You're called to be meek. That doesn't mean what you think it does.
Tracing the forgotten history of a noble virtue
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The knight is a man of blood and iron, a man familiar with the sight of smashed faces and the ragged stumps of lopped-off limbs; he is also a demure, almost maidenlike, guest in a hall, a gentle, modest, unobtrusive man. He is not compromise or happy mean between ferocity and meekness; he is fierce to the nth and meek to the nth. The man who combines both characters – the knight – is not a work of nature but of art; of that art which has human beings, instead of canvas or marble, for its medium.
― C.S. Lewis, The Necessity of Chivalry
A false understanding of meekness has left us wandering and confused.
Christians have experienced the removal of prayer from schools, have observed the erection of satanic statues in public spaces, and have been coerced into compromising their beliefs.
This retreat has filled many Christians with righteous anger, only to be met by pastors and priests advising passivity, claiming there is little to be done but to watch as evil flourishes. This call for inaction is often justified by a misinterpretation of the Christian virtue of meekness. Meekness, however, is not about passive acceptance of wrongdoing.
Instead, it signifies controlled strength and humility, much like the well-trained war horses of ancient Greece, powerful yet disciplined, ready to act with wisdom and courage.
To understand meekness, we must first explore its origin. The word “meek” is often misinterpreted as weakness or docility, but its true meaning is far more profound.
Our modern word ‘meek’ finds its origin in the Old Norse word mjukr, which means "soft, pliant, gentle.”1 ‘Gentle’ - the counterpart of meek - is derived from the Old French gentil/jentil which means, "high-born, worthy, noble, of good family; courageous, valiant; fine, good, fair.”2 Already, we see an interesting contrast emerge between the two terms. This contrast is indicative of the underlying complexity; neither of these words fully captures the Greek term used in Scripture.
In Greek, the word translated as meek and gentle is πραΰς (praus). We find the word “praus,” used four times in the New Testament (Matt 5:5; 11:29; 21:5; 1 Pet 3:4):
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. - Matthew 5:5
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. - Matthew 11:29
Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” - Matthew 21:5
Rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.” - 1 Peter 3:4
Xenophon, the ancient Greek historian, wrote The Art of Horsemanship around 355 BC. This was a time of transition on the Greek battlefield: a traditional reliance on hoplites was being challenged by increasingly excellent horsemen, particularly from Thessaly.
The Art of Horsemanship served as a manual for newly important questions regarding the selection and training of warhorses. Xenophon describes the ideal cavalry horse as:
The horse that is sound in his feet, gentle and fairly speedy, has the will and the strength to stand work, and, above all, is obedient.3
Xenophon uses the same word found in the New Testament, “gentle,” πραΰς (praus), which is rooted in the word πρᾳότης (praotēs), defined as displaying the right blend of force and reserve (gentleness). A more direct translation of praotēs would be "strength under control" or "one who avoids unnecessary harshness without compromising or being too slow to use necessary force."
For the Greeks, a praus animal was one that had been trained and domesticated, and was completely under control. There is no value in a warhorse that is weak, but rather one that can withstand the chaos of war while keeping its head, reserving its strength for the proper moment so as to turn the tide of battle.
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The early church had a complete understanding of what it meant for Christians to be meek. St. Ambrose writes:
Soften therefore your temper that you be not angry, at least that you be angry, and sin not. It is a noble thing to govern passion by reason; nor is it a less virtue to check anger, than to be entirely without anger, since one is esteemed the sign of a weak, the other of a strong, mind.4
In the Summa, St. Thomas Aquinas concurs regarding the view of meekness as a rational restraint on anger:
Consequently meekness, in so far as it restrains the onslaught of anger, concurs with clemency towards the same effect; yet they differ from one another, inasmuch as clemency moderates external punishment, while meekness properly mitigates the passion of anger.5
There is no better example of meekness in its totality than Christ himself, who exemplifies strength under control throughout the Gospels. Christ demonstrates the proper use of righteous anger when he chases the moneylenders out of the temple:
In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, with the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
- John 2:13-16
Christ’s response to those defiling his Father’s house is one of meekness. He does not rush into the temple when he hears word of what is taking place. Rather he takes his time braiding a whip and when he is done he enters the temple and turns over the tables and chases the moneylenders from the grounds. Once they flee, he does not give chase, or find them later on and enact vengeance. While confronting those responsible he uses only the amount of force necessary to clear them out and rectify the situation.
We see the other side of meekness in Christ when the Roman soldiers come to take him away.
