Raca (Syriac רָקאָ, Chaldee רֵיקָא, Hebrew רֵיק, empty) was an insulting epithet of common use from an early period among the Babylonians, and in our Lord’s day among the inhabitants of Syria and Palestine. It exactly answers to our idiot, or numskull, and is of frequent occurrence afterwards in the same sense in rabbinical writings.—Tr.