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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 4

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.’” 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.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to his needs. 12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, he went into Galilee. 13 While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—⁠ 16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,⁠ and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” 18 As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). 19 He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!” 20 They left their nets immediately and followed him. 21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Then he called them. 22 They immediately left the boat and their father and followed him. 23 Jesus went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness among the people. 24 So a report about him spread throughout Syria. People brought to him all who suffered with various illnesses and afflictions, those who had seizures, paralytics, and those possessed by demons, and he healed them. 25 And large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan River.

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Chronicles 36:23 and Matthew 4:8

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew 4, Satan offers Jesus all the world’s kingdoms, echoing Cyrus in 2 Chronicles 36 who claims God gave him that power to rebuild the temple. Unlike Cyrus, Jesus refuses, showing a different view of how authority should be used.

Passages

2 Chronicles 36:23

Hebrew Bible
22 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the Lord’s message spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord motivated King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his kingdom and also to put it in writing. It read: 23 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: ‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Anyone of his people among you may go up there, and may the Lord his God be with him.’”
400–301 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Chronicles

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.’”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... One of the most obvious motifs in Chronicles is the strong emphasis placed on the dominance of David. This emphasis also appears within Matthew’s genealogy. The name David appears five times and serves as a key dividing point in the summary statement in verse 17. Nolan points out that broadly within their books, the Chronicler and Matthew share similar theological themes: kingdom, Jerusalem, temple, David, the embrace of all Israel, and Gentile participation. He also posits that “phrases applied to 1 Chronicles 1–9 are equally true of Matthew, whose genealogy may be called a ‘sermon’ on the privileges of the messianic people, and a ‘panegyric’ on David”. Alongside the similar theological motifs are the structural similarities. These structural similarities involve the key dividing points of Israel’s history. Two key dividing points in both Chronicles and Matthew are David and the Exile (1:17). Both Matthew and Chronicles make particular note of the exile within their genealogies (1 Chronicles 3:17; 5:22; 8:6; 9:1; Matthew 1:11, 12, 17). Matthew utilizes the LXX at 1 Chronicles 5:22. The related cognate form occurs in 8:6. The ending of Matthew has also been observed by some scholars as resembling 2 Chronicles when it is claimed that Matthew 28:18–20 depends on 2 Chronicles 36:23. However, not everyone is convinced by this connection. While the connection is not especially strong, at the very least, by beginning with a genealogy and ending with an edict or commission, Matthew resembles Chronicles ..."
Joel Kennedy, The Recapitulation of Israel: Use of Israel's History in Matthew 1:1-4:11 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008), 70.

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

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2 Chronicles 36:23 and Matthew 4:8

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