Bob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 4:5

Bob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 4:5 - 4:7

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Bob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 4:5 - 4:7

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_4:5-7

⁵Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

'He will command His angels concerning You'; and

'On their hands they will bear You up,

So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.'"

⁷Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

Mat_4:5 "the devil" The Greek word, Diabolos, is used in the NT 37 times, while Satanas is used 36 times; both refer to one who accuses, which was his OT task. Matthew and Luke use diabolos for the temptation experience, while Mark uses Satanos. Why the change is uncertain. See hyperlink following.

hyperlink

▣ "took Him into the holy city" This phrase "the holy city" is unique to Matthew and was a special designation for Jerusalem (cf. Mat_27:53; Dan_9:24; Neh_11:1; Neh_11:18; Rev_11:2). Matthew knew the Jews would understand this immediately as an allusion from the OT (cf. Isa_48:2; Isa_52:10; Isa_64:10). The order of the temptation events in Matthew and Luke are different. The reason for this is uncertain. Possibly Matthew's account is chronological (" then"), while Luke's account restructures the order for climactic effect (" again").

NASB, NKJV,

NRSV     "had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple"

TEV      "set him on the highest point of the temple"

NJB      "set him on the parapet of the Temple"

" Parapet" or "pinnacle" may be literally translated "wing." This term could have meant (1) the outermost part of the Temple's southeast corner of the outer wall, which overlooked the Kidron Valley or (2) the part of Herod's Temple which overlooked the inner court. Because of the Jewish tradition that the Messiah was to appear suddenly in the Temple (cf. Mal_3:1), this tradition became one of Satan's temptations of how to win people's allegiance by performing a miracle of jumping off and floating into the Temple area, possibly during a feast day.

Mat_4:6 "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down" This is another first class conditional sentence which is assumed to be true from the author's perspective or for his purposes (cf. Mat_4:3). Satan quotes Psa_91:11-12. Some have asserted that Satan misquoted this verse. Although he left out "in all your ways," this quotation is in line with the Apostles'use of the OT Scripture. The problem was not that Satan was misquoting the verse, but was misapplying it.

Mat_4:7 "Jesus said to him" Mat_4:7 is a quote from Deu_6:16, which referred to Israel's testing God at Massah during the Wilderness Wandering Period (cf. Exo_17:1-7). Israel, at this point, did not trust God to provide her basic needs, but demanded a miracle. The pronoun "you" in the quote relates to Israel, not Satan (cf. Mat_4:10).

▣ "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test" The issue is the motive for the "test" (cf. 1Co_10:9 [Numbers 21]; Act_5:9; Act_15:10). Believers are called on to actively trust God's promises (i.e., Jos. 1:56; Isa_7:10-13; Mal_3:10).