By: Gen. Jim – 8/26/25
There are 4 Greek words that describe/define “Resist”:
1) Anthistēmi, 2) Antikathistēmi, 3) Antitassō, 4) Antipiptō.
Stephen’s speech before the high priest (Acts 7:1,2) accused the Jews, especially the Jewish leadership, of being “stiffnecked & uncircumcised in heart & ears, ye always RESIST the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye,” vs.41, KJV.
Here we find the Gk. word antipiptō (#4), literally, & primarily, to fall against or upon (anti, against, piptō, to fall(, then, to strive against, resist, is used in Acts 7:51. It also means to oppose.
Since Acts 7:51 is the negative – resisting the H.G., should we not RESIST evil, Satan & his demons?
Anthistēmi (#1)
(ἀνθίστημι), means “to set against”, used in the Middle (or Passive) Voice & in the intransitive 2nd aorist & perfect Active, signifying to “withstand, oppose, resist”, is trans. “to resist in Mt. 5:39: “But I say unto you, ‘That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Mt. 5:39, KJV. People have a hard time with this Jesus saying.
Take note: Jesus did not say we must keep turning our cheeks to be slapped over & over. He said it not in the plural, but singular.
We live in a time when if you are Christian, SLAP! If you are conservative, SLAP! If you are not PC or Woke, SLAP! If you have the least bit of morals, SLAP! The slapping goes on & on.
But what did Jesus actually mean here? Many believe that He meant, “Do not resist through violent means of self-defense.” The KJV has, “That ye resist not evil.” But is the KJV correct? It first appears that He is telling us not to resist evil (in any form). The RSV reads: “Do not resist one who is evil.” The NIV: “Do not resist an evil person.” The ASV: “Resist not him that is evil.” The Moffat translation: “you are not to resist an injury.” The Phi.: “don’t resist the man who wants to harm you.” The Amp.: “Do not resist an evil person (who insults you or violates your rights.”
All these appear to be personal, not general.
Jesus’ Day
Remember, the world of Jesus’ day was under the law of retaliation = “eye for an eye”. The Mosaic law, the code of Hammurabi, & the Roman law all required that the wrongdoer should get as good as he gave! In Jesus’ day the equivalent in money was exacted by the courts as recompense for injury, & that practice may have represented some advance: it placed restraints on private retaliation or clan vengeance. But the principle remained, & the law of the kingdom took direct issue with it: Jesus here (Mt. 5:39) proposes a gentle revolution. In His day, a slap on the right cheek was an insult – with the back of the hand, so that the palm of the hand could return with a blow on the left cheek.
Do NOT Resist!
We live in a time when violence is the “norm”! Road rage alone has increased over the years, not to mention crime of every type. Most scholars believe Jesus meant self-defense… one who is evil (RSV) is, they believe, is correct; not evil in the abstract (KJV). The saying is an illustration of how a right-minded person will act, not a rule to be interpreted legally. Some believe & say, Jesus’ saying has no prudential motive of any kind. For sure, Jesus did not teach to be passive against evil itself. Trust me, we’ve been slapped & slapped & slapped, and it takes a lot of restraint not to slap back. I know when a certain ex-member sued us for 20 million dollars (1980s) and made up lies, we were told by the Spirit not to fight this in the courts. People in Sacramento, CA thought we had LOST our minds! God’s Spirit told us to default. We did & we lost all 4 houses (which made up Fort Freedom). Yep! We obeyed. We did not fight in the courts. Yep! We were slapped on both cheeks.
Did not Jesus set the example for us? Yet, He did resist the devil /demons / evil men’s attack on His Divinity. But he never slapped anyone. He was justified if He had though. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter (Acts 8:32). We too will be accounted as sheep for the slaughter (Rom. 8:36) Jesus was a passive-aggressive man. He knew when to RESIST & when to bow down. All this is debated of course. Some believe we’re to never to resist evil in any form. The other extreme is to fight, even kill!
