Bible Strands
Matthew 5:40
if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses his disciples and the crowds during the Sermon on the Mount, instructing them on how to respond to personal injury and legal demands. He frames this teaching immediately after commanding non-retaliation for physical assault.
The words — The text highlights θελόντι (thelonti), meaning "willing," and χιτῶνα (chitōna), meaning "tunic." These terms specify the voluntary nature of the surrender and the inner garment typically worn next to the skin.
The thread — This instruction parallels the legal and physical surrender commands in Luke 6:29 and informs Paul's warning against internal litigation in 1 Corinthians 6:7. The motif of voluntary surrender to legal or physical demands recurs in these passages.
Why it lands — The text commands a reader to voluntarily surrender legal claims and material possessions rather than contest them. It requires the reader to abandon self-advocacy in favor of unresisting generosity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Cross-references
- Luke 6:29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.
- 1 Corinthians 6:7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?