“Let him have your cloak as well”
Matthew 5:40
Legal referenceInterpretationJesus
If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. (Matthew 5:40 BSB)
What it sounds like today
Generosity about possessions: give more than what's demanded.
The cultural key
The scene is a debt lawsuit against someone so poor his shirt is the collateral. Clothing had two layers: the inner tunic (chitōn) and the outer cloak (himation). The cloak was legally untouchable: Exodus 22:26–27 required a cloak taken in pledge to be returned by nightfall, because the poor slept in it. Handing it over anyway leaves you naked in court, and in that culture nakedness shamed the viewer who caused it (Genesis 9). (Same Wink lineage as the cheek: powerful, but an interpretation.)
Recovered meaning
Expose the system: if they'll strip you to your shirt over a debt, hand them everything and let the courtroom see exactly what this 'justice' produces.
Parallels: Luke 6:29