Cheek

Smiting a person on the cheek was regarded in the ancient Near East as a deliberate act of humiliation and grievous insult, beyond ordinary assault. Job describes his enemies striking his cheek in contempt (Job 16:10), and Lamentations 3:30 portrays the suffering servant giving his cheek to those who strike him. Micah prophesied that a ruler of Israel would be struck on the cheek (Mic. 5:1). These passages form the background for Jesus's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount: if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matt. 5:39; Luke 6:29) — a command understood not as passive acceptance of injustice but as a refusal to answer insult with retaliation, reflecting the spirit of Isaiah's Suffering Servant who gave his back to those who strike (Isa. 50:6).