I heard it first from Jordan Peterson, but this Quora answer goes into more detail, including contemporary uses of the Greek word 'praus'. I like how it's use to describe a war horse.:---------------------------------------------------------
"Are only weak pacifists going to inherit the Earth? Does this mean that all pacifists, regardless of their faith, religious beliefs, or other actions going to get to heaven?
This quote comes from Jesus’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’ found in Matthew 5:5.
Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Interlinear. Chapter 5, verse 5 reads: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
Definition of the word meek:
The Greek word praus, translated here as meek, can also be translated as gentle, humble, or mild. As indicated by HELPS Word Studies, “This difficult-to-translate root (pra-) means more than "meek." Biblical meekness is not weakness but rather refers to exercising God's strength under His control – i.e. demonstrating power without undue harshness. [The English term "meek" often lacks this blend – i.e. of gentleness (reserve) and strength.]” — As we can see, meekness doesn’t mean weakness, but rather a different characteristic altogether. Let’s explore a little more to fully understand this word further.
Other uses of the word meek in the Bible:
It is helpful to view this use of “meek” by comparing it with the other places it is used in the Bible. It is only used 4 times, 3 of those are in the Book of Matthew.
In Matthew 11:29, Jesus calls Himself meek. He says: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” By taking Jesus’s yoke (a harness used to attach one younger animal to another more experienced animal) we are borrowing from Jesus’s strength. He is, in effect, offering to help carry our burdens. Certainly this cannot mean He is weak, as He is strong enough to help us to the point that we can rest now, and his meekness is the very reason He is helping us carry our burden.
In Matthew 21:5, Jesus says He will present Himself as the Messiah by being meek. He accomplishes this by riding into down on a donkey, which is a uncomfortable, lowly act that only a feeble person unable to walk would need to do, while also fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 62 that the Messiah would do this. Contrast this with Matthew 7:21 where Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” — So here we see that Jesus’s meekness mustn’t be about weakness, but rather a balance of both his gentleness and his strength.
In 1 Peter 3:4, Christian wives are told not to focus on their external beauty as much as on their inner hearts, to have a meek and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight. One of the ways wives are told to accomplish this is through their submission to their husbands (v5–6). Likewise, (v7) husbands are commanded to live with their wives in a similar way showing understanding and honor to them. The remainder of chapter 3 and all of 4 describe how every Christian is to submit to Jesus.
We can see this common trend throughout scripture: Jesus submitting to the Father in the same meek way, that the wive is to submit to her husband, and every Christian submitting to God in meekness. It is not the lack of strength but rather the surrender of the strength that one does possess to another for the right reasons.
The Greek War Horse - Understanding How We, Too, Can Be Meek
The New Testament was written in Greek so it is helpful to understand how other Greek writings, written at this time, used these same words. The word praus, "meekness," means "power under control." Praus was used often by the Greeks to describe a war horse that was trained to obey instantly and absolutely, no matter how great the confusion during battle.
When the Greeks could take a horse, with incredible power and strength that can propel a thousand-pound animal at speeds over 35 miles an hour, and bring that magnificent animal under the total control of just a touch—maybe just leg pressure or knee pressure—and have that horse do exactly what the rider wanted, then they called that horse praus.
The horse is certainly not weak. It has incredible strength! But in order for both the horse and the rider to survive during war the horse must not hinder or even second-guess the rider’s directions. It must trust completely in the rider and surrender fully and obey it at all times. This is what God wants from us. The meek shall inherit the Earth because they will be the people who have died to self and surrendered their lives over to Jesus. They will be those who didn’t live in their own strength, and go their own direction, but rather trusted completely in the Lord Jesus and in the direction that He wants them to go in."
