Deuteronomy 34:1

Hebrew Bible

1 Then Moses ascended from the rift valley plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. The Lord showed him the whole land—Gilead to Dan, 2 and all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the distant sea, 3 the Negev, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of date palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it, but you will not cross over there.” 5 So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab as the Lord had said.

Matthew 4:8

New Testament

6 and 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 ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

 Notes and References

"... This mountain and temple typology was not limited to certain cultures but was widespread, spilling over into ancient Israel. Israelite religious history is replete with instances of God meeting men on mountains ... Moses experienced the divine not only on Mount Sinai, but also on Mount Nebo as God showed him the promised land which he would not live to see Israel obtain (Deuteronomy 34:1–4) ... This mountain ideology was still potent in first century Palestine during the New Testament formative era. In the surrounding culture, it is only appropriate that the vision of Levi—to whom the rights of the temple priesthood were entrusted—took him into heaven from the top of a mountain: “Then sleep fell upon me, and I beheld a high mountain, and I was on it. And behold, the heavens were opened” (Testament of Levi 2:5–6).132 The same phenomenon is also true of several key events in the New Testament. The mountain setting demonstrated the sacred nature of these events for Jesus and his followers. Jesus ascended mountains to teach (Matthew 24:3), to pray (Matthew 14:23, Mark 6:46, Luke 6:12), to perform healings (Matthew 15:29), and to formally call his twelve apostles (Mark 3:13–14, Luke 6:12–16). On a mountain, Jesus overcame the temptation of Satan (Matthew 4:8–10) ..."

Welch, John W. The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple (pp. 29-38) Ashgate, 2009

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.