Matthew 4: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Jesus is led into the wilderness, fasts forty days, and answers three temptations from the devil by quoting Scripture, after which the devil leaves and angels care for him. When John is imprisoned, Jesus moves from Nazareth to Capernaum in Galilee, which Matthew ties to words from Isaiah about light coming to a people in darkness. Jesus begins preaching that people should repent because the kingdom of heaven is near, calls four fishermen to follow him, and travels through Galilee teaching and healing, drawing crowds from a wide area.

Claim by Claim

1. 4:1
   • Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit.
   • The purpose of his being led into the wilderness was to be tempted by the devil.
2. 4:2
   • Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights.
   • Afterward he was hungry.
3. 4:3
   • The tempter came to Jesus.
   • The tempter said, if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.
4. 4:4
   • Jesus answered.
   • Jesus said it is written.
   • Jesus quoted: man shall not live by bread alone.
   • Jesus quoted: man shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
5. 4:5
   • The devil took Jesus into the holy city.
   • The devil set Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple.
6. 4:6
   • The devil said to Jesus, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
   • The devil said it is written.
   • The devil quoted: God will give his angels charge concerning you.
   • The devil quoted: the angels will bear you up in their hands.
   • The devil quoted: so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
7. 4:7
   • Jesus said to the devil, it is written again.
   • Jesus quoted: you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.
8. 4:8
   • The devil took Jesus to an exceedingly high mountain.
   • The devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.
   • The devil showed Jesus the glory of those kingdoms.
9. 4:9
   • The devil said to Jesus, I will give you all these things.
   • The devil made the offer conditional on Jesus falling down and worshiping him.
10. 4:10
    • Jesus said to him, go away, Satan.
    • Jesus said it is written.
    • Jesus quoted: you shall worship the Lord your God.
    • Jesus quoted: you shall serve him only.
11. 4:11
    • The devil left Jesus.
    • Angels came to Jesus.
    • The angels ministered to Jesus.
12. 4:12
    • Jesus heard that John had been handed over.
    • The King James says John was cast into prison.
    • Jesus withdrew into Galilee.
13. 4:13
    • Jesus left Nazareth.
    • Jesus came and dwelt in Capernaum.
    • Capernaum is beside the sea.
    • Capernaum is in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
14. 4:14
    • This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled.
15. 4:15
    • The prophecy names the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.
    • The prophecy names the way of the sea.
    • The prophecy names the region beyond the Jordan.
    • The prophecy names Galilee of the Gentiles.
16. 4:16
    • The prophecy says the people sitting in darkness saw a great light.
    • The prophecy says that for those sitting in the region and shadow of death, a light dawned on them.
17. 4:17
    • From that time Jesus began to preach.
    • Jesus said, repent.
    • Jesus said the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.
18. 4:18
    • Jesus was walking beside the sea of Galilee.
    • Jesus saw two brothers.
    • One brother was Simon, who is called Peter.
    • The other brother was Andrew, Simon's brother.
    • They were casting a net into the sea.
    • They were fishermen.
19. 4:19
    • Jesus said to them, come follow me.
    • Jesus said, I will make you fishers of men.
20. 4:20
    • They immediately left their nets.
    • They followed Jesus.
21. 4:21
    • Jesus went on from there.
    • Jesus saw two other brothers.
    • One was James the son of Zebedee.
    • The other was John, James's brother.
    • They were in a boat with Zebedee their father.
    • They were mending their nets.
    • Jesus called them.
22. 4:22
    • They immediately left the boat.
    • They left their father.
    • They followed Jesus.
23. 4:23
    • Jesus went about all Galilee.
    • Jesus taught in their synagogues.
    • Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom.
    • Jesus healed every disease and every sickness among the people.
24. 4:24
    • Report of Jesus went out into all Syria.
    • They brought to Jesus all who were ill.
    • The sick were afflicted with various diseases and torments.
    • Among them were the demon-possessed.
    • Among them were those afflicted at the changes of the moon.
    • Among them were paralytics.
    • Jesus healed them.
25. 4:25
    • Great crowds followed Jesus.
    • The crowds came from Galilee.
    • The crowds came from the Decapolis.
    • The crowds came from Jerusalem.
    • The crowds came from Judea.
    • The crowds came from beyond the Jordan.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

4:1

The King James "led up of the Spirit" uses "of" where modern English says "by." The Greek word translated "tempted" covers two senses at once: luring someone into wrongdoing, and putting someone to the proof to see what they are made of. Both senses are live here. "Devil" renders a Greek word meaning slanderer or accuser.

4:2

Forty days and nights is a standard span in the Hebrew scriptures for a long ordeal or a period of preparation: the rain of the flood, Moses on the mountain, Elijah's journey, and Israel's forty years in the wilderness. A reader of Matthew's day would hear the echo. Going without food was a recognized religious practice, usually joined to mourning or prayer.

4:3

The wilderness of Judea is covered in rounded limestone stones that look very like the small flat loaves of the region, so the suggestion is a taunt aimed at what is in front of his eyes. The Greek "if you are the Son of God" can be read either as a genuine doubt or as "since you are," a dare to prove what is already claimed; the wording leaves both open.

