“Turn to him the other also”
Matthew 5:39
Cultural referenceInterpretationJesus
If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:39 BSB)
What it sounds like today
Pure passivity: absorb abuse, be a doormat.
The cultural key
The detail is the right cheek. The left hand was reserved for unclean tasks, so a blow to the right cheek from a right-handed striker is a backhand, the gesture a superior used on an inferior: master to slave, Roman to subject. An insult of status, not a fistfight. Turning the left cheek makes the backhand impossible; to strike again the aggressor must use the forehand blow of an equal. (This reading, popularized by Walter Wink, is compelling but debated; some scholars read the verse as radical non-resistance, plain and simple.)
Recovered meaning
Neither hit back nor cower: refuse the insult's terms. The striker must either treat you as an equal or stop. It is a third way that reclaims dignity without violence.
Parallels: Luke 6:29