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.
Parallel translations
- WEB To 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.
- KJV And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.
- NKJV To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
- NASB Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic from him either.
- NLT If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also.
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
When wronged, the disciple should refuse retaliation and even be willing to suffer further loss. Jesus calls for a non-vengeful spirit that overcomes evil with patient love.
Overview
These vivid examples illustrate a heart free from the demand for personal vindication, surrendering one's rights rather than escalating conflict. The point is the disposition of the heart, not a wooden rule against any self-defense or justice. Jesus embodied this principle supremely, offering Himself without striking back (1 Peter 2:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Heb 10:34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession.
- Matt 5:39–42But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;
- 2 Cor 11:20In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.
- 1 Cor 6:7The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
- Lam 3:30Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.
- Matt 26:67Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him
- Isa 50:6I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
- John 18:22When Jesus had said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Him in the face and said, “Is this how You answer the high priest?”
- 1 Cor 4:11To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
- Luke 22:64They blindfolded Him and kept demanding, “Prophesy! Who hit You?”
- Acts 23:2At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
- 2 Sam 19:30And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Instead, since my lord the king has safely come to his own house, let Ziba take it all!”
- 2 Chr 18:23Then 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?”
- Mic 5:1Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 6:29 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.