| Matthew 4:6 | |
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← 4:5 4:7 → | |
 Duccio's depiction of the temptation on the temple | |
| Book | Gospel of Matthew |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Matthew 4:6 is the sixth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus has just rebuffed "the tempter's" first temptation; in this verse, the devil presents Jesus with a second temptation while they are standing on the pinnacle of the temple in the "holy city" (Jerusalem).
In the King James Version of the Bible, the text reads:
The World English Bible translates the passage as:
The 1881 Westcott-Hort Greek text is:
For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 4:6
As with Matthew 4:3, Satan is not doubting that Jesus is the Son of God but rather is stating that he should do these things because he is the Son of God. Satan here is trying to convince Jesus to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple because God has promised that he will not be hurt. To advance this temptation the devil quotes scripture, something Swiss theologian Eduard Schweizer sees as an escalation over the first temptation. [1]
The verse quoted is taken from the eleventh and twelfth verses of Psalm 91. In the KJV, those verses read:
The quotation omits the line "to guard you in all your ways". Robert Gundry notes that the original wording makes it clear that God is promising only to protect from accidents, not from deliberate acts such as the one Satan is proposing. [2]
The exact evil Satan is trying to induce in this verse is open to debate. The traditional view was that the temptation narrative was one of rejecting sin and this test was simply Satan luring Jesus with the sin of hubris. Most modern scholars reject this view of the temptation. A view that was popular for a time was that the three temptation sequences each represent Jesus rejecting one vision of what the Messiah should be. In this verse Satan tries to convince him that he should be a magician and miracle worker who wins converts by his spectacular acts. Gundry notes that the choice of the Temple as a setting is evidence for this theory. There are many precipices in the wilderness, that Satan brings him to the top of the temple implies that the miraculous rescue would be a very public act. [3] A view that is in vogue today is that Satan is placing before Jesus the same pitfalls that the Jewish people fell into during the period after Exodus. In the desert the Israelites attempted to test God and Satan is proposing that Jesus do the same. This interpretation fits most closely with Jesus' response to this temptation in the next verse.
Jerome: "In the several temptations the single aim of the Devil is to find if He be the Son of God, but he is so answered as at last to depart in doubt; He says, Cast thyself, because the voice of the Devil, which is always calling men downwards, has power to persuade them, but may not compel them to fall." [4]
Pseudo-Chrysostom: "How does he expect to discover by this proposition whether He be the Son of God or not? For to fly through the air is not proper to the Divine nature, for it is not useful to any. If then any were to attempt to fly when challenged to it, he would be acting from ostentation, and would so belong rather to the Devil than to God. If it is enough to a wise man to be what he is, and he has no wish to seem what he is not, how much more should the Son of God hold it not necessary to show what He is; He of whom none can know so much as He is in Himself?" [4]
Ambrose: "But as Satan transfigures himself into an Angel of light, and spreads a snare for the faithful, even from the divine Scriptures, so now he uses its texts, not to instruct but to receive." [4]
Jerome: "This verse we read in the ninetieth Psalm (Ps. 91:11.), but that is a prophecy not of Christ, but of some holy man, so the Devil interprets Scripture amiss." [4]
Pseudo-Chrysostom: "For the Son of God in truth is not borne of Angels, but Himself bears them, or if He be borne in their arms, it is not from weakness, lest He dash His foot against a stone, but for the honour. O thou Devil, thou hast read that the Son of God is borne in Angels’ arms, hast thou not also read that He shall tread upon the asp and basilisk? But the one text he brings forward as proud, the other he omits as crafty." [4]
Chrysostom: "Observe that Scripture is brought forward by the Lord only with an apt meaning, but by the Devil irreverently; for that where it is written, He shall give his Angels charge over thee, is not an exhortation to cast Himself headlong." [4]
Glossa Ordinaria: "We must explain thus; Scripture says of any good man, that He has given it in charge to His Angels, that is to His ministering spirits, to bear him in their hands, i. e. by their aid to guard him that he dash not his foot against a stone, i. e. keep his heart that it stumble not at the old law written in tables of stone. Or by the stone may be understood every occasion of sin and error." [4]
Rabanus Maurus: "though our Saviour suffered Himself to be placed by the Devil on a pinnacle of the temple, yet refused to come down also at his command, giving us an example, that whosoever bids us ascend the strait way of truth we should obey. But if he would again cast us down from the height of truth and virtue to the depth of error we should not hearken to him." [4]
Jerome: "The false Scripture darts of the Devil He brands with the true shield of Scripture." [4]
Matthew 1:21 is the twenty-first verse of the first chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Joseph is being spoken to in a dream by an angel. In this verse, the angel tells Joseph to call the child "Jesus", "because he will save his people from their sins".
