St Matthew Chapter IV : Verses 1-11
Contents
- Matt. iv. 1-11 Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate)
- Notes on text
- Additional Notes
Matt. iv. 1-11
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| The first temptation. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Tunc Jesus ductus est in desertum a Spiritu, ut tentaretur a diabolo.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry.
Et cum jejunasset quadraginta diebus, et quadraginta noctibus, postea esuriit.
3 And the tempter coming said to him: If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Et accedens tentator dixit ei : Si Filius Dei es, dic ut lapides isti panes fiant.
4 Who answered and said: It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.
Qui respondens dixit : Scriptum est : Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in omni verbo, quod procedit de ore Dei.
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| The second temptation. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Tunc assumpsit eum diabolus in sanctam civitatem, et statuit eum super pinnaculum templi,
6 And said to him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written: That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone.
et dixit ei : Si Filius Dei es, mitte te deorsum. Scriptum est enim : Quia angelis suis mandavit de te, et in manibus tollent te, ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum.
7 Jesus said to him: It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Ait illi Jesus : Rursum scriptum est : Non tentabis Dominum Deum tuum.
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| The third temptation. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Iterum assumpsit eum diabolus in montem excelsum valde : et ostendit ei omnia regna mundi, et gloriam eorum,
9 And said to him: All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me.
et dixit ei : Hæc omnia tibi dabo, si cadens adoraveris me.
10 Then Jesus saith to him: Begone, Satan: for it is written, The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve.
Tunc dicit ei Jesus : Vade Satana : Scriptum est enim : Dominum Deum tuum adorabis, et illi soli servies.
11 Then the devil left him; and behold angels came and ministered to him.
Tunc reliquit eum diabolus : et ecce angeli accesserunt, et ministrabant ei.
Notes
1. Then Jesus was led. Lit. “was led up ” — i.e. from the valley of the Jordan to the high mountain. St Mark uses the energetic expression : The Spirit drove him out into the desert .... and he was with beasts. A local tradition points to Quarantania, a district north-west of Jericho, as the scene of our Lord’s fasting and temptation.
The district of Quarantania was infested with wild-boars, foxes, leopards, wolves, etc.
to be tempted. The devil tempted our Lord on more than one occasion. St Paul explains why our Saviour submitted to such a humiliation.
(a) Wherefore it behoved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high-priest before God, that he might be a propitiation for the sins of the people (Heb. ii. 17).(b) For in that, wherein he himself hath suffered and been tempted, he is able to succour them also that are tempted (Heb. ii. 18). For we have not a high-priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities : but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin (Heb. iv. 14).(c) And whereas indeed he was the Son of God, he learned obedience by the things which he suffered (Heb. v. 8).
by the devil. It is generally believed that the devil appeared in human form. The sacred writers seem to indicate as much, since —
(а) he approached our Lord,
(b) he asked Jesus to adore him,(c) he took Him to the holy city,(d) and to the high mountain.
Christ could not be tempted from within, since He was free from concupiscence, nor could He experience such temptations as were the fruit of previous sins. The idea of a mere internal suggestion of evil, which some non-Catholic writers put forward, is not accepted by the Fathers of the Church. In the New Testament the word “ διαβόλος, ” here translated “ devil,” always refers to Satan himself. “ διαβόλος, ” signifies a slanderer ; one who casts (enmity) between (friends).
Note. — Christ felt the attractiveness of the devil’s proposals, otherwise there would have been no temptation ; but He gave no consent, hence there was no sin.
In every temptation yielded to, there are three stages : —
(1) The suggestion, (2) the deliberate pleasure at the thought, (3) the consent of the will.
Some commentators think our Lord was tempted during the whole of the forty days, but the more general opinion is that the temptation took place at the end, when Christ began to feel the pangs of hunger.
2. And when he had fasted. Christ’s fast was an absolute fast, not the prescribed fast, in obedience to which the Jews abstained from food till after sunset. [Ed. Cf. Islam's Ramadan, taken from the Jewish practice]
forty days. This number is frequently mentioned both in the Old and New Testament, e.g. —
1. Old Testament.
Moses and Elias fasted forty days.The rain of the Deluge fell for forty days.The Jews passed forty years in the desert.
2. New Testament.
Jesus was presented in the Temple after forty days.Forty days elapsed between the Resurrection and the Ascension.
afterwards he was hungry. St Luke makes the same statement : When they were ended he was hungry. It is generally believed that our Lord passed the forty days wandering about in the desert, absorbed in ecstatic prayer, and that during this time He did not feel the pangs of hunger.
3. the tempter coming. Lit. “ The tempting one” (ὁ πειράζων εἶπεν αὐτῷ).
If thou be the Son of God. There is perhaps an allusion here to the Voice heard at Christ’s Baptism. St Augustine says, “ Satan tempted Christ in order to discover if He were the Messias ” (de Civit. Dei, xi. 21). Other commentators take the “if” to equal “since.”
command that these stones, etc. There are fossils found in this desert. These are known as “septaria.” Some of these siliceous accretions assume the shape of fruit, and are known as “ Elijah’s melons.” They were popularly regarded as petrified fruits of the Cities of the Plain. Such deceptive semblances would intensify the pangs of hunger (Farrar, St Luke, p. 96).
