Cheeks

Literally, the parts either side of the face. Striking the cheek is an extreme form of insult.

Cheeks as features of beauty

Song of Solomon 1:10 See also Song of Solomon 5:13

Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.

Cheeks can bear symbols of grief

Lamentations 1:2

She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

Striking the cheek is a form of insult or challenge

Job 16:10; Matthew 5:39 See also Lamentations 3:30; Micah 5:1; Matthew 26:67; John 18:22–23; Luke 6:29

They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.

But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;

Plucking the beard from the cheek is a form of insult

Isaiah 50:6 See also 2 Samuel 10:4–5 parallel 1 Chronicles 19:4–5

I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.