4:4

Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, words spoken to Israel about their forty years in the wilderness, when God fed them with manna. "It is written" was the ordinary formula for introducing a quotation from scripture, the way we might say "the text reads."

4:5

The "holy city" is Jerusalem, called holy because the temple stood there. "Pinnacle" in 1611 English means the topmost point or a projecting wing, not a spire. The temple platform stood on the edge of a steep drop into the Kidron valley, so a fall from its highest corner was a very long one.

4:6

The devil is quoting Psalm 91:11-12, a psalm about God protecting those who trust him. Scripture is being used against scripture here, which is why the next verse answers with another quotation.

4:7

Quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, which refers to an incident at Massah where Israel demanded that God prove himself by producing water. In 1611 English "tempt" commonly meant to put to the test or try out, which is its sense here; it does not mean to entice God into sin.

4:8

"The glory of them" means their wealth, splendor and magnificence, the visible display of empire, not fame in a moral sense.

4:9

The Greek word behind "worship" describes the physical act: going down on your face before someone, the homage given to a king or to a god. "Fall down and worship" is one gesture, not two.

4:10

"Satan" is a Hebrew word meaning the adversary or the opponent, used as a name by this period. "Get thee hence" is simply "go away from here." The quotation is from Deuteronomy 6:13.

4:11

"Ministered unto him" means waited on him or looked after him. Given that the previous verses turn on forty days without food, the service in view is most naturally the bringing of food.

4:12

This is John the Baptist, whose preaching and baptizing opened the previous chapter. He was arrested by Herod Antipas, the Roman-appointed ruler of Galilee and Perea. "Cast into prison" is the King James way of saying he was jailed.

4:13

The King James "upon the sea coast" means the lakeshore, not an ocean coast. Capernaum was a fishing town on the northwest shore of the lake, sitting on a trade road, and considerably busier than the hill village of Nazareth. Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the northern districts had carried their names since the land was divided among the tribes centuries earlier.

4:14

"Esaias" is simply the Greek spelling of the name Isaiah, carried into the King James from the Greek New Testament.

4:15

The quotation is Isaiah 9:1-2. "The way of the sea" was a real road, the trade route running from Egypt up through this region toward Damascus. "Beyond Jordan" means the far, eastern side of the Jordan River. "Gentiles" means everyone who is not Jewish; the northern district had a large non-Jewish population, which is why Isaiah gives it that name.

4:16

"The region and shadow of death" translates a Hebrew expression for the deepest possible darkness, the blackness of a place where no light reaches. The image is of people sitting still in the dark rather than walking through it.

4:17

"Repent" translates a Greek word meaning to change your mind and turn around, a redirection of a whole life rather than an episode of feeling sorry. Matthew almost always writes "kingdom of heaven" where the other gospels write "kingdom of God"; "heaven" was a customary respectful substitute for naming God directly. "At hand" means near, close enough to reach out and touch.

4:18

The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake, roughly thirteen miles long and eight wide, not a sea. The net being thrown is a circular one weighted around the rim, cast by hand from the shallows or from a boat so that it drops over a school of fish. "Simon called Peter" notes a nickname: Peter comes from the Greek word for rock.

4:19

"Follow me" was the standing invitation of a teacher to a student. A student did not attend lectures; he attached himself to his teacher, walked behind him, lived alongside him and learned by imitation. "Fishers of men" uses "men" in the older inclusive sense of human beings.

4:20

"Straightway" means immediately.

4:21

The King James "ship" means a small open wooden fishing boat rowed or sailed by a handful of men, not a large vessel. The linen nets tore constantly on rocks and had to be washed, dried and repaired after every night's work, which is what these two are doing.

4:22

Leaving the boat and their father meant walking out of a family business. The boat, the nets and the hired help were the household's livelihood, and sons were expected to work in it and eventually inherit it.

4:23

A synagogue was the local meeting house where Jews of a town gathered, chiefly on the sabbath, to read the scriptures aloud and discuss them. A visiting teacher could be invited to speak. "Gospel" is an old English word meaning good news; the Greek behind it was used for the announcement of a victory or the accession of a new ruler.

4:24

"Syria" is the Roman province to the north, with Damascus and Antioch as its major cities, so this means word traveled well beyond Galilee. "Divers diseases" means various diseases, and "torments" means severe pains. The "devils" of this verse translate a different Greek word from the one used for the devil earlier in the chapter: these are demons, lesser spirits held to afflict people. "Lunatick" literally means moonstruck, a standard term in 1611 for people with seizures, because the condition was thought to follow the phases of the moon. "Palsy" means paralysis.

4:25

The Decapolis, literally "Ten Cities," was a league of mostly Greek-speaking cities lying east and south of the lake, with their own culture and largely non-Jewish populations. Judaea is the southern region around Jerusalem. "Beyond Jordan" again means the eastern side of the river, the district known as Perea. The list adds up to people coming from every direction, including territory outside Jewish jurisdiction.