Let him give his cheek to the one who is going to strike him; Let him be filled with shame.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him; let him be filled full with reproach.
- KJV He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
- BSB Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.
- NKJV Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And be full of reproach.
- NLT Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The afflicted one should patiently endure insult and injury rather than retaliate.
Overview
Offering the cheek and absorbing reproach describes nonretaliatory endurance under suffering ordained by God. It teaches submission and trust that vindication belongs to the Lord. Jesus deepens this teaching, calling His followers to turn the other cheek (Matt. 5:39), and Himself gave His cheek to those who struck Him (Isa. 50:6; Matt. 26:67).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 50:6I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
- Job 16:10They have gaped on me with their mouth. They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me.
- Matt 26:67Then they spit in his face and beat him with their fists, and some slapped him,
- Matt 5:39But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
- 2 Cor 11:20For you bear with a man, if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, if he strikes you on the face.
- Ps 69:20Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none.
- Luke 6:29To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don’t withhold your coat also.
- Mic 5:1Now you shall gather yourself in troops, daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
- Ps 123:3Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt.
- Ps 69:9For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 3:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.