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“Turn the other cheek” is a phrase in Christian doctrine from the Sermon on the Mount that refers to responding to insult without retort. This passage is variously interpreted as accepting one’s predicament, commanding nonresistance, or advocating Christian pacifism.

The phrase originates from the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, an alternative for “an eye for an eye” is given by Jesus:

³⁸You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” ³⁹But 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. ⁴⁰And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

In the Sermon on the Plain^[1] in the Gospel of Luke chapter 6, as part of his command to “love your enemies“, Jesus says:

²⁷But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

This phrase, as with much of the Sermon on the Mount, has been subject to both literal and figurative interpretations.

According to this interpretation, the passages call for total nonresistance to the point of facilitating aggression against oneself, and since human governments defend themselves by military force, some have advocated for Christian anarchism, including Leo Tolstoy who elucidated his reasoning in his 1894 book The Kingdom of God Is Within You.

Scholars Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Brettler view the issue as justice following an injury. They argue that since the Greek word used in Matthew 5:39 for ‘resist’ is ἀντιστῆναι (referring to armed resistance or violent struggle), Jesus suggests to maintain one’s honor and shame the perpetrator, instead of escalating violence or losing dignity. By offering the left cheek, the victim invites a right-handed jab which exposes the slap as a violent act that failed to degrade the victim, thus shaming the perpetrator for their cruel treatment.^[2]

The scholar Walter Wink, in his book Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination, interprets the passage as encouragement to subvert power structures of the time.^[3] For example, Wink interprets the next verse from the Sermon on the Mount as a way to make the oppressor break the law. The Roman postal law of Angaria allowed Roman authorities to demand that inhabitants of occupied territories carry messages and equipment for exactly one mile, but prohibited forcing them to go any further, else risk disciplinary action.^[4] In this situation, the nonviolent interpretation sees Jesus as criticizing an unjust and hated Roman law as well as clarifying the teaching to extend beyond Jewish law.^[5]

• Christian pacifism
• Live by the sword, die by the sword
• Matthew 5:29, Matthew 10
• Tolstoyan
• Violence begets violence
• Just war theory

• Jim Douglass, Lightning from East to West: Jesus, Gandhi, and the nuclear age, 1983 ISBN 0-8245-0587-5

• Christian Nonviolence