4. It is written. A quotation from Deut. viii. 3.
Not in bread alone, etc. These words refer to the manna ; by His power, God was able to create a special food for the Israelites when ordinary bread was not to be had.
Note. — St Luke places the temptation to ambition last, but it is probable that St Matthew gives the correct sequence in placing it as the second. St Luke gives no words which denote chronological sequence ; he inserts simply the word “ καὶ,” “ and,” between each stage of the temptation ; St Matthew, on the contrary, lays stress on the sequence ; hence we may conclude that he gives the exact order of the temptation : —
Cf.
and (καὶ) the tempter (iv. 3).then (Τότε) the devil, etc. (iv. 5).again (Πάλιν) the devil, etc. (iv. 8).then (Τότε) the devil left, etc. (iv. 11).
Also from internal evidence we conclude that this temptation came last : —
1. It is the most violent, since the sovereignty of the world was offered, without the condition of the Passion (see Is. liii. 2-12).2. The words “ Begone, Satan,” quoted by St Matthew, imply a dismissal of the devil.
5. took him up. “ We need not be surprised if He permitted Himself to be carried up into a mountain by Satan, since He permitted Himself to be crucified by members of Satan ” (St Greg, the Great).
the pinnacle of the temple may signify —
1. The top of the Royal Porch, at the foot of which was a deep precipice.2. The top of Solomon’s Porch.3. The roof of the Holy Place, or of the Holy of Holies. The rest of the Temple consisted of open courts.
Perhaps the suggestion was that Christ should precipitate Himself in presence of the assembled worshippers, and thus win their admiration and allegiance. Cf. When the Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is (St John vii. 27).
6. That he hath given, etc. Satan omits the words to keep thee in all thy ways. Cf. For he hath given his angels charge over thee : to keep thee in all thy ways (Ps. xc.11).
7. Thou shalt not tempt, etc. This is a quotation from Dent. vi. 16.
8. a very high mountain.
It is not known to which mountain Satan carried Jesus. It may have been Olivet, Thabor, Nebo, or a mountain out of Palestine. Our Lord’s vision of the kingdoms was not subjective, for the devil would have no power over the faculties of Christ’s soul.
shewed him, etc. St Luke adds, in a moment of time.
all the kingdoms of the world. All the inhabited earth (omnia regna). St Matthew adds here, and the glory of them, but he omits these words in Satan’s offer.
9. All these will I give thee. The devil, having artfully shewn how much he offered, now reveals his true purpose, and tempts to the sin of unlawful ambition. Homage to Satan and acknowledgment of his power is to be the price of all the kingdoms, and the glory of them. To tempt first by what is lawful, and then to suggest what is absolutely sinful, is his usual method.
10. Begone, Satan. Some MSS. and versions add “behind me, Satan” (post me, ὀπίσω μοῦ). [Ed. Cf. prayer on St Benedict's medal:
V. R. S. (Vade Retro Satana)N. S. M. V. (Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana)S. M. Q. L. (Sunt Mala Quæ Libas)I. V. B. (Ipse Venena Biba! Amen.)]
it is written. After the phrase it is written, we must understand “ in the Scriptures,” or “ in the Law.” Each time our Lord, when replying to Satan, quoted from the Septuagint version of the book of Deuteronomy. This text from Deut. vi. 13 embodies the first and great commandment.
shalt thou serve. The Hebrew text reads shalt thou fear.
11. The devil left him. Satan retired, all the temptation being ended (St Luke). He had exhausted his weapons, having appealed in vain to the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 St John ii. 16). Cf. Resist the devil and he will fly from you (St James iv. 7)
Additional Notes
Our Lord begins His Mission of Redeemer by submitting to and triumphing over the devil and his temptations. Thus He atones for the weakness and disobedience of our first parents. He had been proclaimed the Messias by the Precursor and by God the Father ; therefore, as Moses the lawgiver and Elias the reformer began their work by a fast of forty days, so Jesus commences His Divine Mission by fasting, and by triumphing over Satan.
1. Led by the Spirit. Cf. “ The Spirit drove him out into the desert ” (St Mark i. 12). The Holy Ghost, who dwelt in all His fulness in our Lord, influenced Him to act freely, but at the same time energetically.
All the Synoptists mark this strong impulsion of the Spirit. “In” the Spirit is the more correct rendering than
“ by ” ( ἐν τῷ πνεύματι).
Into the desert. Our Lord probably did not remain all the forty days in the same place, since St Luke uses the imperfect tense (ἤγετο), i.e. “was being led.”
To be tempted. To tempt has two meanings in the Scriptures : —
1. to test with good intention. “ Try your own selves, if yoube in the faith” (2 Cor. xiii. 5).
2. to test with evil intention : —
(а) To embarrass. “Others tempting him asked .... a sign” (St Luke xi. 16).(b) To lead into sin. “ Every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured” (St James i. 14).
