jerusalem where in the OT period children were sacrificed to a pagan god; later used as a burning trash heap; a metaphor for hell

Eish Gehinnom (Fire of Hell)

Who are our "brothers"?

Another post clarifies that.

Either way, we are not to insult our brothers, and sisters.

We must guard our tongue.

We must guard our voice.

We must guard our words.

We must guard our hearts.

The LORD warned us:

Matthew 15:18-19

King James Version

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth