Other Turning

Turning the other cheek is to respond to an aggressor without violence. The phrase is from the Sermon on the Mount in the Christian New Testament. more...

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In the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says:

A parallel version is offered in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke:

This passage is viewed as promoting nonresistance, pacifism or nonviolence.

Historical origins

Some hold that Jesus, while rejecting "eye for an eye," built upon previous Jewish ethical teachings in the Hebrew Bible, "You will not exact vengeance on, or bear any sort of grudge against, the members of your race, but will love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18). See also Expounding of the Law. The idea of "offering one's cheek" to a smiter is also seen in Lamentations 3:30, in which context the narrator is rationalizing suffering and describing the proper way to bear it.

It is also thought to be possible that Jesus was influenced by the teachings of the Pharisee Hillel the Elder who is famously quoted as describing the Golden Rule to be an effective summation of the Torah, and also "If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?" (Pirkei Avot 1:14) In this way, personal dignity is both to be given to your brother and demanded for yourself. (see figurative interpretations below for turn the other cheek as an act of defiance )

An analogous sentiment is spoken by Socrates in his conversation with Crito in 399 BC before his execution in Athens. “One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him.� This moral guides Socrates in his argument to a conclusion that he should not attempt to escape from punishment despite being wrongfully imprisoned. From the Grube translation of Crito found in Plato's Five Dialogues revised by Cooper.

Interpretations

This phrase, as with much of the Sermon on the Mount, has been subjected to both literal and figurative interpretations. See also Sermon on the Mount#Interpretation.

Nonresistance literal interpretation

This passage has been interpreted as an injunction of nonviolent resistance, and a teaching that it is wrong to commit violence, even in self-defense or retaliation.

Since this passage calls for total nonresistance, and since human governments defend themselves by military force, it has led some to Christian anarchism, including the notable Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, author of the nonfiction book The Kingdom of God Is Within You.

Read more at Wikipedia.org