When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
-Luke 22:49-51
Here, Christ exemplifies meekness through restraint, discerning that the situation does not warrant the use of force. Rather than reacting impulsively, he chooses the path of peace deliberately. His response stands in stark contrast to the disciples, who react with quick anger and violence, drawing swords and injuring a Roman soldier. Christ intervenes, instructing them to cease their actions, and proceeds to compassionately heal the wounded soldier, willingly submitting to capture.
In both instances, we witness the embodiment of Christian meekness in Christ's demeanor. His actions are far from indicative of frailty, fear, or weakness. When necessary, he acts with calculated resolve; when restraint and peaceful submission are appropriate, he demonstrates humility and self-control.
This portrayal of praus, as described by both Xenophon and Aristotle, underscores that meekness is not synonymous with weakness or passivity. Rather, it is a manifestation of righteous anger - a controlled and purposeful response. Therefore, meekness is not indifference, timidity, or acquiescence, but rather a strength tempered by ethical discernment and spiritual grounding.
“Thou wert the meekest man”, says Sir Ector to the dead Launcelot. “Thou wert the meekest man that ever ate in hall among ladies; and thou wert the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.”
- Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Artur
In medieval chivalry, knights upheld ideals that included not only valor and prowess in battle but also a refined understanding of meekness. Unlike our modern perception of meekness as weakness, knights practiced a disciplined restraint in the face of conflict, guided by principles of honor, justice, and mercy.
The virtue of meekness was evident in their ability to exercise strength with temperance, choosing diplomacy and peace whenever possible while reserving force for just causes. Their embodiment of meekness was part of their understanding of the Christian ideal which reflected a nuanced balance of power and humility, shaping their reputation as guardians of both physical and moral integrity in their communities.
C.S. Lewis understood the value of meekness. He saw that it placed a double demand on human nature: one cannot be meek if one is incapable of using force but, likewise, the man of strength cannot be meek unless he is restrained. Because of this, the virtue of meekness demands strength from the weak and humility from the strong.
If we cannot produce Launcelots, humanity falls into two sections—those who can deal in blood and iron but cannot be “meek in hall”, and those who are “meek in hall” but useless in battle—for the third class, who are both brutal in peace and cowardly in war, need not here be discussed. When this dissociation of the two halves of Launcelot occurs, history becomes a horribly simple affair. The ancient history of the Near East is like that. Hardy barbarians swarm down from their highlands and obliterate a civilization. Then they become civilized themselves and go soft. Then a new wave of barbarians comes down and obliterates them. Then the cycle begins over again. Modern machinery will not change this cycle; it will only enable the same thing to happen on a larger scale. Indeed, nothing much else can ever happen if the “stern” and the “meek” fall into two mutually exclusive classes. And never forget that this is their natural condition. The man who combines both characters—the knight—is a work not of nature but of art; of that art which has human beings, instead of canvas or marble, for its medium.
C.S. Lewis, The Necessity of Chivalry
Meekness does not use its power for its own defense or selfish purposes. It is not weakness but πραΰς, praus, gentleness. It describes the man whose temper is always under complete control. It means power with restraint.
The man of meekness knows when to be angry and when to silence his rage. He patiently bears the wrongs visited upon himself, yet is chivalrously ready to spring to the defense of others who are wronged. When he becomes angry, he is aroused by that which maligns God's Name or His work or is harmful to others, not by what is done against himself. And when he does demonstrate righteous anger, it is controlled and carefully directed, not a careless and wild release of emotion that hurts everyone who is near.
Praus is the warhorse, strong yet tame. Gentle is the knight who stands for those who cannot stand for themselves.
-TJS
“…The man who is praus is the man who is kindled by indignation at the wrongs and the sufferings of others, but is never moved to anger by the wrongs and the insults he himself has to bear.”
-William Barclay
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Etymonline. (n.d.). Meek. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 6/28/2024, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/meek
Etymonline. (n.d.). Gentle. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 6/28/2024, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/gentle#etymonline_v_6011
Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 7. E. C. Marchant, G. W. Bowersock, tr. Constitution of the Athenians. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William Heinemann, Ltd., London. 1925.
St. Ambrose, quoted in St. Thomas Aquinas’ Catena Aurea, as translated by St. John Henry Newman.
Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. Edited by Thomas Gilby, OP. 60 vols. Cambridge: Blackfriars, 1966. (ST II-II q.1, a.1.)
Meekness. So relevant, and lacking today.
Speaking out publicly is a powerful weapon against the lies. The pen's mightier than the sword, so here we all are together, ramping up the risks as we push back harder. I like to think we're all making a difference.
This is war. People being arrested for online posts, sharing memes, attending peaceful protests, etc. Some are even losing their lives. Billions of dollars being spent to sway perceptions both ways. A few memers and writers are a David to their Goliath.
I salute you all. Now carry on, meekly.
Wonderful, clear explanation. Thanks!