Passage

Matthew 5.22

Book: Matthew · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"20. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21. Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:"

"22. but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire."

"23. If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, 24. leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matthew 5:20-24, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"20. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 21. “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’"

"22. But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna."

"23. “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, 24. leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:20-24, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"20. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: ^{by: or, to}"

"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. ^{Raca: that is, Vain fellow}"

"23. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24. Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matthew 5:20-24, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"20. 'For I say to you, that if your righteousness may not abound above that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye may not enter to the reign of the heavens. 21. 'Ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not kill, and whoever may kill shall be in danger of the judgment;"

"22. but I, I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire."

"23. 'If, therefore, thou mayest bring thy gift to the altar, and there mayest remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, 24. leave there thy gift before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then having come bring thy gift." (Matthew 5:20-24, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)
Audience: the disciples + the broader crowd (per Matt 5:1-2; 7:28)
Location: a mountain in Galilee
Time period: events c. AD 28; composed c. AD 60-80
Narrative context: the first antithesis of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:21-26), intensifying the sixth commandment ("Thou shalt not kill") to its internal-heart-level. The pattern "Ye have heard that it was said... but I say unto you (egō de legō hymin)" recurs across six antitheses (5:21-48).

Theological reading

Matthew 5:22 deploys Jesus's signature egō de legō hymin ("but I say unto you"), the emphatic-I speech-formula that runs throughout the Sermon-on-the-Mount antitheses. The Christological force is implicit deity: Jesus is not delegated-prophetic-mouthpiece ("thus saith the LORD") but speaks on His own authority about what God's Law really requires. The verse internalizes the sixth commandment: murder is the external action, but unrestrained anger, contempt-speech (Raca, an Aramaic term of contempt), and verbal-degradation (Thou fool) all carry condemnation-weight because they share the heart-disposition that the murder-prohibition was always pointing at. The verse establishes the Christian principle that the moral law applies at the heart-level, not merely the behavior-level, and grounds the universal-sinfulness doctrine: if angry-thoughts are subject to judgment, no human stands acquitted by external-conformity alone. The patristic reading (Augustine, Chrysostom) treats this as the law-as-mirror function driving the convicted soul to Christ; the Reformed reading treats it as the Spirit-empowered sanctification-standard for those already in Christ.

Key words

G3004 - lego, legō (Strong's G3004), the egō de legō hymin antithesis-formula; the emphatic-I construction is the Christologically loaded marker of Jesus's authoritative reinterpretation of Torah.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.