Matthew 2:6 is the sixth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The magi have informed King Herod that they had seen portents showing the birth of the King of the Jews. Herod has asked the leading Jewish religious figures about how to find out where Jesus was to be born. In this verse they tell him by quoting from the Book of Micah.
Matthew 4:1 is the first verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse opens the section in Matthew dealing with the temptation of Christ by Satan. Jesus has just been baptized by John the Baptist; in this verse he is led out into the wilderness.
Matthew 4:2 is the second verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse is just preceding the section in Matthew dealing with the temptation of Christ by Satan. Jesus has been led out into the wilderness, and in this verse he fasts.
Matthew 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament of Christian Bible. Many translations of the gospel and biblical commentaries separate the first section of chapter 4 from the remaining sections, which deal with Jesus' first public preaching and the gathering of his first disciples.
Matthew 4:3 is the third verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse opens the section in Matthew dealing with the temptation of Christ by Satan. Jesus has been fasting for forty days and forty nights, and in this verse the devil gives Christ his first temptation by encouraging him to use his powers to get food.
Matthew 4:4 is the fourth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus, who has been fasting in the desert, has just been tempted by Satan to make bread from stones to relieve his hunger, and in this verse he rejects this idea.
Matthew 4:5 is the fifth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus has just rebuffed Satan's first temptation, and in this verse the devil transports him to the site of the second temptation.
Matthew 4:7 is the seventh verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Satan has transported Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple of Jerusalem and told Jesus that he should throw himself down, as God in Psalm 91 promised that no harm would befall him. In this verse, Jesus quotes scripture to rebuff the devil.
Matthew 4:9 is the ninth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It is part of the Temptation of Christ narrative. Jesus has rebuffed two earlier temptations by Satan. In this verse, Satan offers control of the world to Jesus if he agrees to worship him.
Matthew 4:10 is the tenth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus has rebuffed two earlier temptations by Satan. The devil has thus transported Jesus to the top of a great mountain and offered him control of the world to Jesus if he agrees to worship him. In this verse, Jesus rejects this temptation.
Matthew 4:11 is the eleventh verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus has just rebuffed Satan's third temptation and ordered him away. In this last verse of the temptation scene, the devil departs and Jesus is serviced by angels.
Matthew 5:22 is the twenty-second verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. It is the first of what have traditionally been known as the 6 Antitheses. In this one, Jesus compares the current interpretation of "You shall not murder" from the Ten Commandments with his own interpretation.
Matthew 5:25 is the twenty-fifth verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. In this first of the 6 Antitheses Jesus has been attacking anger and advocating reconciliation. In this verse he states that it is prudential to quickly reach agreement with one's adversary.
Matthew 5:33 is the thirty-third verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This verse is the opening of the fourth antithesis, beginning the discussion of oaths.
The temptation of Christ is a biblical narrative detailed in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was tempted by the devil after 40 days and nights of fasting in the Judaean Desert. At the time, Satan came to Jesus and tried to tempt him. Jesus having refused each temptation, Satan then departed and Jesus returned to Galilee to begin his ministry. During this entire time of spiritual battle, Jesus was fasting.
Matthew 7:21 is the twenty-first verse of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This verse continues Jesus' warning against false prophets.
Matthew 8:2 is the second verse of the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse begins the miracle story of Jesus cleansing a leper, the first of a series of miracles in Matthew.
Matthew 8:29 is the 29th verse in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.
Matthew 15:3-6 is a set of verses in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .| Preceded by Matthew 4:5 | Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4 | Succeeded by Matthew 4:7 |
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