Turning the other cheek

Turning the other cheek, also known as offering [one's] cheek, is a phrase in Christian doctrine that refers to responding to injury without revenge.

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

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

39 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.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

In the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, as part of his command to "love your enemies", Jesus says:

27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.
30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

This passage is variously interpreted as commanding nonresistance, Christian pacifism or nonviolence on the part of the victim.

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

Since 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 Christian anarchism, including Leo Tolstoy who elucidated his reasoning in The Kingdom of God Is Within You.

...
Wikipedia