shall say to his brother: ‘Raca!’ [1] shall be in danger of the council[2]. And whosoever shall say: ‘Thou fool!’[3] shall be in danger of hell-fire[4]. If, therefore, thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee[5]; leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then, coming, thou shalt offer thy gift.”
“You have heard that it was said to them of old: ‘Thou shalt not forswear thyself.’ But I say to you not to swear at all. Let your speech be yea, yea; no, no: and that which is over and above these[6], is of evil[7].
“You have heard that it hath been said: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’ [8]. But I say to you [9] not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other.
“You have heard that it hath been said: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour[10] and hate thine enemy’. But I say to you: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: that you may be the children of your Father who is in to heaven, who maketh His sun rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.
- ↑ Raca. A good-for-nothing.
- ↑ The council. He deserves to be brought before the supreme court at Jerusalem.
- ↑ Thou fool. Or a man rejected by God.
- ↑ Hell-fire. Hitherto you have regarded only the actual and literal taking of life as punishable, but I say to you that he who merely feels anger in his heart against his fellow-men, sins against them, and is worthy of punishment. He who gives expression to his anger by injurious words, sins still more, and deserves a more severe punishment; but he who really wishes ill to his neighbour, is worthy of the everlasting punishment of hell. God regards our sins against our neighbour as so offensive to Himself, that He will not receive any offering from us, until we have become reconciled to anyone whom we have injured.
- ↑ Against thee. i. e. if he complains of having been offended or injured by you.
- ↑ Above these. Whatever is more than a simple affirmation, such for instance as a declaration on oath.
- ↑ Of evil. Is the result of sin, for, if there were no sins such as lies and deceit, oaths would be quite unnecessary.
- ↑ Tooth for tooth. This is the law of retaliation, which returns injury for injury.
- ↑ I say to you. The perfection consists in this, that you do not retaliate at all, but bear injustice with patience, and subdue all anger against your adversary.
- ↑ Thy neighbour. By the word “neighbour" the Jews understood only those of their own nation, and counted the Samaritans and Gentiles as their enemies.
