Matthew 5:39
New International Version
But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

New Living Translation
But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.

English Standard Version
But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Berean Standard Bible
But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;

Berean Literal Bible
But I tell you not to resist the evil person. Instead, whoever shall strike you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

New American Standard Bible
But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also.

NASB 1995
“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

NASB 1977
“But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Legacy Standard Bible
But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Amplified Bible
But I say to you, do not resist an evil person [who insults you or violates your rights]; but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other toward him also [simply ignore insignificant insults or trivial losses and do not bother to retaliate—maintain your dignity, your self-respect, your poise].

Christian Standard Bible
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

American Standard Version
but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But I am saying to you, you shall not rise up against an evil person, but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him also the other.

Contemporary English Version
But I tell you not to try to get even with a person who has done something to you. When someone slaps your right cheek, turn and let that person slap your other cheek.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other:

English Revised Version
but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But I tell you not to oppose an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn your other cheek to him as well.

Good News Translation
But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.

International Standard Version
But I tell you not to resist an evildoer. On the contrary, whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

Literal Standard Version
but I say to you not to resist the evil, but whoever will slap you on your right cheek, turn to him also the other;

Majority Standard Bible
But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;

New American Bible
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.

NET Bible
But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

New Revised Standard Version
But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;

New Heart English Bible
But I tell you, do not set yourself against the one who is evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Webster's Bible Translation
But I say to you, That ye resist not evil: but whoever shall strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Weymouth New Testament
But I tell you not to resist a wicked man, but if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

World English Bible
But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Young's Literal Translation
but I -- I say to you, not to resist the evil, but whoever shall slap thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Love Your Enemies
38You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ 39But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also; 40if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well;…

Cross References
1 Kings 22:24
Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?"

Proverbs 20:22
Do not say, "I will avenge this evil!" Wait on the LORD, and He will save you.

Proverbs 24:29
Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work."

Matthew 5:40
if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well;

Luke 6:7
Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

Luke 6:29
If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.

Luke 6:30
Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back.


Treasury of Scripture

But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

That.

Leviticus 19:18
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

1 Samuel 24:10-15
Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed…

1 Samuel 25:31-34
That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid…

whosoever.

1 Kings 22:24
But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?

Job 16:10
They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

Isaiah 50:6
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

Jump to Previous
Blow Cheek Evil Face Force Gives Other Resist Right Side Slap Slaps Smite Smiteth Someone Strike Strikes Turn Turned Use Wicked
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Blow Cheek Evil Face Force Gives Other Resist Right Side Slap Slaps Smite Smiteth Someone Strike Strikes Turn Turned Use Wicked
Matthew 5
1. Jesus' sermon on the mount:
3. The Beattitudes;
13. the salt of the earth;
14. the light of the world.
17. He came to fulfill the law.
21. What it is to kill;
27. to commit adultery;
33. to swear.
38. He exhorts to forgive wrong,
43. to love our enemies;
48. and to labor after perfection.














(39) Resist not evil.--The Greek, as before in Matthew 5:37, may be either masculine or neuter, and followed as it is by "whosoever," the former seems preferable; only here it is not "the evil one," with the emphasis of pre-eminence, but, as in 1Corinthians 5:13, the human evil-doer. Of that mightier "evil one" we are emphatically told that it is our duty to resist him (James 4:7).

Shall smite.--The word was used of blows with the hand or with a stick, and for such blows fines from a shekel upwards were imposed by Jewish courts.

Turn to him the other also.--We all quote and admire the words as painting an ideal meekness. But most men feel also that they cannot act on them literally; that to make the attempt, as has been done by some whom the world calls dreamers or fanatics, would throw society into confusion and make the meek the victims. The question meets us, therefore, Were they meant to be obeyed in the letter; and if not, what do they command? And the answer is found (l) in remembering that our Lord Himself, when smitten by the servant of the high priest, protested, though He did not resist (John 18:22-23), and that St. Paul, under like outrage, was vehement in his rebuke (Acts 23:3); and (2) in the fact that the whole context shows that the Sermon on the Mount is not a code of laws, but the assertion of principles. And the principle in this matter is clearly and simply this, that the disciple of Christ, when he has suffered wrong, is to eliminate altogether from his motives the natural desire to retaliate or accuse. As far as he himself is concerned, he must be prepared, in language which, because it is above our common human strain, has stamped itself on the hearts and memories of men, to turn the left cheek when the right has been smitten. But the man who has been wronged has other duties which he cannot rightly ignore. The law of the Eternal has to be asserted, society to be protected, the offender to be reclaimed, and these may well justify--though personal animosity does not--protest, prosecution, punishment. . . .

