Searcher:
Raka (Strong's # 4469; NWT's "unspeakable word of contempt") is defined by AMG's Greek dictionary as, "A word of contempt meaning empty, worthless, foolish. . . Utter contempt, equivalent to the Gr. kenos (2756), empty, vain." [Compare 1 Thess 2:1 NWT, "without results"; Jas 2:20 NWT, "empty" - Bobcat]
BDAG deines it this way: "A term of abuse/put-down relating to lack of intelligence, numskull, fool (in effect verbal bullying)" BDAG then refers to a quote from Chrysostom describing raka as "not an expression denoting a strong put-down."
Moros (Strong's # 3474; NWT's "despicable fool") is defined by AMGs Greek disctionary as, "Silly, stupid, foolish, from which the Eng. word "moron" is derived. Used of persons meaning morally worthless (Mt 5:22). It is a more serious reproach than raka (4469), raca, which scorns a man by calling him stupid, whereas moros scorns him concerning his heart and character.
BDAG defines it as "foolsh, stupid." But then , in reference to its use in Matthew 5:22 says, The meaning of more Mt 5:22 is disputed. Most scholars take it, as the ancient Syrian versions did, to mean you fool . . . the connotation of an obstinate, godless person
The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek NT says, "raka expresses contempt for a man's head: "you stupid." more expresses contempt for his heart and character: "you scoundrel." "
NICNT-Matthew (R. T. France, pp.200-01) has some interesting commentary on the verse and the word raca and more:
It is possible to find an ascending scale of severity in the descriptions of the punishment in this verse, from an unspecified "judgment" to the more specific "trial" and then to the final extreme of "hellfire." [NWT "Gehenna" - Bobcat] Certainly the most striking and powerful image is kept to the last. But there is no such clear escalation in the offenses cited. The first (anger) is in the mind and the second and third in speech, but the speech is cited not so much as a clearly actionable utterance but rather as an indication of attitude. The two words of abuse, "stupid" [raca] and "fool" [moros] (the latter used by Jesus himself in Matthew 23:17), are not readily distinguishable in either meaning or severity; both are everyday utterances, significant enough in a society which took seriously public honor and disgrace, but not the sort of exceptional abuse which might conceivably form the basis of litigation. The deliberate paradox of Jesus' pronouncement is thus that ordinary insults may betray an attitude of contempt which God takes extremely seriously. The effect of the saying is therefore to be found not in a careful correlation between each offense individually and the respective punishment assigned to it, but in the cumulative rhetorical force of a series of everyday scenes and the remarkable range of expressions used for their results; the totally unexpected conclusion in "hellfire" comes as a shocking jolt to the complacency of the hearer, who might well have chuckled over the incongruous image of a person being tried for anger or for conventional insult, only to be pulled up short by the saying's conclusion. . .
[Concening the use of gehenna as the ultimate punsishment in this saying:] To invoke this awesome concept in relation to the use of an everyday abusive epithet is the sort of paradoxical exaggeration by which Jesus' sayings often compel the reader's attention . . .
[End of quote]
In France's view, the whole saying is concerned more with an expanding, abusive attitude towards other humans that suddenly finds itself very much at odds with God himself. It was also interesting that Jesus used the term moros himself when describing the religious leaders in Mt 23:17, perhaps indicating that the saying in 5:21, 22 is more concerned with an overall attitude rather than a graded listing of offenses.
That was a curious statement by the DO, given who he works for.
Take Care