Matt.

5:33-42
Sid Sudiacal

Much ink has been spilled on Matt. 5:39 and what it means. The NRSV renders this verse

as “but I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn

the other also.” Does this mean that we should let injustice roll on like a river? Does this verse

teach us non-resistance? How does this verse apply to us now?

Retribution is not the answer. This much is clear from the passage. France comment that

“in place of the principle of retribution he sets non-resistance; in place of the defense of legal

rights he sets uncalculating generosity.”1 He also acknowledges that it is easy to dismiss Jesus’

words as utopian and unrealistic. However, what is important is to ask ourselves how to apply

this verse in our current context.2

But, is France right in claiming that instead of retribution, Jesus talks about non-

resistance? This is the usual interpretation of this passage. However, Betz argues that the word

ανθιστημι should not be translated as resistance. Instead, it should be translated as retaliation.3

“If ‘resist’ is the correct rendering,” Betz continues, “does it imply that the Christian

exclude any form of self-defense or self-protection? Are all forms of prevention, avoidance, or

other means of combating evil prohibited?”4 This is the question that we must pose to ourselves

if resist is the correct rendering.

If “one may understand retaliation in antiquity as well as today to consist of

indiscriminate revenge motivated by irrational rage or passion; one may also distinguish it from
1
France, The Gospel of Matthew, 218.
2
France, The Gospel of Matthew, 218.
3
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 280.
4
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 280.
reasoned judicial punishment or other legal responses.”5 In “ethical terms, retaliation means to

‘return evil with evil.’”6 This means that retaliation is something to be avoided at all costs.

Retaliation goes against everything that Jesus stood for or proclaimed while he was on earth.

However, non-resistance is very different from non-retaliation. Betz concludes that

the meaning of the controversial command μὴ ὰντιστηωαι (“Do not retaliate”) is not to
recommend an attitude of resignation and defeatism concerning evil or a principled self-
surrender to all kinds of villains. Rather, what is commanded is not non-violence in
general but desistance from retaliation in specific instances.7
If we understand Jesus’ words as a call to desist from retaliation, then it clarifies and provides us

with new lens to view Jesus’ actions at the Temple. Mark’s account of Jesus overturning the

tables is not seen as antithetical to his message of “non-resistance” but is in definite keeping with

his message of “non-retaliation.”

Tilborg opines that “the idea of submissiveness can only arise if one isolates Matthew’s

text from its immediate context.”8 He goes on to say that “this does not look very historical.”9

The question still lingers: “how do we deal with people who do not respect the Torah and who

enter our lives with their evil?”10 Tilborg responds by saying that “the true answer is: do not

return evil for evil.” Amidst the controversy of figuring out what this verse means, we cannot

ultimately forget about the answer it posits.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

5
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 281.
6
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 281.
7
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 284.
8
Tilborg, The Sermon on the Mount as an Ideological Intervention : A Reconstruction of Meaning, 72.
9
Tilborg, The Sermon on the Mount as an Ideological Intervention : A Reconstruction of Meaning, 72.
10
Tilborg, The Sermon on the Mount as an Ideological Intervention : A Reconstruction of Meaning, 75.
Betz, Hans Dieter, and Adela Yarbro Collins. The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the
Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke
6:20-49). Hermeneia--a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1995.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew. The New International Commentary on the New
Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2007.

Tilborg, Sjef van. The Sermon on the Mount as an Ideological Intervention : A Reconstruction of
Meaning. Assen/Maastricht, the Netherlands ; Wolfeboro, N.H., U.S.A.: Van Gorcum,
1986.