Go to Related Reading
About this book

LXX Deuteronomy

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 8

1 You shall observe to do all the commands which I charge you today, that you may live and be multiplied, and enter in and inherit the land, which the Lord your God swore to your fathers.⁠ 2 And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God led you in the wilderness, that he might afflict you, and try you,⁠ and that the things in your heart might be made manifest, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he afflicted you and straitened you with hunger, and fed you with manna, which your fathers did not know; that he might teach you that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, your feet were not painfully hardened, look, these forty years. 5 And you shall know in your heart, that as if any man should discipline his son, so the Lord your God will discipline you. 6 And you shall keep the commands of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7 For the Lord your God will bring you into a good and extensive land, where there are torrents of waters, and fountains of deep places issuing through the plains and through the mountains: 8 a land of wheat and barley, in which are vines, figs, pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land on which you shall not eat your bread with poverty, and you shall not lack anything upon it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of its mountains you shall dig brass. 10 And you shall eat and be filled, and shall bless the Lord your God on the good land, which he has given you. 11 Take heed to yourself that you do not forget the Lord your God, so as not to keep his commands, and his judgments, and ordinances, which I command you this day: 12 for fear that when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses, and lived in them; 13 and your oxen and your sheep are multiplied to you, and your silver and your gold are multiplied to you, and all your possessions are multiplied to you, 14 you should be exalted in heart, and forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: 15 who brought you through that great and terrible wilderness, where is the biting serpent, and scorpion, and drought, where there was no water; who brought you a fountain of water out of the flinty rock: 16 who fed you with manna in the wilderness, which your fathers did not know; that he might afflict you, and thoroughly try you, and do you good in your latter days. 17 For fear that you should say in your heart, My strength, and the power of my hand have made for me this great wealth. 18 But you shall remember the Lord your God, that he gives you strength to get wealth; even that he may establish his covenant, which the Lord swore to your fathers, as at this day. 19 And it will happen if you do at all forget the Lord your God, and should go after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall surely perish. 20 As also the other nations which the Lord destroys before your face, so you will perish, because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Deuteronomy 8:2 and Matthew 4:1

Septuagint · New Testament

Share:

Summary

Matthew 4 uses the language of Deuteronomy 8, including references to the number forty, to describe Jesus' testing in the wilderness. By quoting Deuteronomy, Matthew connects the reference of forty days of testing with Israel’s forty years of wandering.

Passages

LXX Deuteronomy 8:2

Septuagint
1 You shall observe to do all the commands which I charge you today, that you may live and be multiplied, and enter in and inherit the land, which the Lord your God swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God led you in the wilderness, that he might afflict you, and try you, and that the things in your heart might be made manifest, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he afflicted you and straitened you with hunger, and fed you with manna, which your fathers did not know; that he might teach you that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, your feet were not painfully hardened, look, these forty years. 5 And you shall know in your heart, that as if any man should discipline his son, so the Lord your God will discipline you.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Deuteronomy

Matthew 4:1

New Testament
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, 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.’”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... Matthew 4:2 probably narrates Jesus being hungry to form a thematic association with the hunger theme in the unquoted half of Deuteronomy 8:3. Although Matthew 4 does not quote this part of Deuteronomy 8:3, there are good reasons for thinking that Matthew 4:2 alludes to it. First, Deuteronomy 8:1-5 and Matthew 4:1-3 share some identical words and a reference to the number 40. Second, the same themes are clustered together in both Deuteronomy 8 and Matt 4. Third, Deuteronomy 8:1-5 and Matt 4:1-4 describe analogous situations. Some identical words and the mention of the number 40 appear in Deuteronomy 8:1-5 and Matthew 4:1-3. The identical words include ἔρημος (“wilderness”) and υἱός (“son”). Deuteronomy 8:2 contains ἔρημος, and Matthew 4:1 uses ἔρημος. Deuteronomy 8:5 includes υἱός, and Matthew 4:3 contains υἱός. The number 40 appears in both Deuteronomy 8:4 and Matthew 4:2. Deuteronomy 8:4 mentions 40 years, and Matthew 4:2 references 40 days and 40 nights. The above details lead many scholars to conclude that the quotation of Deuteronomy 8:3 in Matt 4:4 alludes to Deuteronomy 8:1-5 ..."
Christopher Winchester, “Thematic Association in the Gospel of Matthew: Situating Exegesis in the Gospel of Matthew in Its Second Temple Context” (PhD diss., University of Edinburgh, 2017), 216.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

LXX Deuteronomy 8:2 and Matthew 4:1

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library