3. If thou he the Son of God, etc. Theologians differ as to whether the devil knew Christ was the Son of God, or whether he tempted Him in order to ascertain it.
Various arguments for and against have been put forward. The following are the principal : —
I. Positive View.
1. The words “if thou be the Son of God ” mean “ since thou art the Son of God.”
2. The devils had witnessed the various miracles connected with our Lord’s infancy, and had heard the heavenly voice proclaim Him as the “ beloved Son ” of the Father.
3. The devils frequently bore testimony to Christ’s Divinity (see St Matt. viii. 29 ; St Mark i. 24 ;
II. Negative View.
1. The word “if” implies real doubt.2. God could easily have blinded the devils’ intelligence, that they should not perceive the meaning of these miracles, or He may have concealed them from the devils.3. The testimony of the devils to Christ may have been prompted by fear or self-interest, rather than by a belief in His Divinity.
St Paul’s words are brought forward by both sides : “ Which none of the princes of this world knew : for if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory ” (1 Cor. ii. 8). Those who hold the positive view see in these words a confirmation of it, on the ground that St Paul does not say that the devils were ignorant of the Divinity of Christ, but that they were ignorant of the Divine plan of Redemption by the death of Christ. Those who hold the negative view hold that these words favour it, as though St Paul had said : “ If they had known His Divinity, they would never have crucified Him.” The words “ princes of this world ” may refer to earthly princes, or to the devils, or to both. The general opinion is that the devils, later on, certainly knew our Lord to be God, and that the result of the Temptation helped to convince them of it.
9. All these will I give thee. Satan had usurped “ the kingdoms of the world ” by his ascendency over man, and for a time God allowed him to retain possession of them within certain limits ; but they were not his to dispose of at will.
Cf.
“Now shall the prince of this world he cast out” (St John xii. 31).“ The prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not anything ” (Ibid., xiv. 30).“The rulers of the world of this darkness” (Eph. vi. 12).“ The prince of the power of this air ” (Eph. ii. 2).
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First Temptation.
(a) Place: the desert, (b) Nature: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread ” (iv. 3). Satan tempts our Lord —
(1) to satisfy His hunger by wrong means,(2) to ostentation of His divine power,(3) to distrust of God’s providence.
The devil probably wished to find out whether Jesus was the Son of God.
(c) Our Lord's answer : “ It is written, not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God” (iv. 4). Jesus uses the “ sword of the Spirit,” i.e. the sacred Scriptures, to defeat the tempter. By his reply Jesus —
(1) Vindicates God’s honour, which the devil had indirectly attacked.(2) He gives the devil no answer touching His own divinity.(3) He teaches us how to resist temptation.
The words not alone in bread doth man live are quoted textually from Deut. viii. 3, where Moses reminds the Israelites that God could nourish them by other means, if He thought fit.
Second Temptation.
St Luke puts this temptation last ; St Matthew places it as the second.
(b) Nature of the temptation : “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written : That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone” (iv. 6). This was a temptation to presumption. Notice that the devil uses Scripture in imitation of our Lord, but he misquotes it.
(c) Our Lord's answer : “ It is written again : Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (iv. 7). Again Jesus quotes Scripture, and gives Satan no assurance of His Divinity.
Third Temptation.
(a) Place : “ a very high mountain ” (iv. 8). It is uncertain to which mountain Satan carried Jesus. Perhaps the devil worked a miracle and caused a visual image of all the kingdoms of the world to pass before Him “ in a moment of time,” for evidently from no mountain would it be possible to see all the kingdoms of the world. In this temptation, Satan appealed to Christ as the Messias, of whom it is said, “ He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth ” (Ps. lxxi. 8).
(b) Nature : “ All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me ” (iv. 9). This was a temptation —
(1) to ambition,(2) to avoid suffering and death, which were foretold as the means of acquiring this dominion (see Is. liii. 2-12).
(c) Our Lord's answer : “ Begone, Satan : for it is written : The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve.” These words are a quotation from Deut. vi. 13. Jesus shews his indignation ’when Satan attacks the honour of God : “ Begone, Satan,”
After the Temptation. (1) The devil being conquered, left Jesus “ for a time.’’ We are not told when he renewed his attacks, but we know that the lonely vigil in Gethsemani was one of the hours of “ the power of darkness.”
(2) Angels ministered to him. They supplied His bodily wants. One angel would have sufficed, but the host of angels that waited on our Lord marked His triumph over Satan more completely. The Evangelist does not relate how our Lord returned to the desert, whether by His own divine power or by the ministry of His angels, but we can hardly believe that when Jesus had defeated Satan, He would have allowed the fiend to carry Him back to the desert.
Lessons from the Temptation of Jesus.
(1) To hold no useless parley with the devil.
(2) To use the “ sword of the Spirit ” when tempted.
(3) To pray with confidence to our Saviour, who was “ tempted in all points ” even as we are, and yet conquered by the same means that we have at our disposal.
(4) To be on our watch even after a victory, knowing the respite is only for a time.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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