Verse 39. - But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee, etc. The first clause comes here only; the second is found also in Luke 6:29 (for the principle, cf. 1 Corinthians 6:7). We may notice that, while our Lord most perfectly observed the spirit of this command, he did not slavishly follow the letter of it (cf. John 18:22, 23). Nor did St. Paul (cf. Acts 16:35ff; Acts 22:25; 23:3; 25:9,10). We must remember that, while he clothes his teaching with the form of concrete examples, these are only parabolic representations of principles eternal in themselves, but in practice to be modified according to each separate occasion. "This offering of the other cheek may be done outwardly; but only inwardly can it be always right" (Trench, 'Sermon on the Mount'). We must further remember the distinction brought out here by Luther between what the Christian has to do as a Christian, and what he has to do as, perhaps an official, member of the state. The Lord leaves to the state its own jurisdiction (Matthew 22:21: vide Meyer). That ye resist not; Revised Version, resist not, thus avoiding all possibility of the English reader taking the words as a statement of fact. Evil. So the Revised Version margin; but Revised Version, him that is evil (cf. ver. 37; Matthew 6:13, note). The masculine here, in the sense of the wicked man who does the wrong, is clearly preferable; Wickliffe, "a yuel man." (For a very careful defence of Chrysostom's opinion that even here τῷ πονηρῷ refers to the devil and not to man. see Chase, 'The Lord's Prayer in the Early Church'). Shall smite; Revised Version, smiteth, The right reading gives the more vivid present. Ῥαπίζω comes in the New Testament here and Matthew 26:67 only. It is properly used of a stroke with a rod. (For "smiting on the cheeks," cf. the curious rendering of Hosea 11:4 in the LXX; cf. also Isaiah 50:6.) Thee on thy right. Matthew only. Although it is more natural that the left cheek would be hit first (Meyer), the right is named, since it is in common parle, nee held to be the worthier (cf. ver. 29). Cheek. Σιαγών, though properly jaw, is here equivalent to" cheek," as certainly in Song of Solomon 1:10; Song of Solomon 5:13. Turn. The action seen; Luke's "offer" regards the mental condition necessary for the action.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
But
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

I
ἐγὼ (egō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

tell
λέγω (legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

you
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

not
μὴ (mē)
Adverb
Strong's 3361: Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.

to resist
ἀντιστῆναι (antistēnai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 436: To set against; I withstand, resist, oppose. From anti and histemi; to stand against, i.e. Oppose.

an
τῷ (tō)
Article - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

evil [person].
πονηρῷ (ponērō)
Adjective - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4190: Evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful.

[If] someone
ὅστις (hostis)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3748: Whosoever, whichsoever, whatsoever.

slaps
ῥαπίζει (rhapizei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 4474: To slap, strike, smite with the hand. From a derivative of a primary rhepo; to slap.

you
σε (se)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

on
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

right
δεξιὰν (dexian)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1188: On the right hand, right hand, right. From dechomai; the right side or hand.

cheek,
σιαγόνα (siagona)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4600: The jawbone, cheek, jaw. Of uncertain derivation; the jaw-bone, i.e. the cheek or side of the face.

turn
στρέψον (strepson)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4762: Strengthened from the base of trope; to twist, i.e. Turn quite around or reverse.

to him
αὐτῷ (autō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

the
τὴν (tēn)
Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

other
ἄλλην (allēn)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 243: Other, another (of more than two), different. A primary word; 'else, ' i.e. Different.

also;
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.


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Matthew 5:38
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