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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 Deuteronomy 34:1 and Matthew 4:8

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Matthew describes Jesus on a high mountain where he is shown the kingdoms of the world, echoing Deuteronomy 34 where Moses views the promised land from Mount Nebo. Where Moses fails to enter the land, Jesus is depicted as succeeding when tempted.

Passages

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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

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

"... 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). 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) ..."
John W. Welch, The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple, SOTSMS (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2009), 29–38.

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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Deuteronomy 34:1 and Matthew 4:8

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