The
Right Cheek. Jesus illustrates his general
principle with three examples of nondefensive behavior. First he describes an
unambiguous affront, “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek” (5:39). Two
points need to be noted: First, the Hebrew scriptures commonly describe this
insult to head and face, either the striking of a cheek (1 Kings 22:24; Job 16:10;
Isa. 50:6; Micah 5:1; 1 Esdras 4:30) or the breaking of teeth (Pss. 3:7; 58:6).
All would readily understand the meaning of this gesture. Second, Greco-Roman as
well as Jewish culture interpreted the slap on the face as an “extreme
humiliation” (Betz 1995:289), in other words, an “insult” rather than an “injury”
(see Lam. 3:30). Thus was Jesus shamed during his trials when his face was
struck (Mark 14:65; Luke 22:65; John 18:22).
Why
the right cheek and not the left one? Commentators note that the striking of
the right cheek may mean a slap either with the back of the hand or with
the left hand (Luz 1989:325). A left-handed slap adds insult because that hand
is unclean by virtue of his use for toilet purposes. A backhanded slap also
adds insult, for m. Baba Qamma 8:6 requires a double penalty as
satisfaction for it. Moreover, the Mishnaic text notes an honor factor in the
retribution: “This is the general rule: all is in accordance with a person’s
honour.”
The
situation here implies that the disciple is receiving a challenge in the most
insulting form possible. In the face of such honor challenges, Jesus tells the
disciple “turn to him the other also.” Betz interprets the turning of the other
cheek as “a highly provocative challenge” (1995:290). If we are reading this
scene correctly in terms of the choreography of the typical honor-shame dynamics,
then Jesus requires his disciples to step apart completely from the nor game:
they may not offer any riposte or defense of their honor when challenged. To
offer a “highly provocative challenge” misses the point; disciples simply may
not play the game; they are not in any way seeking to win, even by passive aggression.
On this point Strecker seems more culturally attuned: “The one struck is to
offer the other cheek also, as proof of unreserved compliance that seeks
neither to preserve one’s own honor nor to maintain one’s position of power”
(Strecker 1988:83-84). (Jerome H. Neyrey, Honor and Shame in
the Gospel of Matthew [Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998],
204-5)