In our humanity, we prefer to “fight back” Man’s human concern for justice is never pure: this is why we need the mind of Christ. Our humanity is subtly (and not so subtle) entangled with vindictiveness and revenge. Christ warns against our revenge – revenge belongs to Him (see my articles). Do we really need to injure the one or ones who have wronged us?
In our humanness we tend to recoil at not defending our reputations, even our person. Americans have to “get back!” Our everyday “morality” flatly contradicts such things as turn the other cheek, we want to fight back! I’ve done enough Bible study to know that vengeance belongs to God. (see Ps. 94:1; Lev. 19:18; Pt. 32:35 & Rom. 12:19). Yet there may be a time when the Spirit may allow us to take vengeance, e.g., Ezek. 25:14: “I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, that they may do in Edom according to My anger & according to My fury; & they shall know My vengeance, says the LORD God.” Isa. 11 reads: “… Judah (vs.13)… shall fly down (vs.14)… they shall plunder (vs.14)… They shall lay their hand on Edom & Moab (vs.14)… The LORD will utterly destroy (vs.15)…”
Under normal circumstances, vengeance was the LORD’s: “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself…” – Lev. 19:18. In Deut. 32:25 we read: “Vengeance is Mine, & recompense; their (Israel’s enemies) foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, & the things to come hasten upon them.” Note vs.39: “… I kill & I make alive; I wound & I heal.”
(2) Antikathistēmi, “to stand firm against (anti, against, kathistēmi, to set down, kata) is trans. “ye have (not) resisted” in Heb. 12:4. (see the O.T. Gk., Dt. 31:21; Josh. 5:7; Mic. 2:8.
(3) Antitassō, tasso = to arrange, originally a military term, to range in battle against & frequently so found in the papyri, is used in the Middle Voice signifying to set oneself against, resist, (a) of men, e.g. Acts 18:6, where the KJV uses the word “opposed”; elsewhere “to resist”, of resisting human potentates, e.g., Rom. 13:2, another debated text: “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God…” I have written on this, “who do we obey, God or man?” – posted. Romans 13 deals with the Christian as a citizen; do we RESIST a wicked/godless power or submit to it? Do we give allegiance to the wicked one in power – such as Nero when this was written? My stand, hence, “Join the Anti-Resistance Movement”, meaning resisting those who resist God’s moral laws etc. A good case-in-point is the LGBTQ Movement, which resists God’s laws. We should stand against (anti) their resistance, their movement, without violating God in any way.
Let me be clear: I do not believe physical violence should be used. In short, we’re not to take private vengeance physically, even when they do – and they do! When this epistle was written, (Romans) Rome was hostile towards Christianity (as J. Biden’s admin. was before Trump became prez of the U.S.). There is just too much to cover in Rom. 13 right now.
Christianity in Paul’s day was considered by both Judaism & Rome as a new dangerous cult/religion. It was ipso facto an illegal religion. But Paul recognized Rome as a power that God ordained (to rule non-Christians) I am sure Paul had a struggle with giving honor (13:7) to such an anti-Christ government, as we here in America have when an evil prez is in power (such as past leaders, e.g., Clinton, Obama, Biden). Did you know God RESISTS? (Ja. 4:6 et al.) (see also Ja. 5:6) The overall principle in the gospels/epistles is to let God take vengeance – leave persistent evildoers to pursue their own self-determined course, with eventual retribution (1 Pet. 5:5).
(4) Atipiptō, already looked at in Acts 7:51.
Resist Him!
Who? “Be so sober, be vigilant; because your (our) adversary the devil… seeking whom he may devour. RESIST HIM, steadfast in the faith.” – 1 Pet. 5:8,9.
What if we do not remain steadfast in the faith?
Satan is to be RESISTED, no questions asked. Do it!
Do you think today’s Church is resisting him?, seeing it is drunk on the things of the world… drunken on the cares of this life, unwatchful. We are to resist the “resister of morality”; this nation is SPLIT/DIVIDED over who to serve and what laws of conduct & morality to live by.