Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment; 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 hellfire. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. MATTHEW v. 21-26
The Revised Version introduces an important change in the above language, from the Sermon on the Mount, by omitting the clause,without a cause; so that the sentence reads: "But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the Judgment."
There are three reasons for this omission. First, an examination of the various ancient manuscripts gives strong evidence that the words were not in the original, but were added afterwards by some transcriber. Were there no other reason, and were nothing depending on the inquiry, the present knowledge of old manuscripts would force the conclusion that these words did not belong here.
