The third command, give his cheek to the smiter, recalls Isaiah 50.6: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard.” See also Job 16.10. This expression is an idiom and will require adjustment in many languages. The sense is to submit, to accept without striking back. (Note also “turn … the other cheek,” Matt 5.39.) The translator must decide if offering the cheek to the enemy carries the intended meaning, namely, accepting mistreatment and insults. If it does not, and no equivalent saying is available, it is often necessary to say, for example, “He should accept bad treatment and insults.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on Lamentations. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .