Matthew 4:1 ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 4:1-11

We have here the story of a famous duel, fought hand to hand, between Michael and the dragon, the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, nay, the serpent himself; in which the seed of the woman suffers, being tempted, and so has his heel bruised; but the serpent is quite baffled in his temptations, and so has his head broken; and our Lord Jesus comes off a Conqueror, and so secures not only comfort, but conquest at last, to all his faithful followers. Concerning Christ's temptation,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

Step by step Matthew unfolds the story of Jesus. He begins by showing us how Jesus was born into this world. He goes on to show us, at least by implication, that Jesus had to perform faithfully his duties to his home before he began on his duty to the world, that he had to show himself faithful in the smaller tasks before God gave to him the greatest task in all the world. He goes on to show us how, with the emergence of John the Baptist, Jesus knew that the hour had struck. and that the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had deliberately gone without food for forty days and forty nights he was hungry. So the tempter came and said to him, "If you really are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread." He answered: "It stands written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds through the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

There are certain further things we must note before we proceed to detailed study of the story of the temptations. (i) All three gospel writers seem to stress the immediacy with which the temptations followed the baptism of Jesus. As Mark has it: "The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness" ( Mark 1:12 ). It is one of the truths of life that after every great moment there comes a moment of reaction--and again and again it is in the reaction that the danger lies. That is... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

The tempter launched his attack against Jesus along three lines, and in every one of them there was a certain inevitability. (i) There was the temptation to turn the stones into bread. The desert was littered with little round pieces of limestone rock which were exactly like little loaves; even they would suggest this temptation to Jesus. This was a double temptation. It was a temptation to Jesus to use his powers selfishly and for his own use, and that is precisely what Jesus always... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 4:1

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit ,.... The Evangelist having finished his account of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ; of his ministry and baptism; and particularly of the baptism of Christ; when the Holy Ghost came down upon him in a visible and eminent manner; whereby he was anointed for his public work, according to Isaiah 61:1 proceeds to give a narration of his temptations by Satan, which immediately followed his baptism; and of those conflicts he had with the enemy of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 4:1

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit - This transaction appears to have taken place immediately after Christ's baptism; and this bringing up of Christ was through the influence of the Spirit of God; that Spirit which had rested upon him in his baptism. To be tempted - The first act of the ministry of Jesus Christ was a combat with Satan. Does not this receive light from Genesis 3:17 . I will put enmity between the woman's seed and thy seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 4:1

Verse 1 Matthew 4:1.Then Jesus was led. There were two reasons why Christ withdrew into the wilderness. The first was, that, after a fast of forty days, he might come forth as a new man, or rather a heavenly man, to the discharge of his office. The next was, that he might be tried by temptation and undergo an apprenticeship, before he undertook an office so arduous, and so elevated. Let us therefore learn that, by the guidance of the Spirit, Christ withdrew from the crowd of men, in order that... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:1

Then ; temporal. Mark, "and straightway." Immediately after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him. Was led up . into the wilderness. Up (Matthew only); from the Jordan valley into the higher country round (cf. Joshua 16:1 ), in this case into the desert ( Matthew 3:1 ). There is nothing told us by which we may identify the place, but as the scene of the temptation must have been near the scene of the baptism, namely, on the west side of Jordan ( Matthew 3:1 , note), it may be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:1

Christ tempted. The very fact that Christ was subject to temptation is immensely significant, both as regards his nature and life and as regards our experience of temptation. I. THE PICTURE OF CHRIST . We see him assailed by the tempter, wrestling with the fiend, and flinging the monster at every bout. Jesus tempted in the wilderness appears Very different from the Christ seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Here some remarkable features of his nature and work are... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 4:1-11

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 4:1

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 4:1

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 4:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:1

Group of Brands