Moreover why does he say "but?"
He says "I know you've been told... but." What does the "but" mean?
Because when people say "eye for eye" they interpret that as "Sinners can hit Victims" too.
When he says BUT, it means he is adding additional understanding: "whoever
strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also". So then that makes people THINK. "Who is allowed to STRIKE who, ACCORDING TO The Torah?"
You have to go back to The Torah for the answer. He used the word "strike" for a reason
Didn't you justify his physical abuse of his first wife for just that reason? She said mean words at him and he got offended?
Mean words were involved, BUT the situation was not limited to him simply being
offended. She put him under deep psychological distress being involved with drug dealers. She tried burning him with a cigarette too.
The passage or indeed the entire sermon wasn't about restitution. It was about not getting tangled up with evil people and embroiled in their drama, and how to lead a righteous life.
Literally immediately before saying it, he said "do not resist the one who is evil."
So clearly he's not speaking to 'the one who is evil'. He would have said, evil doers, who hit people, let them hit you back twice, only in greek, if that's what he meant. But clearly he didn't.
You have no proof of your off the wall, turning your own Messiah's words on his head other than that it's what you WANT it to say.
It all goes back to The Torah
"17 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the
Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a
yud or a stroke will pass from the
Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these
mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the
Torah-teachers and
P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!" (Matthew 5:17-20)
Okay but what about what Jesus said? You haven't addressed that. What does Jesus mean when he says "turn the other cheek?" I'm not asking about other Bible passages.
It's very simple. The Messiah was teaching the proper understanding of The Torah. When you read his words through the lens of The Torah, you can understand.
“Don’t think that I have come to abolish the
Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a
yud or a stroke will pass from the
Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these
mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the
Torah-teachers and
P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!" (matthew 5:17-20)