Matthew 5:39 tells believers not to strike back when someone wrongs them, and instead to be willing to absorb a second insult rather than repay the first. Jesus is not teaching that evil should be ignored or that victims must stay in danger, but that his followers should refuse the cycle of retaliation that the old law had only limited. He speaks these words in the Sermon on the Mount to the crowds and his disciples gathered on a hillside in Galilee.
But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Matthew 5:39 (WEB)
What Matthew 5:39 Means
The phrase “don’t resist him who is evil” is best read as “do not meet evil with evil.” The Greek word can describe standing against someone in opposition, so Jesus is warning against the reflex of fighting fire with fire. The example he gives, a blow to the right cheek, most naturally describes a backhanded slap, which was a gesture of insult and humiliation more than serious injury.
When Jesus says to “turn to him the other also,” he is pointing to a response that refuses to be drawn into a contest of revenge while keeping one’s dignity intact. The verse does not promise that the offender will change, that the abuse will stop, or that the injured person must accept harm from someone who threatens their safety. It describes an inner posture and a concrete choice not to mirror hostility.
The Context of Matthew 5:39
Matthew, traditionally identified as the tax collector and disciple, wrote this Gospel for a community that included Jewish believers familiar with the Torah. The sermon begins with the Beatitudes and then moves through a series of “You have heard it said… but I tell you” statements. Verse 38 quotes the law of retaliation, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” which was originally a principle to limit excessive punishment, not to encourage it. Jesus sets his teaching against the common habit of pushing that principle into personal vengeance.
The verses that follow in 40 through 42 give related examples: handing over a cloak as well as a coat, going an extra mile, giving to those who ask. Read together, they show a pattern of generosity and nonresistance that goes beyond what would be expected. Seeing verse 39 inside this run of examples makes clear that Jesus is describing how kingdom people treat others in everyday disputes, not issuing a legal code for courts or governments.
Key Phrases in Matthew 5:39
Romans 12:19
Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
(WEB)
Paul echoes the same refusal to take revenge, reminding believers that vengeance belongs to God. Reading this verse alongside Matthew 5:39 helps explain why a follower of Jesus can let go of the urge to repay wrong: the justice of the situation rests in God’s hands, not in the injured person’s.
1 Peter 2:23
Who, when he was cursed, didn’t curse back. When he suffered, didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.
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Peter describes Jesus himself, who did not return insult when he was reviled, and who entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. This verse shows that the nonretaliation Jesus taught was lived out in his own suffering, giving believers a pattern to follow when they are wronged.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 5:39
Father, you know how quickly my heart reaches for a sharp word or a way to win the argument when someone has hurt me. Teach me to pause before I answer, and to let your peace govern what I say and do. Where I am tempted to strike back, give me the courage to respond with truth and gentleness. Help me trust you with the justice I cannot secure myself, and make me a person who reflects your patience. Amen.
