|
KJV |
BOM
Printer’s Manuscript (= 3 Nephi 12:22) |
1867 Inspired Version (RLDS) |
|
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. |
but I say unto you that
whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment &
whososoever shall say to his brother Raca shall be in danger of the
council & whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of Hellfire |
But I say unto you that
whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of his judgment; and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, or Rabcha, shall be in
danger of the council; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool,
shall be in danger of hell fire. |
New Testament Manuscript 1, p.
10:
but
I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of
his judgement and whosoever shall shall say to his brother Raca or Rabcha
shall be in dan=ger of the council and whosoever shall say to his brother thou fool
shall be in danger of hell fire.
New Testament Manuscript 2, folio
1, p. 8:
<24/>
But I say unto you, that whosoever is angery with his brother, shall be in
danger of his Judgement; & whosoever\shall say to his brother, Raca, or Rabcha,
shall be in danger of the Council; and whosoever shall say to hi[s]<s>
brother, Thou fool, <25/> shall be in <danger of> hell fire.
Both NT 1 and NT 2 of the JST has “Raca, or Rabcha,” although the Book of Mormon, following the KJV, has “Raca.” There is a textual variant in the JST manuscripts. On page 10 of the 1866-1867 RLDS Committee Manuscript, it reads "Rabcah," not "Rabcha":
<{24}>
But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of his judgement; and whosoever
shall say to his brother, Raca, or Rabcah, shall be in danger of the
council; and whoso-ever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be in danger
of hell fire.
The word “Rabcha” is unusual. Firstly, it does not come from Adam Clarke. His entry
for Matt 5:22 reads thusly:
Raca — ריקה from the Hebrew רק rak, to be empty. It signifies a vain, empty, worthless fellow,
shallow brains, a term of great contempt. Such expressions were punished
among the Gentoos by a heavy fine. See all the cases, Code of
Gentoo Laws, chap. 15: sec. 2.
Greek ρακα (raka) is a transliteration of
Aramaic רֵיקָא or רֵיקָה which means "empty one." They would be
transliterated rêqāʾ and
rê·qā(h) respectively.
Perhaps I can see qoph being pronounced/transliterated as ch, but
where the b comes from is beyond me, so this has be scratching my
head. Perhaps Joseph Smith was trying his hand at what he may have believed to have
been the “proper” transliteration/pronunciation of the Aramaic loan word but erring along the way?
Still, if anyone has any better suggestions,, do let
me know.