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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 6:29 - 6:29
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29. ἐπὶ τὴν σιαγόνα. Literally, on the jaw—perhaps to imply coarse and brutal violence.
πάρεχε καὶ τὴν ἄλλην. The general principle “resist not evil” (Mat 5:39; 1Co 6:7; 1Pe 2:19-23) impressed for ever on the memory and conscience of mankind by a striking paradox. That it is only meant as a paradox in its literal sense is shewn by the fact that our Lord Himself, while most divinely true to its spirit, did not act on the letter of it (Joh 18:22-23). The remark of a good man on reading the Sermon on the Mount, “either this is not true, or we are no Christians,” need not be correct of any of us. The precepts are meant, St Augustine said, more “ad praeparationem cordis quae intus est” than “ad opus quod in aperto fit;” but still, the fewer exceptions we make the better, and the more absolutely we apply the spirit of the rules, the fewer difficulties shall we find about the letter. Erasmus remarks that the sudden change of number from the plural to the singular makes the command more emphatically individual. Our Lord enunciates the principle and abstains from laying down the limitation which His hearers in all ages are eager to make.
τὸ ἱμάτιον … τὸν χιτῶνα. The himation was the upper garment, the shawl-like abba; the chitôn was the tunic. See on Luk 3:11.