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Originally Posted by Bananas_on_Bread
...If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also...
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This is cribbed from a response I made to someone else who didn't fully understand what "turning the other cheek" means (I didn't feel like typing it all out again):
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I also know how few people actually understand what "turn the other cheek" really means. If you follow this link, you'll find the verse in question (Matthew 5:39) as it appears in 20 of the most common Bibles in use today. Notice how they ALL specify that someone's hitting your RIGHT cheek. Curious (or telling?), as there is very little else they agree on.
Back then, only the right hand was used for touching others. The left (as is still common in many countries) was used for toilet purposes. If I was to strike you on the right cheek using my right hand, it would have to be a backhand strike. This was the disciplinary method used on slaves and servants, and showed the the striker considered the other to be below them, socially.
By only presenting the left cheek as a target, you would force me to use a forehand strike, with the concomitant acknowledgement of you as my social equal.
Thus, we see that the "turn the other cheek" passage is NOT an instruction to yield unconditionally to any aggressor (as it has been portrayed by many, who either do not understand, or consciously wish to misrepresent, the message of the Bible), but instead is a passive-aggressive way of forcing them to treat you as an equal.
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...if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well...
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Also passive aggressive. In the culture of the time, nakedness was more embarrassing for the viewer than the viewed. If you did the above, the other party would give you your tunic back, rather than have to see you naked.
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...And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him." Mt. 5.38-41"
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Again, it's not what it seems.
Roman law only allowed soldiers to order people to carry their gear for one mile. If you carried it for two, THEY got in trouble from their superiors.