Matthew 4:1-11

Analysis (4:1-11).

a Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterward hungered (Matthew 4:1-2).

b And the Tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matthew 4:3).

c But he answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

b Then the devil takes him into the holy city, and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and says to him, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge concerning you,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest it happen that you dash your foot against a stone’ ” (Matthew 4:5-6).

c Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not make trial of the Lord your God’ ” (Matthew 4:7).

b Again, the devil takes him to an extremely high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and he said to him, “All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8-9).

c Then says Jesus to him, “Get you hence, Satan, for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’ ” (Matthew 4:10).

a Then the devil leaves him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him (Matthew 4:11).

Note that following the patterns used in the Pentateuch threefold events are treated in sequence within a chiasmus (see for example our commentary on Numbers 22:15-40; Numbers 22:41 to Numbers 24:13). In ‘a’ He goes into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil, and hungers, and in the parallel the Devil leaves Him, having been defeated, and the angels minister to Him. And then follows a threefold pattern of attack and riposte, (b and c) with Jesus each time citing Deuteronomy.