RACA rä’ kä (ῥακά, ῥαχά; Aram. רֵיקָא, stupid, רִיקֵן, empty). A term of reproach or insult. In the Bible the word occurs only in Matthew 5:22, where Jesus says that anyone who uses this expression to a brother will be liable to the court.

The word may be a transliteration of the Aram. term for an inferior or stupid person, or to a similar Aram. term meaning “empty,” and hence, fig., “ignorant.” In Rabbinic lit., the first Aram. term is used by a commander of a man who continues praying when he is greeted by the officer and does not reply to the greeting. Rabbi Jochanan addresses a pupil who laughed at one of his lectures as reqa. In one of the Midrashim, Noah says to his contemporaries, “Woe to you reqayya! Tomorrow the flood will come; repent.” In these instances, the meaning seems to be “stupid.”

A Gr. papyrus letter from the 3rd cent. b.c., however, uses the word ῥαχάν, in a way that suggests that it is a term of abuse, but that its meaning is uncertain. Since the spelling ῥαχά, G4828, has better MS support than ῥακά, G4819, one cannot be certain that the word is related to the Aram. term.