What does the scripture mean in (KJV) Matthew 5:22 where it says whoever is angry without a cause
Not sure how to apply this verse with the added “without a cause”. it seems to leave a whole lot of room for error if I have to decide if my anger is with good cause or not. I have no problem with other translations, but have been raised on King James version and always thought that it was the most accurate word for word.
Matthew 5:22
ESV - 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
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Paula Fether
Supporter
There's a good discussion of the issue at https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/angry-without-a-cause-in-matthew-522-only-kjv/. The basic question is whether this phrase is in the Greek manuscripts, and the consensus there seems to be 'no'.
As with any difficult reading, we must pay careful attention to all the layers of context. Here, "angry" is paired with "insults" and "you fool", so Jesus seems to be saying that the anger may be unjustified ("liable to judgment", not already judged), hence the probable ADDITION of later copyists to add the phrase, meaning it's not part of the inspired text. This is why no other translations include it.
Tim Maas
Supporter
Considering that Ephesians 4:26-27 later draws a distinction between anger and sin, this would indicate to me that not all human anger is by nature sinful, which would in turn seem to be saying that any "righteous" anger would arise from a cause, and also that the ensuing manner or degree in or to which that anger is expressed would be the determining factor as to whether sin would be present.
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