Matthew 5:39
But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other: Not to resist evil, etc... What is here commanded, is a Christian patience under injuries and affronts, and to be willing even to suffer still more, rather than to indulge the desire of revenge: but what is further added does not strictly oblige according to the letter, for neither did Christ nor St. Paul turn the other cheek. St. John 18., and Acts 23.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner, 1752)
In The King James Version
In Context
38You have heard that it hath been said: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
Cross References
Leviticus 19:18Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens. Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord.
1 Kings 22:24And Sedecias, the son of Chanaana, came, and struck Micheas on the cheek, and said: Hath then the spirit of the Lord left me, and spoken to thee?
Job 31:29If I have been glad at the downfall of him that hated me, and have rejoiced that evil had found him.
Proverbs 24:29Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me: I will render to every one according to his work.
Lamentations 3:30Jod. He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.
Matthew Henry on Matthew 5:39-43
The Sermon on the Mount. 38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. In these verses the law… Read the whole commentary →