David Bronson wrote: |
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Hi, guys —
Matthew 5:22 says,
| 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the Hell of fire. (Matthew 5:22) |
In this verse, where it states at the end: and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the Hell of fire. . . .
- Is there another meaning to “fool” that Jesus is using when He says, "if you call someone a fool, you will be liable to the hell of fire."?
David
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| { Is there any other meaning to “fool” when Jesus says "calling someone a fool, makes you liable"? } |
Eric replied:
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David,
Apparently, the meaning is disputed:
The [meaning] of μωρέ in Matthew 5:22 is disputed. Most scholars take it, as the ancient Syrian versions did, to mean you fool..., somet[hing] also w[ith] the connotation of an obstinate, godless person (like נָבָל; cp. Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 32:6; Sirach 50:26).
Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), p. 663 |
The Navarre Bible Commentary says:
“Fool” translates an even stronger term of abuse than raca — implying that a person has lost all moral and religious sense, to the point of apostasy.
In this passage our Lord points to three faults which we commit against charity, moving from internal irritation to showing total contempt. St Augustine comments that three degrees of faults and punishments are to be noted.
- The first is the fault of feeling angry; to this corresponds the punishment of “judgment”.
- The second is that of passing an insulting remark, which merits the punishment of “the council".
- The third arises when anger quite blinds us: this is punished by “the hell of fire” (cf. De Serm. Dom. in monte, 2, 9).
Saint Matthew’s Gospel, The Navarre Bible (Dublin; New York: Four Courts Press; Scepter Publishers, 2005), p. 53 |
But the Ignatius Catholic Study bible says,
| "You fool!: The Greek transliterates an Aramaic term that implies a lack of intelligence. It is an insult that means something like “empty head” or “numskull”. |
The gist is that anger should be taken as seriously as murder:
The first antithesis (vv. 21–26) concerns the prohibition against murder (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). Jesus’ followers cannot be satisfied with merely avoiding the act of murder but must also curb the anger and the insults that lead to murder. The three courts or places of judgment mentioned in verse 22 (judgment or the local court, the Sanhedrin, the fiery Gehenna) would normally be connected with trying a case of murder, but here they are related to anger. The point is that anger should be taken as seriously as murder is. Two illustrations of putting away anger and being reconciled to others are provided in verses 23–26. The first instance (vv. 23–24) suggests that reconciliation may even take precedence over participating in worship at the temple, and the second instance (vv. 25–26) warns against letting a dispute go so far as to end up in court, where the judgment could go against one.
Bergant, Dianne, and Robert J. Karris, The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the New American Bible with Revised New Testament (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1989), p. 871 |
Eric
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