Abstract
This study investigates the social setting implied by the sayings regarding "turning the other cheek" found in Matthew, Luke, and the Didache. Upon closely examining Gerd Theissen's reconstruction, numerous reasons are offered for dismissing the notion that these texts were expected to offer householders practical guidance for dealing with Roman aggression or highway robbers. Beginning afresh with Matthew's identification of "enemies" as members of "one's own household" (Matt 10:36), the opening rules of the two-ways training manual of the Didache are investigated as providing a coherent alternative context for understanding the social setting of these texts. Herein "turning the other cheek" functions to equip new recruits to overcome the specific obstacles that their elders might fabricate to block their new religious commitments.
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