Matthew 5:22

“But I say unto you, etc.] This is a Rabbinical way of speaking, used when a question is determined, and a false notion is refuted; it is a magisterial form of expression, and well suits with Christ, the great teacher and master in Israel; who spake as one having authority, opposing himself, not to the law of “Moses, thou shalt not kill”; but to the false gloss the ancient doctors had put upon it, with which their later ones agreed. You say, that if one man kills another himself, he is to be put to death by the sanhedrim; and if he does it by proxy, he is to be left to the judgment of God, so wholly restraining the law to actual murder; but I affirm, that whosoever is angry with his brother…”

“But I say unto you--Mark the authoritative tone in which--as Himself the Lawgiver and Judge--Christ now gives the true sense, and explains the deep reach, of the commandment. 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--It is unreasonable to deny, as ALEXANDER does, that three degrees of punishment are here meant to be expressed, and to say that it is but a threefold expression of one and the same thing. But Romish expositors greatly err in taking the first two--"the judgment" and "the…”

“But I say unto you - Jesus being God as well as man John 1:1, John 1:14, and therefore, being the original giver of the law, had a right to expound it or change it as he pleased. Compare Matthew 12:6, Matthew 12:8. He therefore spoke here and elsewhere as having authority, and not as the scribes. It may be added here that no mere man ever spake as Jesus did, when explaining or enforcing the law. He did it as having a right to do it; and he that has a right to ordain and change laws in the government of God must be himself divine. Is angry with His brother without a cause - Anger, or that feeling which we have when we are injured, and which prompts us to defend ourselves when in danger, is a…”

“But I say unto you - Which of the prophets ever spake thus? Their language is, Thus saith the Lord. Who hath authority to use this language, but the one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Whosoever is angry with his brother - Some copies add, without a cause - But this is utterly foreign to the whole scope and tenor of our Lord's discourse. If he had only forbidden the being angry without a cause, there was no manner of need of that solemn declaration, I say unto you; for the scribes and Pharisees themselves said as much as this. Even they taught, men ought not to be angry without a cause. So that this righteousness does not exceed theirs. But Christ teaches, that we ought not,…”

“5:22 judgment . . . the court . . . hell: The second and third punishments are more severe than would have been typical in Jesus’ day, emphasizing the surpassing righteousness of Jesus and his followers (see 5:20). They did not tolerate unreconciled relationships or any devaluation of others. • If you call someone an idiot: The Aramaic term reqa’ (transliterated as raca) means something like “empty head,” and the clause probably means the same as if you curse someone (literally if you say, ‘You fool’; cp. Jas 2:20). Devaluation of people is a sin that manifests itself in various ways.”

“I say: Mat 5:28, Mat 5:34, Mat 5:44, Mat 3:17, Mat 17:5; Deu 18:18, Deu 18:19; Act 3:20-23, Act 7:37; Heb 5:9, Heb 12:25 That: Gen 4:5, Gen 4:6, Gen 37:4, Gen 37:8; Sa1 17:27, Sa1 17:28, Sa1 18:8, Sa1 18:9, Sa1 20:30-33, Sa1 22:12-23; Kg1 21:4; Ch2 16:10; Est 3:5, Est 3:6; Psa 37:8; Dan 2:12, Dan 2:13, Dan 3:13, Dan 3:19; Eph 4:26, Eph 4:27 his brother: Mat 5:23, Mat 5:24, Mat 18:21, Mat 18:35; Deu 15:11; Neh 5:8; Oba 1:10, Oba 1:12; Rom 12:10; Co1 6:6; Th1 4:6; Jo1 2:9, Jo1 3:10, Jo1 3:14, Jo1 3:15, Jo1 4:20, Jo1 4:21, Jo1 5:16 without: Psa 7:4, Psa 25:3, Psa 35:19, Psa 69:4, Psa 109:3; Lam 3:52; Joh 15:25 be: Mat 5:21 the judgment: An inferior court of judicature, in every city, consisting…”