Lost in Translation: Matthew 5:22

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Many verses are difficult to understand because we can only read them in the light of what we have been taught today, but much of what we have been taught was unknown in Jesus’s time. This is especially true for today’s verse, which has mistranslated words, missing words, words in the wrong places, and untranslated words. This is the verse, Matthew 5:22:

NIV: But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to (missing word) judgment. Again, (missing word) anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

The highlighted words are the problem areas. This is one case where the reader today is simply not given enough of the right words to understand this verse.

Who Is Judged?

The first change makes Jesus sound less extreme. This is a shame because being shocking by using exaggeration is one of the hallmarks of Jesus’s drama, humor, and part of how he holds his listeners’ attention.

The word translated as “anyone” is not the Greek word than means anyone. This word means “all.” He isn’t saying the “some” will be brought to judgment, but all of us who get “angry” with “a brother.”

Who hasn’t been made angry by anyone they deal with regularly? In this case, it is even people without biological siblings. The word Jesus uses means “brother” but it also means “friend,” “work associate,” and similar relationships. The use of It is translated as “brother or sister” to make it sound like Jesus is directing it at family members but there is no “or sister” here. When Jesus wants to use it to mean male and female siblings he uses both the masculine and feminine forms of the Greek word.

Does the verse say “Who is angry?” The “angry” is a passive verb in the form of a participle. The verse says “the one being made angry” or “the one being irritated.” This person is not even angry. He is being made angry by his colleague. In a sense, this person is the victim here.

Judged for Thought Crime?

So is he “subject to judgment?” Not quite. The word does means “subject to” or “liable to” but those require a possessive object form of “judgment.” That is not the form used he. The word also means “bound” and “held” which are its primary meaning, both of which suggest the indirect object form of “judgment.”

The “this” in “judgment come from a missing word is commonly ignored in translation. It means “the” or “this” (see this article) identifying something specific, but Jesus hasn’t identified any crimes for judgments yet.

So, Jesus starts off by saying:

Listeners Heard: I myself, however, tell you that everyone being made angry by that associate of his will be boundby this judgment:

His listeners have to wonder, “Which judgment?” That question is answered by the rest of the verse.

The Setup and First Punchline

Again, (missing word) anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court.

This confusion starts at the beginning with the “and.” The word means “so.” setting up the answer to the question Jesus just raised. The missing word means “when,” beginning a clause that is a possible crime. I say possible because “when” does not assume this happens. The “anyone” is not from “all,” seen earlier, but a word meaning “that one.” The “who” is from the third-person singular form of the verb, “he says” because there is no “anyone”. The verb form of “says” is in the form of something that “might” or “should” happen.

The word “raca” is made to look like a swear word from some foreign language by not translating it. I won’t bore you with all the justifications for this, but the fact is that it is a perfectlygmai good Greek word that makes sense in this context, but we have to understand the context of the times.

The Greek word means “rags” in the sense of worn-out pieces of cloth. “Rags” were used as nose wipes and for a woman’s monthly, which are insulting enough to be used in name-calling. The person might also be saying his colleague is wearing rags, a beggar or a miser. This meaning is important as part of the setup for the punchline. Of course, his listeners would have heard all of these meanings at once.

The first punchline here is mistranslated as “is answerable to the court.” The “is” is the future tense, “will be.” The “answer” is the same word translated as “bound” earlier part of the verse that means “held” or “bound.” The “by the court” is a word that means “the town council.”

The joke here is that these councils are the highest-ranking people, the best-dressed people in the area, and those most likely to look down on the more ragged people of the street.

So, Jesus continues by saying:

Listeners Heard: So, that one, when he might say to that brother of his, "rags!" will be bound by town council.

The humor here is the double meaning. This person might be tried by the council or he might be suitable to sit on the town council.

The Final Punchline

And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

This sentence has some of the same problems as the previous one. Its “And anyone says,” should say, “So, that one, when he might say.

The word translated as “you fool” is familiar in English. It means “moron,” which the Three Stooges made so popular.

There is a clear motive for the rest of these changes. The “is” has been fixed back to “will be” because the translators wanted this to refer to a future eternity in hell. The “danger of” is the same word translated as “bound” and “answer” in earlier parts of the verse. I5 means “held” or “bound.” The “in” does not connect to this “danger,” which is also chosen to make this seem like it refers to “hell.”

The word “hell” doesn’t mean “hell” at all. It is the name of a valley, Gehenna, where a fire was kept for disposing of trash from Jerusalem. The person isn’t held in the fire, but in the valley. The area was stinky, smoky. and the work there hot and unpleasant.